Music for rainy weather

Will it ever stop raining? I am not sure it will. It certainly feels like it’s been raining for about 17 years right now. So I thought I would share with you, in no particular order, some of my favourite songs about rain.

1. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head by BJ Thomas

A nice little song, one I remember singing along to with my parents when I was a girl:

2. Drip, Drip, Drop Little April Showers by Frank Churchill with lyrics by Larry Morey.

This song is from the Bambi and it appears early on in the film as Bambi and his mum are settling down together for a nap, and the rain starts falling. The music, starting just with a clarinet really paints the picture of a rain shower, before the choir comes in to sing about the April showers. The music becomes very stormy, the whole orchestra playing. As Bambi snuggles into his mother, string instruments whirl like the wind, and there are lightning crashes on the cymbals. The storm subsides, and we are left with just clarinet drip drops.

3. Raining in my Heart by Buddy Holly.

Technically not about the weather, more about lost love. But I still often found myself singing this song to my children, well just the first part of the song, whenever it rained.

4. Rain, Rain, Go Away, Traditional Nursery Rhyme

There are loads of versions of this popular nursery rhyme available to listen to. I sing the following words to my children

Rain, rain, go away

Come again another day

R_____ wants to play (or C_____ wants to play)

Rain, rain go away

However, my mother sang to me “Come again on mother’s washing day. This version from ABC Kids TV has a rather long introduction but is quite a nice version of the song

5. Singing In The Rain by Nacio Herb Brown with lyrics by Arthur Freed

I love, love, love this song. I loved the film of the same title, which I watched with my parents (showing my age here maybe). It’s such a joyful song, and although it is again all about love, this time about love just found rather than love lost, I think any toddler would love it-especially with the dancing and jumping in puddles during Gene Kelly’s dance routine!

6. Pastoral Symphony by Beethoven, 4th Movement

Readers of previous blog posts will know that we went to see Peppa Pig: My First Concert at Birmingham Town Hall. The concert featured part of Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, known as the Pastoral Symphony, with the venue’s lighting rig being employed to great effect as the lightning, and of course the orchestra performing the thunder sounds. Here it is performed by the London Symphony Orchestra with conductor Bernard Haitink:

7. Four Seasons by Vivaldi

This has to be the go-to piece of music when considering any music inspired by any weather at all. I think there are passages in here that could be interpreted as being inspired by or depictions of rain, my favourite has to be the summer storm the appears in, strangely, “Summer”. Here it is performed by the company Voices of Music with solo violinist Cynthia Freivogel.

8. Raindrops on Roses by Richards Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

From the film The Sound of Music, this is the song that Maria, played by Julie Andrews, sings to the children to cheer them up during a thunderstorm! Simply a brilliant song.

There are so many more songs and pieces of music that were either written about or inspired by rain, including Prince’s Purple Rain, Why Does it Always Rain on Me by Travis, and of course the inimitable “Jumping Up and Down in Muddy Puddles” from Peppa Pig. I know I will have missed out many great songs and pieces in my list above. Maybe a topic worth revisiting another day-I am sure it will rain again! What are your favourite rainy songs?