Rain

What’s the deal with meteorologists? Why do they always apologize when there’s rain in the forecast? I like sunny days as much as the next guy but I love the rain, too. It doesn’t have to be depressing, but songs, for the most part, reinforce the stereotype: “Stormy Weather,” “Rainy Days and Mondays,” “Raining in My Heart,” “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall,” “Here Comes the Rain Again” and on and on.

There’s a Greg Brown tune that starts off in the same vein, but then he comes to his senses…

The gate is rusty / The porch is sad / The storm is coming / The news is bad

All day rain - plenty of / nothing to explain / a lifetime love

Open the window / Let the rain fall in / Let's stay home / Let's call in

We need the rain / The garden's dry / Kiss me again / 'cause so am I

I love this weather / gonna drink my fill / I'll love you better / I swear I will

Sometimes it's wet / Sometimes it's dry / You laugh - you forget / what made you cry

All day rain - plenty of / nothing to explain / a lifetime love

B. J. Thomas doesn’t exactly welcome the rain in his biggest hit, but he’s not about to let it get him down. “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and featured in the film “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.” In an interview in Will Hodgkinson's book "Song Man,” Hal described how the lyrics came to him…

"Burt came up with the music first, but it was in the movie that I saw the words to that song. Paul Newman's Butch and his girlfriend, played by Katherine Ross, are riding along on a bicycle with her on the handlebars, and it's sunny, and they're so carefree, but he's creating a fantasy for himself. That scene comes at a time when everything is going wrong in Butch's life and he knows that he's doomed. The song was about a fantasy of happiness."