Hey. It rained today for the first time in awhile, so here are two songs about rain. The first is a lushly orchestrated, atmospheric track from Frenchman Jean-Jacques Goldman (a family favorite!) called “La Pluie”. Though I took six years of French, I won’t lie and say I can really understand any of the lyrics to this song. However, I do know that “pluie” means “rain” in French. Check out the song below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNm93_O-ytI

To me, this song really does feel like a rainy day. My family first came across Jean-Jacques Goldman’s album Chansons pour les Pieds (2001) on our two month trip to Europe in 2002. This song reminds me of the week we spent in Bordeaux patiently waiting for the heavy rains to subside, only to be disappointed when it finally came time for us to leave and the rain had not stopped. I love the smooth drum track, which slowly builds over the course of the six minutes. The oozing, drone-synth fits in beautifully with the strings and Goldman’s light guitar strumming. The best part is without a doubt the whistling solo, which I catch myself humming every once in a while when it’s raining and I’m stuck inside with nothing to do (but keep up to date on the hottest new tracks).

From what I can gather based on my miniscule knowledge of French, the rain in the song might be an extended metaphor for the hardships of life. We try to avoid the rain because we don’t like getting wet (as in, we don’t like hardship and struggle and pain), but life isn’t as rich without a little bit of rain.

Younger Jean-Jacques Goldman / Older Jean-Jacques Goldman

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Here’s my bonus tune, which is by Kerri Chandler and is called “Rain”. It’s from 1998, so it was released a few years before Goldman’s “La Pluie”. Here’s the song:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmtVq0KsLuE

I am obsessed with this song’s chord progression, which sounds great with the bass line. This is the kind of song that you wish never stopped (even if you do wish for the rain to stop). Enjoy the marimba solo that comes in a little after three minutes and the vocal ad-libs that dominate the track.

Have fun with these songs. Bring a raincoat.

-DJYT

Kerri Chandler