Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain

It's raining.

Hard.

This is way beyond cats and dogs; it's more like rhinos and hippos. Good for the hippos, not so much for the rhinos. Having just walked several hundred yards in the torrent with a miniature, bright green umbrella borrowed from my wife, I'm feeling a bit like the rhino right now.

Could this be the hard rain that Bob Dylan warned us about?

I'm reminded that rain is a strong metaphor in music. It's often associated with broken hearts, washed away dreams, tears from heaven, and other sad things.  Every now and then, there's a song about the finer qualities of sky water. John Lennon didn't seem to be bothered by it. Wise before and after his time, he pointed out that the good or bad of any condition, weather or otherwise, has more to do with us than it does with the condition.

So why so many songs about rain? There's a website that lists nearly 800 songs about rain:

http://www.lacarte.org/songs/rain/

There's even a song that's called "Songs About Rain."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEkQGa_O5tU

There's black rain (Ozzy Osbourne), purple rain (Prince), and red rain (Peter Gabriel). Early morning rain (Gordon Lightfoot) and rainy nights (Eddie Rabbit). Someone even left a cake out in the rain (Jimmy Webb). Rain on our heads (David/Bacharach) and in our hearts (Holly).  Laughter in the rain (Sedaka) and crying in the rain (Nelson). The list goes on and on.

My first rain song, Sweet September, was written just before I left my hometown for college. For as long as I could remember, the first day of September seemed to be rainy, perhaps in an effort to wash away summer and let the autumn fall in its place. Leaving the only place I'd ever known as home for a new place, a new life, and a new beginning was a transition: letting go of the old, making a change, and embracing the new.  When I recorded the song, I slowed it down and gave it some tremelo to evoke the peaceful, lazy feel of a warm summer day.

Sweet September: http://www.bandizmo.com/user/player.php?page=songs&member=2819&nr=80

"Sweet September comes at last;

Winter's coming, summer's passed.

Such a friend won't go away,

Rainy sweet September day."

While not every September 1st has been rainy in subsequent years, there's generally at least one rainy day early in the month to set the stage for the changing of the seasons. Maybe that's why Harry Warren and Al Dubin in 1937 wrote "September in the Rain" for the film, "Melody for Two." Dozens of artists including the Beatles, Chad & Jeremy (my personal favorite rendition), Bing Crosby, Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson, and Norah Jones have recorded the song. Here's Dinah Washington's take on the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvB6rrnzDM8

A few years later while a graduate student at Colorado State, I wrote another rain song called It's Easy. Part "get over yourself" and part "make the best of any situation," I wanted to recapture the innocence and exuberance of getting caught in the rain.

It's Easy: http://www.bandizmo.com/user/player.php?page=songs&member=2819&nr=41

"What's the use of getting down, complaining about the rain:

There is nothing you can do, so why should you complain?

Take it easy, let it pour, and let yourself get wet;

I ain't heard of anybody dying from it yet...

...Like the rain that comes and goes and leaves its tears behind

Ride the wind and catch the sun, and that is what you'll find."

It's true that some people suffer for lack of shelter and warmth. It's easy to say "It's easy" when you've got the resources. In the context of this song, it's may also be easy to change your mind and change your mood. Cognitive behavioral therapists tell us that feelings/moods are based on thoughts, and thoughts are created by us; thoughts aren't necessarily reality, but rather our interpretation of circumstances.

A mind is a terrible thing to not change.

Pete Townsend ends his rock opera, Quadrophenia, with a little double entendre:

"Only love can bring the rain

That makes you yearn to the sky

Only love can bring the rain

That falls like tears from on high,

Love, reign o'er me..."

It's easy, like love is supposed to be. Love, rain over me.