Songs about Rain

[NikolaiI]

As it is raining and storming a great deal in Oklahoma now, I thought it appropriate to post a thread to post your favourite songs about rain! Here are four of mine to start it.

So far we've had at least 3 tornadoes in the state.

Here are three of mine,

Rain - the Beatles
From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea) - The Decemberists
Rain is Falling - ELO

The Tain - The Decemberists

Okay, that one is not about rain, almost though. :-)

It's got interesting animation - I'm all about the music though, I looked for a while for a version without video, as it's a generally very wasteful use of bandwidth but I couldn't find one. . there used to be one, at least.

[Ecurb]

Since you like the Decemberists, Nikolai, I might mention that I just read "Wildwood" by Colin Meloy (front man for the group). It's a children's fantasy, set in Portland, Oregon (I live in Eugene, but know Portland pretty well). Colin's sister., Maile Meloy, is also a writer, and I've read several of her books of short stories - including one with the excellent title "Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It." They are excellent.

Wildwood is a wilderness inside of Portland in which there are talking animals, strange magical characters, etc. The set-up is very well done -- but like many fantasy novels the second half of the novel devolves into boring battles. It reminded me a little of Harry Potter -- the Hogwarts bits were very good, the war with Voldemort was tedious. Wildwood is a best seller, so Meloy is a successful artist on at least two fronts.

I nominate some old classics and Jazz standards: "Rainy Night in Georgia"; "Singin' in the Rain"; and, of course, "Somewhere over the Rainbow". My favorite part of Somewhere over the Rainbow is the introduction, which Judy Garland didn't sing in The Wizard of Oz.

When all the world is a hopless jumble,
and the raindrops tumble all around,
heaven opens a magic lane.

When all the clouds darken up the skyway,
There's a rainbow highway to be found,
Leading from your window pane.

To a place behind the sun,
Just a step beyond the rain.....

[NikolaiI]

Oh, wow!!! My goodness, I have forgotten that completely, if I have heard it - that's so beautiful!! It reminds me of some of the lyrics of "To Be Free" by Mike Oldfield..

You're out in the cold, sometimes
As far as you can see - misty
You want to run into the sun
The road is lost, sand shifty
Then suddenly, out of the blue
Some kind of magic pushes you through
You don't know when, how or why
But someday you're gonna take off and fly

The first verse is rather similar, with different phrases.

I think the Judy Garland lyrics are slightly more eloquent - but then, maybe not.

I love Singing in the Rain too! I learned about these classics late, but enjoyed them all the more.

Yes, I'm a huge fan, or I was when I was younger - I still am, my appreciation hasn't waned any, but I have been doing other things in music.

Wildwood sounds very excellent - and that's so great that he is so successful on two fronts, that is a sign of a very talented artist, in my view. . I'll check it out sometime and Maile Meloy's work. . . Rainy Night in Georgia, too.

Harry Potter is the one fantasy series I have not read (well, slight exaggeration, hehe) I understand your feeling about battles... some are way too tedius! I remember enjoying R.A. Salvatore's battle scenes in the Dark Elf Trilogy, but I was much younger at the time.. I do remember there being a good amount of them.

More songs about rain to come!

[tailor STATELY]

A few of my favorites:

Led Zeppelin: The Rain Song
The Cascades: Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[Lokasenna]

How about Chopin's 'Raindrop' Prelude? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OFHXmiZP38)

One of the nice things about Spring is watching the rain on the other side of the window.

[Helga]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CZhV0qID8o

I love the rain, and the snow and the wind, aahh just winter.

I'm gonna add this song too but I don't think anyone will understand the words, but it's about the bad things about the sun and summer and in between the singer asks for the rain and the sun to leave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqXSq6VZXl8

it starts with the artist talking about the storm that was raging a few weeks ago here on the ice

[NikolaiI]

I was going to mention that one too, Tailor - you beat me to it!

Listen to the Rain - Enya.

I like that too Loka. . reminds me of Lynne's verse from the above.

'Looking from this window,
A thousand rivers running past my door.
Standing on an island, looking for someone upon the shore,
I can see it, very clearly - nothing's really changed.
Then lightning strikes across an empty sky.'

Do you know the poem One Hour to Madness and Joy, by Whitman?

I just think of it in storms. . growing up here, when we sometimes have such fierce thunderstorms, was so interesting. . I always loved them more than anything. .

So I rather know what you mean, Helga :-)

The winter is so pleasant to me - all the seasons are so incredibly beautiful, but winter brings more health than the others.. I love the snow and ice when we get them..

One thing I often thought about - we survived through an ice age!! So it has always made me love the winter.. Spending the night out in the nature, in a sense conditioning oneself to the cold- but also meditation - is probably the most healing thing I've ever experienced - it's almost impossible to describe.

There's a legendary saint-poet from Tibet, who would meditate in the mountains there, with nothing but a single cloth-garment.. I've always found him to be the best teacher...

I don't know if I could ever do that - and I wouldn't necessarily try, but it definitely makes a lot of sense to embrace the adventure. . For instance, a young man from Siberia, if he were to come to what we think of as cold, would laugh and walk in shorts.

So it seems the pursuit of comfort doesn't reap the full rewards of comfort. I'm able to meditate on the ground, barefoot, when it's frosty and a few degrees below zero, as long as it's sunny and clear out. But that's nothing. :-)

And - scientific research has shown that back in the ice age, human's brains were much bigger than they are today. So it's partly memes, and partly actions! :-)

A further corollary is the case of other animals - in a region of Africa where a certain group of chimps live, where food is incredibly abundant and there is no necessity or difficulty of finding food, many of their skills are not developed, as are others in more trying conditions. (I searched for about 15 minutes to find the source material for this, in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, but I couldn't find it yet). Ah, well. I will come across it someday, and then share it.

I know I do ramble on. . . Socrates was another who shared the value of conditioning oneself to heat and cold; often gave the example of a general in battle, if they must ride for 16 hours, through some heat and cold. .

Anyway the scientific facts are quite encouraging - and simply the fact we lived through an ice age, has always been in my life a source of strength. . Occasionally I try to share it as an inspirational fact of life. :-)

Along with the great value and benefit of joy in life. They're so close to each other, strength and joy.

[Lokasenna]

I like that too Loka. . reminds me of Lynne's verse from the above.

'Looking from this window,
A thousand rivers running past my door.
Standing on an island, looking for someone upon the shore,
I can see it, very clearly - nothing's really changed.
Then lightning strikes across an empty sky.'

Do you know the poem One Hour to Madness and Joy, by Whitman?

I just think of it in storms. . growing up here, when we sometimes have such fierce thunderstorms, was so interesting. . I always loved them more than anything. .

Whitman isn't a poet I usually warm to, but that was a quite a nice piece - thanks for sharing!

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Sister Rosetta Tharpe Didn't It Rain?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR2gR6SZC2M

[NikolaiI]

Oh I was just going to say, re: the Decemberists - Picaresque, Her Majesty, and The Crane Wife are all very, very extraordinary. Their first album is nice, too, and I haven't listened to too many of their later ones, although I enjoyed several of the songs from "The King is Dead" a great deal. I'm not sure if I listened to all of it, though. I see there's 2 or so albums after it. . I may get to them some day.


One Rainy Wish - Jimi Hendrix


This has stayed with me too, all these years.


42. The Base of all Metaphysics

AND now, gentlemen,
A word I give to remain in your memories and minds,
As base, and finale too, for all metaphysics.

(So, to the students, the old professor,
At the close of his crowded course.) 5

Having studied the new and antique, the Greek and Germanic systems,
Kant having studied and stated—Fichte and Schelling and Hegel,
Stated the lore of Plato—and Socrates, greater than Plato,
And greater than Socrates sought and stated—Christ divine having studied long,
I see reminiscent to-day those Greek and Germanic systems, 10
See the philosophies all—Christian churches and tenets see,
Yet underneath Socrates clearly see—and underneath Christ the divine I see,
The dear love of man for his comrade—the attraction of friend to friend,
Of the well-married husband and wife—of children and parents,
Of city for city, and land for land.