Music about the month of April is often feathered with distinct metaphors of new-found life, and the seemingly ceaseless drizzle that falls from spring’s strangely grey heavens.
We’ve collected some stand-out rock and pop songs about April to mix some brightness into your day, whether you’re fooling around with a new lover, feeling overcast by the miserable rains, or living in a technocratic, futuristic hellhole.
Songs About April
1. Opeth – April Ethereal
Opeth’s track April Ethereal is an 8-minute extreme metal masterpiece, blending influences from the array of metal’s countless sub-genres with artistic classical inspiration, folk and flickers of old-school rock.
Opeth blend dream-stained harmony with brutal, guttural force to illustrate a story of being pursued by a ghost during the month of April.
A number of springtime references clad April Ethereal’s first verse, such as allusions to Easter, birds and the resurgence of life. Opeth put a majestically Gothic twist on Christian springtime concepts, swapping the resurrection of Jesus for the resurrection of an alluring female spectre.
2. Deep Purple – April
Deep Purple’s 1969 track, April, draws upon the ancient ambience of the newborn woodland blossom cut with the frigid cold.
Split between a 9-minute atmospheric intro finished by a 3-minute rock anthem, Deep Purple ground their lyrics in the concept of April showers, using the encumberment of blue skies by deathless grey drizzle as a metaphor for loneliness.
Deep Purple paint a sonic rainbow of exotic, folksy and psychedelic elements upon their quirky canvas, colourfully contrasting the sadness which commands their lyrical content;
“Maybe once in a while I’ll forget and I’ll smile, but then the feeling comes again of an April without end, of an April lonely as they come … Grey sky where it should be blue, grey sky where I should see you.”
3. Warrant – April 2031
This 1992 glam rock track by Warrant is an obscure dystopian anthem focused on the tyranny of the technological world and the catastrophe it inevitably leads to.
With fewer than 10 years left until Warrant’s chosen date of April, 2031, this track is an ominous premonition from the past about the devastating effect of pollution, technological dependency and the hideously proposed Great Reset.
April 2031 details a familiar society that continues to churn mindlessly forth, becoming content with the apocalypse of giving up control;
“They say the sky used to be blue I don’t quite believe it, it’s probably always been the colour that it is … So I’ll close my electronic door and keep the cold outside, hug my aluminium pillow so tight, and pray the radiation doesn’t make me sick tonight.”
4. Patti Smith – April Fool
Patti Smith’s 2012 song, April Fool, translates the concept of April Fools Day into the story of a couple melting into love. A clear-skied harmony reaping its nostalgic inspiration from indie rock and post-punk backlights a girl’s beckoning to an April valentine;
“Come be my April Fool, come, you’re the only one, come on your rusted bike, come, we’ll break all the rules.”
This is a track for anyone turning over a new leaf with the seasons, grounding their energy in the free-spirited positivity and opportunity blooming with every spring flower; “We’ll ride like writers ride, neither rich nor broke, we’ll race through alleyways, in our tattered cloaks.”
5. A-Ha – Soft Rains Of April
This 1986 synthpop track by A-Ha uses its resounding lyric, “The soft rains of April are over” as a metaphor for feeling alone and stranded after April’s flood of rainfall.
Water often symbolises emotional qualities when it appears in the arts; a significant aspect A-Ha draw upon as they submerge their lyrics in a melancholic haze.
A-Ha craft their lyrics with ambiguity, allowing them to be translated to any occurrence of heartbreak or loneliness the audience may be facing;
“Anybody home now, I am on the phone now, please, the soft rains of April are over … Anybody home now, I am on the phone, oh I’d like to go back, is it raining back home? I’m so alone. Just got up today, and my thoughts are miles away with you”
6. Animal Collective – April And The Phantom
Animal Collective’s obscure psychedelic track April And The Phantom is a perfect modern evolution of retro psychedelic rock.
Twined with spiritual flairs and melodic mantras, Animal Collective disperse blinding distortion with otherworldly, artsy electronicism, harnessing a sound as fresh and free-spirited as the brightest days of April.
April And The Phantom is detailed with a quirky flute-organ carrying the sound of bird tweets with a stylistically disorienting, kaleidoscopic twist.
This track seamlessly continues from where the psychedelic greats of the late 60’s and 70’s left off, masterfully carrying their vision and vibe into the modern age and electrifying it through a genius, untameable sense of composition.
7. Aretha Franklin – April Fools
Aretha Franklin’s track April Fools is anchored in a funk/jazz guitar riff with a captivatingly clean rhythm, layered by a melodic bassline and soul-nourishingly retro string sections.
Though often overshadowed by the rest of Aretha’s stunning discography, this track, like much of her work, is inherently uplifting like the first beams of sun cutting through the winter cold, spreading exponential amounts of light, warmth and energy.
This is a track about being carefree and covered in the feeling of blossoming new love, before the risks of impulse start to creep into your conscience; “Are we just April fools, who can’t see all the danger around us? Are we just April fools? I don’t care, true love has found us now.”
8. Prince – Sometimes It Snows In April
Some months are forever tainted by the painful anniversary of a loved one’s death; a sentiment which crowns Prince’s track Sometimes It Snows In April.
Between Prince’s grippingly emotional vocal tone and the soft harmonic ambience, Sometimes It Snows In April is a powerful piece for anyone reminiscing on life and loss, resonating beautifully with those haunted by grief during the month of April;
“Sometimes it snows in April, sometimes I feel so bad, so bad, sometimes I wish life was never ending, and all good things, they say, never last … springtime was always my favourite time of year, a time for lovers holding hands in the rain, now springtime only reminds me of Tracy’s tears, always cry for love, never cry for pain.”