Rainy Day, Rainy Music

'Tis a rainy day here in Ol' Virginny. A storm is steadily making its way up the east coast and I, being a lover of the rain (without lightning), am happily tucked away in my home. 

As opposed to kicking my Black Music Month off with a nice, historical, and informative piece, I've instead decided to make a post dedicated to some of my favorite "rain" songs.

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"In the Rain" by The Dramatics

Ahh, good old Seventies' Soul. The kind of music that makes you wish you owned (or still owned) a record player. The kind of music that makes you want to sit in a large, plush chair with the entire bottle of Crown Royal. 

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"I Wish It Would Rain"--The Temptations

One must wonder if The Dramatics got inspiration for their song from this one. 

"I Wish It Would Rain" is one of my Top Fave songs from The Temptations. It's so hauntingly beautiful and David Ruffin leads with such passion and honesty. The story behind this song is even sadder than the song itself, however. 

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"It's Raining Men"--The Weather Girls

I was depressing myself with those last two songs, so I decided to liven things up a bit with The Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men". Who doesn't love this song and its very 80's-looking video?

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"I Can't Stand the Rain"--Ann Peebles

This soul classic would birth quite a few cover versions, the most popular one being Tina Turner's 1984 version. In the late 90's, Missy Elliot would sample part of the song for the chorus in "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)". No other version would be quite as "funky" as its original, though. 

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"Purple Rain"--Prince and The Revolution

Well, we all know what happens when you try to search for a Prince video on Youtube, so...let's use our imaginations and pretend that a video has been inserted. Now, sing with me: 

"I never meant to cause you any sorrow (sorrow, sorrow, sorrow)...I never meant to cause you any pain (pain, pain, pain)...I only wanted (I only wanted) to one time see you laughing (laughing, laughing, laughing)...I only want to see you laughing in the Purple Rain--Purple Rain, Purple Rain.......Purple Rain, Purple Rain......Purple Rain, Purple Ra-ain...I only want to see you bathing in the Purple Rain..."

And so on and so forth. 

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Did I miss any songs? What are your favorites?