Lightning Crashes and Love Rains Down (May Flower W/O)May 01 '03 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line N/A So I decided to offer up a belated entry in the Waiting For May Flowers write-off hosted by HipyX. Upon making this decision I got to thinking about the songs I like and which ones feature rain in some way or another. Here goes. 1: Rain-The Beatles: This song, which was released as the B-side of Paperback Writer in 1966, is a John Lennon song that features jangling guitar chords and some distortion that works together to create a rainy day feel. Lennon sings about how "When the rain comes/They run and hide their heads/They might as well be dead...When the sun shines/They slip into the shade/And sip their lemonade". Later on, he goes to announce that rain is really just a state of mind. 2: Early Morning Rain-Gordon Lightfoot: This song, for me anyway, brings back childhood memories of when I was 4 or 5 years old and living in a house in Livonia Michigan. On rainy days my father would put on his Gordon Lightfoot and Phil Ochs records and this is one of the songs I remember. The song has a spare acoustic guitar backing which makes it sound almost like a folk standard instead of a song that was written in 1964. "This old airports got me down/It's no earthly good to me/Cause I'm stuck here on the ground/Cold and drunk as I can be/You can't jump a jet plane/Like you can a freight train/So I best be on my way/In the early morning rain". 3: It Can't Rain All The Time-Jane Siberry: Since this one had to get chosen sooner or later and since it provided a good transition between the Lightfoot tune and what will follow next I decided to include it at this point in the mix. This song by current folksinger Jane Siberry appears as the last song on the excellent soundtrack to the 1994 classic movie The Crow. The song ties in with the themes of the movie as Siberry sings lines like "We walk the narrow path/There is smoke in the sky" and "The women cry/And the children know that there's something wrong/It's hard to believe that love will prevail/It won't rain all the time/The sky won't fall forever/And though the night seems long/Your tears won't fall forever". 4: Lightning Crashes-Live: I chose this one for obvious reasons. The title evokes rain quite well and the lyrics pull one in emotionally. Since May 3 of 2001, the lyrics have been even more emotionally affecting to me as they remind me of my late mother. "Oh now feel it/Coming back again/Like a roll of thunder chasing the wind/Forces pulling from the center of the earth again/I can feel it". 5: Kashmir-Led Zeppelin: Now I know people are probably thinking that a logical choice for a Led Zeppelin song for this mix would be either "The Rain Song" or "Fool In The Rain". However the whole thunderous, boombastic sound of this song makes me think of rain for some reason. 6: Riders On The Storm-The Doors: This one, which opens with the appropriate sounds of a thunderstorm, has an appropriately ominous groove that works well with Jim Morrison's ominous voice and the eerie lyrics of the song. "Riders on the storm/Into this house we're born/Into this world we're thrown...Girl you gotta love your man/Take him by the hand and make him understand". 7: Who'll Stop The Rain-Creedence Clearwater Revival: The pure groove of this song suggests rain even before the lyrics start. Those lyrics, written by CCR's lead singer and guitarist John Fogerty, are a dark parable about the Vietnam War, which was at its height at the time this song was written (1969-70). "I went down Virginia/Seeking shelter from the storm/Caught up in the fable/Watched the tower grow/Five year plans and new deals/Wrapped in gold and chains/And I wonder/Still I wonder/Who'll stop the rain." 8: Box Of Rain-The Grateful Dead: Another slower song with a rainy groove to it. Phil Lesh composed this song from the American Beauty album in response to the terminal cancer that his father was suffering from. "Just a box of rain/wind and water/Believe it if you need it/if you don't just pass it on/Sun and shower/Wind and rain/in and out the window/like a moth before a flame." 9: As Tears Go By-The Rolling Stones: This is a good one for those melancholy rainy days, especially with lines like "All I hear is the sound/Of rain falling on the ground/I sit and watch as tears go by". 10: Love Reign O'er Me-The Who: A perfect counterpoint to the Stones song and the only way to cap off a mix like this. From the beautiful opening piano riff and rain sounds to Pete Townshend's stunning guitar playing and Roger Daltrey's emotive singing, this song is as close to perfection as it gets. "On these dry and dusty roads/The nights we spent apart alone/I need to get back home to cool cool rain/I can't sleep and I lay and I think/The night is hot and black as ink/Oh god I need a drink of cool cool rain". Thanks to HipyX for hosting this write-off. Here are the other participants: hipyx Aerocat TheUnknown285 shadesofblue dedemw tdswift89 jalamala yourcloud  |
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