Since antiquity, water has been thought to reflect our sensitive and emotional nature. Music often draws upon the common grey cloud which gives rise to teardrops and raindrops alike, telling innumerable stories of comfort, heartbreak, peace and war beneath its shrouding metaphor.
We’ve curated this playlist of songs about rain to mirror the depths of a mind overcast, no matter your situation, to make way for the rainbow to come.
Songs About Rain
1. P!nk & Jim Moore – I Have Seen The Rain
Described by P!nk as “a soldier’s cry”, this raw, powerful track was written by her father, Jim Moore, about the traumas of fighting in the Vietnam War.
With heartbreaking honesty, Jim likens his experience as having “seen the rain” – the cruelties of war and the lifelong shock and pain that sets upon a veteran after returning home.
His tear-drenched lyrics harbour some stunning poetic moments which are both concise and resonating to most vets – “I’ve been home 30 years or so and I’m just stepping off of the plane.”
His lyrics cascade with an old, worn feeling of agony within them, that maybe he would have achieved more if only the rain didn’t come; “They said I should’ve been more, probably so if I hadn’t had been in that crazy damn Vietnam War.”
2. Rihanna – Umbrella
While most art includes a downpour as a symbol of unending sadness, Rihanna’s spin on songs about the rain glistens with a unique perspective.
Rather than surrender to the cloudburst, she conversely uses an umbrella metaphor to promise a lover safety from the multitude of sufferings which the rain could represent;
“Now that it’s raining more than ever, know that we still have each other, you can stand under my umbrella.”
The random occurrence of storms reflects the gloomy events that can fall fearsomely at any time, but Rihanna’s simple message shines sun-bright on the darkest days:
“So gon’ and let the rain pour, I’ll be all you need and more, because when the sun shine, we shine together, told you I’ll be here forever.”
3. The Weather Girls – It’s Raining Men
The Weather Girls’ feisty disco track straight-up commands Rihanna to “leave those umbrellas at home.” Their rain is hardly the worn-out metaphor for misery, but a blessing from the open heavens above.
Dripping with gospel-infused energy, It’s Raining Men is one of the most well-known songs about rain for an obvious reason.
Hidden in the excited chaos of this classic is a verse so unexpectedly poetic in skyborne imagery that it almost transcends its 1982 origin:
“God bless Mother Nature, she’s a single woman too
She took off to heaven and she did what she had to do
She taught every angel and rearranged the sky
So that each and every woman could find her perfect guy”
4. Sister Rosetta Tharpe – Didn’t it rain, children
Sister Rosetta Tharpe deserves limelight of her own. Not only did her exceptional evangelical music style clearly inspire The Weather Girls’ track over 30 years later, but Tharpe’s prominent (but now sadly understated) part in the primordial era of rock n’ to influenced many guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, who went on to form the foundations of rock music as we know it today.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe uniquely blends gospel, blues and rock, accenting Christian themes like Noah’s flood, which Didn’t It Rain, Children illustrates the story of.
Tharpe performed wizardry with the electric guitar, which was relatively new in her era, playing with effortless unmatched dexterity, not to mention the importance of a black woman being able to find such recognition in rock music as she did.
5. Guns N’ Roses – November Rain
The brooding storms which linger throughout Guns N’ Roses’ hailed anthem come and pass like torrents.
Between its chorus lyrics bookending the song, “It’s hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain,” and “Nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain,” perception is seen to gradually change like the clouds above; an optimistic revolution for a heartbroken rock song.
November Rain’s silky riffs flow with the passion of thunder, the song’s nine-minute length appearing as a rainy haze in itself.
6. Travis – Why Does It Always Rain On Me?
An indie pop song with a soft, dark flair, Travis’ Why Does It Always Rain On Me embodies the melancholy of unexpected perpetual rain showers during a tired walk home.
While intermittent hope is spouted through its harmony, the song tries to dispel the sadness beclouding its skies.
Longing for sun and fulfilment is rooted deeply within the track, but it nonetheless struggles to find an answer through the harsh and bleary mist of thought, “I’m seeing a tunnel at the end of all these lights.”
Soaked in raincloud imagery, Travis embeds the evocative lines, “Even when the sun is shining, I can’t avoid the lightning,” and “Where did the blue skies go? And why is it raining so?” like a frigid breeze that only worsens the downpour.
7. Adele – Set Fire To The Rain
Set Fire To The Rain is Adele’s metaphor for achieving the impossible. In this case, her character breaks free from a toxic relationship and finds herself finally able to destroy her love for the person that burdens her with despair.
Conversely, the heavy rains encasing her are not enough to put out her fire; instead Adele disregards all odds and ignites her sorrow into ashes.
Set Fire To The Rain turns a miserable metaphor in a direction which allows her to flourish, mirroring how the rainwater nurtures nature despite its freezing pour.
8. Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande – Rain On Me
These queens of pop struck lightning with their club anthem Rain On Me. With a profluent rain theme, their empowering message dares the deluge to fall because ultimately, sorrow proves your strength.
Their lyrics carry the power of a tsunami, holding a fearless, storm-like attitude in their depths, but with the gracefulness of the first delicate moments of rainfall; “I’d rather be dry but at least I’m alive, rain on me.”
Rain On Me runs fluid in energy, expelling vibrancy and positive transformation through even the heaviest storms.
As the enchanting phenomenon that rain is, it’s no wonder there are so many songs that draw in on the topic.
While rainwater soaks our lives during the best and worst of times, our reaction to the downpour purely reflects every ripple of emotion we bury inside us, and our choice of how to deal with them.