Here’s a drop of odd information for your day: I collect earworms.
Don’t be grossed out. Earworm is a term for songs or snippets of songs that get stuck in your head. I noticed that many mornings when I wake up I’ve got a song stuck in my head, so I started keeping track of them.
One morning recently – a wet one, courtesy the neverending spring shower that is 2019 – my earworm of the day was a deluge of rain songs. From my damaged inner ear to yours, here they are.
I’ve put a YouTube link with each song, and here’s a link to a Spotify playlist, The Rains 2019 https://spoti.fi/2Y0TMTr.
“I Can’t Stand the Rain” – the rainy day earworm that woke me up and started this. It’s by Little Feat’s Lowell George from his only solo album, “Thanks, I’ll Eat it Here.” A gorgeously sorrowful song of lost love that has a great slide guitar solo. Favorite lines: “I know you’ve got/Some sweet memories/But like the window/You ain’t got nothing to say.” https://bit.ly/2RnOyi6
“Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” – classic rain song by Creedence Clearwater Revival from a long time ago. We should update it to “Have you ever seen it stop raining?” Favorite lines: “Have you ever seen the rain/Comin’ down on a sunny day?” https://bit.ly/1ksaIMp
“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” – Gotta have a little Bob Dylan for the rain that’s blowin’ in the wind, right? I’m not a big Dylan fan, but this played over the end credits of a Ken Burns’ “Vietnam” episode the other night and stuck in my head. Favorite lines? It’s Dylan – so many lines! How about: “And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it/And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it.” https://bit.ly/2CGmsqx
“Rainy Days and Mondays” – ah, the Carpenters. Sigh. Lovely song written by Paul Williams, who also gave us a post-storm “The Rainbow Connection” with Kermit the Frog. https://bit.ly/PG69AH
“Purple Rain” – a whole different kind of rain by Prince, wrapped up in a show-stopping anthem. See the movie. Favorite lyric: “Purple rain, purple rain/Purple rain, purple rain/Purple rain, purple rain.” Even I can memorize lyrics like this. https://bit.ly/2DmouMn
“Fire and Rain” – maybe my all-time favorite rain song by James Taylor. Favorite lines, the chorus: “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain/I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end/I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend/But I always thought that I’d see you again.” Rain and tears. https://bit.ly/1v9I1mW
“Here Comes the Flood/Red Rain” – a double dose of drenched downers by Peter Gabriel. Downers, but beautiful downers. Gabriel had the good sense to package them together on “Shaking the Tree,” a greatest hits album. Tracks nine and 10. Favorite lines: “Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky/And as the nail sunk in the cloud, the rain/Was warm and soaked the crowd.” Dark. Flood: https://bit.ly/2Xp4s12 Red Rain: https://bit.ly/1yy2Nji
There are plenty more rain songs out there, from the romantic to the dark, so feel free to add your own favorite rain songs to the playlist (assuming I clicked the right button in Spotify). And think dry thoughts for our farmers and our fellow Americans along the Mississippi.
