Generally known as the monsoon, in
Australia
it's apparently called `The Wet'. There is probably no weather system more looked forward to than those black clouds bearing heavy rains in a summer-scorched India. The bheegi, bheegi mausam from which the word monsoon has been derived, or maybe it's from the Arabic mawsim, perhaps the Portuguese monção, inspired generations of artists and musicians. And their creative output has been daunting to say the least. Raags, bhajans, assorted sangeet and folk, Bollywood pop, they have all paid their dues to the pouring rain. When 70% or more of India's rainfall depends on the monsoon, it is no wonder that this season offers the makings of romance, for melancholia, and hope.Calcutta's three or four month tryst with the monsoon rains gives us reason for immense irritation too.Flooded roads flowing with garbage, choked drains, massive traffic jams, wet clothes and even wetter footwear. Leather doesn't like the weather and washed clothes never seem to dry . Using the airconditioner is a question of maybe, maybe not. But there's the beauty too of bright green leaves, no-longer-dusty pavements and walls. There's the deliciousness of spe cific vegetables and fruits which span only the summer and monsoon months.There's wonderful shellfish and the Bengali's treasured ilish maach. The rain's bounty offsets the crassness of a tropical summer. And like all good Bengalis, music gives me solace and comfort. In this season, what better than rain songs?
It would be easy to compile a list of panIndian music but that's been done. Here then is my eclectic list of 10 songs inspired by the falling rain, from the blues, rock and jazz. Most of them are available on the http:www to listen to.
1 To get the rain falling, you need Summertime. I particularly like the rock and blues versions of this Gershwin classic by the late Janis Joplin and new-age blues singer Kim Nalley despite jazz greats like Billie Holiday , Ella Fitzgerald and Al Jarreau having done them beautifully years before those two.
2 Feels like rain. This is a mandatory song on my playlist. Composed by an unknown great, John Hiatt, it really was that amazing blues guitarist, Buddy Guy who made it famous. His version featuring Bonnie Raitt, is the one I like the most.
3 Have you ever seen the rain and Who'll stop the rain by vintage American rockers Creedence Clearwater Revival are perennial favourites and have been ever since I first heard them too many years ago.
4 Box of rain and Looks like rain performed by the iconic Grateful Dead and written by Robert HunterJerry Garcia and Bob Weir respectively can never not be there on such a playlist.
5 Ella Fitzgerald sings “Into each life some rain must fall...“ in the song of the same name.
6 The latest Nobel laureate in Literature cannot be ignored at any cost.
Bob Dylan's A hard rain's gonna fall from 1962 was possibly influenced by a folk ballad written well before his time. The original Hard rain was collected by Francis Child, folklorist and scholar, who believed the song was from a more democratic time in the past and was about ordinary people fighting the tyranny of the oppressor.
7 The Beatles simply called their song Rain which was released as the B-side of a single or 45 rpm in those days of vinyl records. It never featured on any album during their time.
8 Rainmaker by that once-upon-a-time British supergroup Traffic who used to tread the fine line between rock, blues and jazz, and a whole lot else.
9 There are times during the mon soon when one can quite appreciate what Lowell George meant when he sang, I can't stand the rain. George died in June 1979 and was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist who co-founded Little Feat in the '70s, a rock band that burst upon the scene all guitars blazing and then crashed like a fallen cymbal.
10 There is not a shadow of doubt that rain inspires musicians like almost nothing else, so much so they end up with the same name. Let it rain is one such song sung composed by a number of musicians and quite different from each other. There's a Christian one which I shall set aside for now. Then there's that
'70s power ballad done by
Eric Clapton as also by that short-lived collaborative venture he was part of -Derek and the Dominos. There's a fine one by the late Al Jarreau and George Benson from their 2006 joint album, Givin' It Up, featuring Patti Austin as third voice. There's also one by the latest MBE,
Ed Sheeran
as well as quite a few others.
That list has more than 10 songs, but who's counting? Standard disclaimer: Rain songs are in their multitude and this list is hardly a comprehensive one. Hopefully, it will set you off on a journey of discovery and inspire you now that the monsoon is so definitely upon us.
— PATRICK SL GHOSE
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