Music Monday: Rainy Days

There are two types of people in this world when it comes to rain: the ‘Storm Chasers’ and the ‘Storm Runners’. ‘Chasers’ are the select few who absolutely adore rain whether it’s a leisurely drizzle or a pelting monsoon, and ‘Runners’ avoid venturing outside at all costs when there is even a hint of rain. Depending on which category you identify with, days filled with precipitation can either be considered your favorite days or your worst. Either way, the music you listen to can embrace the weather or reject it; and that’s where this useful article kicks in. No matter which type you claim to be, I have the melodic solution to help you make it through your gloomy Monday.

Storm Chasers: Knowing that your Monday forecast included storms, you selectively prepared your Spotify playlist to wake you up with the vocal perfection that is Ryan Proudfoot’s “A Man Named Job”. This song can be accompanied by a hot cup of tea and wistful, dreamy sighs wishing you could stay in bed with a good book instead of going to class. Sorry about that.

While slipping on your favorite pair of rain boots (because as a rain enthusiast, you have multiple pairs), the lyrics of “Banana Pancakes” sung by Jack Johnson soothingly flow around you with gentle imagery and lazy guitar chords. The musical styling of John Mayer with his classic tune, “Gravity”, follows as you purposely walk through puddles on your way to class. As your day draws to a close and the clouds are drying up, you decide to play one last song to commemorate this wonderfully dreary day. Bon Iver’s song entitled, “Wash.” plays over your speakers as you watch the last raindrops of the day, fall.

Storm Runners: As you wake up this Monday morning you are probably hoping that sunshine and motivation will fill your day. Unfortunately, when your feet hit the carpet of your bedroom floor you hear the suspicious ‘pitter, patter’ of rain on your window. Your heart will sink and you debate faking sick just so you can stay indoors, binge Netflix and generally ignore the fact that it is casually flooding outside your door. Despite the melancholic weather, your good student instincts will kick in and you will begin to grudgingly get ready for the day.

In an effort to boost your mood, you decide to turn on some music. The first thing that blares over your phone speaker should be none other than “The Ugly Couple Song” by Joshua Beeman. This comical tune will leave you feeling better not only about the climate but also your physical attributes. In a desperate effort to ward off the rain you begin playing, “The Sound of Sunshine” by Michael Franti & Spearhead as a sort of anti-rain dance. Listening to this song may elicit some pretty sick dance moves but in the end there will be no visible effect on the clouds above. As Weezer’s “Island in the Sun” begins to play through your ear buds, you will start to think that maybe rainy days aren’t so bad when you have music like this to help you imagine yourself on an actual island in the sun.