There is a long-standing metaphorical marriage of rain and sorrow. Painters, film-makers, musical artists — they have all used tempestuous imagery to denote loss, grief, and sadness.
In 1933 Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler penned “Stormy Weather,” the quintessential breakup song first performed by Ethel Waters. Covered by greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Willie Nelson, the song for the dumped laments, “[w]hen he went away the blues walked in and met me… all I do is pray that the Lord above will let me walk in the sun once more.”
In that great tradition, various musical artists have coaxed rain from the clouds, recounting loss in a lyrical squall. In her song “Rain,” Patty Griffin sings of an ending relationship, likens it to a death. “It’s hard to know when to give up the fight,” she croons. Then, in her hauntingly beautiful chorus she sings:
strange how it rains now,
rows and rows of big dark clouds.
But I’m still alive underneath this shroud.
Rain.
In 1991, Garth Brooks wrote “The Thunder Rolls,” in which he weaves a dark tale of a woman who catches her truck-driving husband in an over-the-road affair. Brooks likens the jealousy of a woman to a raging gale, singing:
a strange new perfume blows
and the lightning flashes in her eyes
and he knows that she knows
and the thunder rolls.
Any self-respecting Garth Brooks fan knows the song ends badly for the carousing truck driver. Evidently, women in the South keep loaded pistols handy.
One would be hard pressed to find a song which positively associates rain and love. After all, every wedding planner knows that “rain on your wedding day” is a bad omen, or at least a little too ironic. Don’t you think?
To the artist, rain is the heavens’ way of sharing our pain. It’s nature’s commiseration. It’s the tangible manifestation of the emotional reality.
In an effort to delve deeper into the imagery, we’ve compiled a musical playlist for this month’s Tweetspeak Rain theme. It includes an eclectic mix of great rain songs, and we hope that you might use this list as a sort of prompt.
Press play, grab your journal, and see what happens. Then come back here and share your musings.
Who knows, maybe you’ll write the next “Stormy Weather.”
*****
Last week, Chris Yokel took our Tweetspeak book spine prompt to another level. Instead of limiting himself to book spines, Chris created a CD spine poem from his musical collection. Intriguing, no? In “Night of Hunters,” he writes:
Midnight on the water—
love and thunder whispers
in the wind.
Ten summoner’s tales call
an ancient muse
from the far country.
Make sure you jump to Chris’ place to read the rest of his amazing CD spine poem.
Would you consider following Chris’ lead and weaving your own CD spine poem this month? “Seth, CDs are so 2002,” you might say. Well, scroll through your iTunes album list and create your own album/song poem. Let’s mix-tape it up this month and see what happens!
Tweetspeak’s August Rain Project.
This month’s found poem theme at Tweetspeak is Rain, and we’re using book spines (or CD spines) as the prompt. We’d love you to join with is. How do you participate?
1. This month, we will take our cues from book spines (see Glynn’s piece for more information). Look through your personal collection, the aisles at your local bookstore, or your neighbor’s bookcase and grab a few titles.
2. Arrange a poem completely from words on book spines, or use pieces of the titles to create your own found poem. Make sure your poems touch on themes of rain OR water.
3. Tweet your poems (and pictures of the book spines) to us. Add a #tsrain hashtag so we can find it and maybe share it with the world.
4. If you aren’t a twitter user, leave your found poem here in the comment box (we’ll use our mind’s eye to imagine your book spines).
5. Each week we’ll share a few of the poems. At the end of the month, we’ll choose a winning poem and ask the winner to record his or her poem to be featured in one of our upcoming Weekly Top 10 Poetic Picks.
Thanks to everyone who submitted their own piece of book spine poetry last week. Now, go create a new work and come back here to rain it on us!
Photo (top) by AngryJulieMonday, Creative Commons via Flickr. Post by Seth Haines.
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We did “Stormy Weather” in my high school show choir. Lots of scoops.
“Life is ba-a-are, gloom and mi-i-isery e-everywhere
Stormy we-eather
Just can’t get my poor self together,
I’m weary a-a-a-ll the time…”
It’s actually pretty fun to sing, despite the poor, miserable lyrics.
Have you ever heard Etta James’ version of this one? Man… it’s good. And if you back it up with her rendition of “Out of The Rain” it’s a great two song set.
Lol, I think my CD’s might be so 80′s
That’s why I’m thrilled to have you here, Seth, giving me music.
Loved the lowdown on Rain’s place in musical history. I have to say I found your playlist pretty wonderful though. You’ve managed to find a little fun in the rain.
I actually added “Stormy Weather” and “The Thunder Rolls” to my personal Rain playlist. I thought they might be a tad-wee-bit too depressing?
It’s been fun hanging out with you guys here and swapping songs. And yes… I threw a touch of the 80s (and 70s) for those with elderly cd spines.
Elderly CD spines, Seth? LOL! Loved your playlist, especially Annie Lennox’s rendition of “Here Comes the Rain Again”. I guess that dates me, huh? -he-he:D
I can’t lie… Annie Lennox is one of my favorites.
Hey, I had at least one 80s album title in there Laura. No excuses
Wonderful post, Seth, and a deserved spotlight on Chris. Always fun to see where poets take the prompt(s).
I like how Chris broke the mold. I’ve always liked rebels!
And speaking of “where poets take the prompt(s),” I’ll be excited where this week takes you!
I like a place where creativity outside the lines is rewarded
Thanks for sharing my poem Seth!
Chris,
Thanks for taking the idea and running with it. Lines were made to be blurred, right?
I’m loving the poems AND the music coming from this month’s prompt! Then again, I’m a Seattleite for a reason…rain feels “right” to me. I may complain about it from time to time, but there’s no doubt I miss it when we get our (often very brief) summer. I’m ready for fall, and this is the perfect segue…so thank you!
If I knew there was a Seattlelite in the house, I would have thrown in some Nirvana or Pearl Jam. Maybe next month I’ll figure out a way…
I’ll be looking forward to that!
I went the hybrid route, combining album and book titles.
Purple rain
feels like rain
on the pulse of morning.
(Martin Sexton, Buddy Guy, Maya Angelou)
In the presence of the sun
no rain
circles on the water
praying our goodbyes
(N. Scott Momaday, Blind Melon, Marge Piercy, Joyce Rupp)
Start where you are, Blue Eyes.
We are three
crying in the rain
for the good of the earth and sun.
(Pema Chodron/Willie Nelson, Rumi, Everly Brothers, Georgia Heard)
Here comes the rain again,
tap dancing for Big Mom.
River, flow
as far as the heart can see!
(Eurythmics, Roseann Lloyd, David Whyte, Mark Nepo)
Speaking of faith,
who’ll stop the rain?
Einstein’s God: Rain King
teaching a stone to talk.
(Krista Tippett, Creedence Clearwater, Krista Tippett/Counting Crows, Annie Dillard)
When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple,
fire and rain.
When jewels sing
the artist’s way,
the lives of the heart
rain one thousand gifts.
(Sandra Martz, Birdy, Julia Cameron, Jane Hirshfield, Blind Melon/Ann Voskamp)
Good works, Maureen. I especially like the first one.
These exercises (and reading everyone’s work) help shake me up creatively. I hope you’re finding the same thing true in your own work.
We’re like poet-scientists, creating new crossbreeds of creations all the time.
Enjoyed your post, Seth. Loved your poem, Chris! Congrats!
Thanks, Grace. Hope you’ll play along with this musical mosaic of sorts. (Do you like how I just pulled in July’s theme?)
Seth, what a great piece! My INTENTION was to grab a stack of titles and build something from your wonderful list, but that’s not what came out. Your mention of rain being bad luck on wedding days brought me back to my own wedding day – quite wet to be sure! I wanted to tell that story and managed to find place to borrow from Willie Nelson…
the parching drought
shattered by quenching drops
pounding down on my brother’s hat
as he prepares the huge grill for the all day roasting
a little rain cannot stop this feast
wedding tent pelted
by a marriage’s first challenge
centerpieces set aside, tables removed
chairs moved there, row by row, from the once sunny yard
holes dug there to plant the arbor built for these vows
because the once sunny yard is now puddling fast
a little rain cannot stop this gathering
all the plans
all the guests
all the lists and preparation
the deluge was not a part of any of these
yet it came…. Fiercely it came
and so do the guests, streaming out of their cars
gifts shielding hairstyles
or umbrellas gripped tightly
summer shoes splashing in the driveway
filing into the only dry place
(as long as the tent holds up)
a little rain cannot stop these friends
and now the bride
resigned to the fact that her veil will be soaked
steps out of the house on her parents’
to the glorious sight of
umbrellas held high overhead by dripping, smiling cherished ones,
guiding the way through the shower
past the giant pine tree she used to jump over as a child
all the way to the wedding tent
arbor now inside, her handsome groom waits there
and the bride’s blue eyes crying in the rain
streams tears of knowing
that a little rain cannot stop this love
(a cut and paste glitch…. no… she did not step on her parents although she was on their ARMS together, one on either side… “steps out of the house on her parents’arms”)
And so, now sticking more to the prompt:
if the rain must fall
i’ll be singin’ in the rain
i’ll be dancin’ to the
rhythm of the rain
my friend
let the four winds blow
i’ll fly like and eagle
with the riders on the storm
not the
dust in the wind
Thanks for these pieces, Donna. I’ll feature one of them in tomorrow’s piece so make sure you check it out!
Seth, THANK YOU!!!
That’s something I will definitely look forward to! Oooooooo I hear laughter in the rain… (oh that’s just me laughing and cringing at my typos)! This was a lot of fun!
At 5 a.m. this morning, the thunder rumbled outside our window, shaking my husband awake. I heard him rustling in the dark, and I asked him what he was doing. He said he was going to sit in the living room, because it had been so long since he’d heard a good rain. And so he sat out there, in his recliner, just taking it all in until the sun rose.
(Loved this, Seth. You’re such a thoughtful writer.)
I’m glad you dropped this line here. I know how y’all’ve (a proper Southernism, by the way) been waiting for that for some time. Sometimes, the best music is that which comes by grace, no?
Thanks for popping in here JDL. It’s always a pleasure to see you ’round the interwebs.
Alright, I’m taking your challenge: a love song about rain. Because I am a Texan, and when we–like so many in our state–go to Colorado in the summer, we video the rain, baby!
Love it.
One summer I went to Colorado for a camping trip and it starting raining… which promptly turned to sleet… which made me ask, “why do people summer here?”
Bring that song. I want to hear it!
Here you go! Thanks for the fun.
http://monicasharman.blogspot.com/2012/08/book-spine-poetry-water.html
Quite lovely, Monica. I hope you keep playing.