Sometimes, when we find ourselves stuck inside, whether it’s at home or in the office looking out the window at the gloomy scene, the best thing we can do for ourselves is poor a cup of something hot and listen to the right music. Obviously, the “right music” is a pretty subjective concept but my years of self satisfied music consumption and massively misguided feelings of musical taste superiority have led me to believe that rainy day music is my area of expertise. To me, the songs should reflect the weather, oddly pretty but with a strong sense of melancholy. So, here are a few tunes that can hopefully pop your umbrellas so to speak.
Jayhawks- Blue: The name says it all here folks, “Blue” is a introspective ballad with a sound that can make anyone feel like they are in a TV Drama as they longingly stare out the window into the rainy abyss. Just don’t get too caught up in the moment because it can be really tempting.
Led Zeppelin- Rain Song: Nobody knows the feeling accompanied by overcast skies quite like the British. When all time greats Led Zeppelin set their mind to writing a song thematically representative of the rain then I mean, c’mon it’s pretty much game over.
Hozier & Karen Crowley- In A Week: This song is so Irish it almost gave me a Brogue. Of course the Irish are also no strangers to the rain as well as, if the lyrics to this song are any indication, some sort of crippling depression. Regardless of the grim subject matter and gratuitous use of the word insect, possibly the least aesthetically pleasing word in the English language after moist, the music is stunningly beautiful and the harmony is goosebump inducing.
The Middle East- Ninth Avenue Reverie: Reverie: (noun) a state of being pleasantly lost in one’s thoughts; a daydream. What better state to be in when the clouds come out and what better soundtrack is there to facilitate it? This Australian alt-folk group has put out some haunting stuff in the past but this has to top the list. It meanders between being almost chillingly dark and strangely hopeful in a completely mind blowing fashion.
Oscar Isaac, Marcus Mumford, The Punch Brothers: Dink’s Song (Fare Thee Well): It wouldn’t be a Ryan Schmitz list without a folk song thrown in there so I picked my favorite one ever. To be honest folk music is generally a good genre for this type of weather but this song just encapsulates the mood that the rain can put me in better than any. For extra fun I put in their live performance of it at the Another Day Another Time concert.
I also felt like I should throw in Marcus Mumford’s version of the old Bob Dylan deep-cut “I Was Young When I left Home” also from the Another Day Another Time show.
-Ryan Schmitz
