It is known that to be a romantic, you have to be foolhardy. Let me take you back to the monsoon of Mumbai in 2005. From the fifth floor of my building, I could see four feet of water build up, cutting off our access to the outside world and partially drowning our car. Yet, the memory that has stood the test of time for my privileged self is that ‘Baras Jaa Aye Badal’ (Pour, dear clouds) was playing on the radio. How we laughed!
Music can often be a memory map, even more so when you are travelling. So before you pack your bags and trot across the globe, visiting cities awash with first rains, here are a few songs you can load your playlist with.
If you find yourself in Paris when it rains, you will probably be reminded of Sidney Bechet’s wonderfully laidback clarinet playing in ‘Si Tu Vois Ma Mère’. The song plays in the background as you see various locations in a drenched Paris captured by Woody Allen’s lens in Midnight in Paris — from looking down Saint Antoine street lined with cafes to the shoppers at the Palais Royal square.
Move eastward from quaint cobbled French roads to a more vibrant Italy, and venture into upbeat rap — ‘Piove’ by Jovanotti, made famous by The Sopranos . The song opens with sounds of thunder and Jovanotti alludes the downpour as a metaphor for hope and new beginnings. Play this as you watch the world pass by on a rail tour through Rome, Venice and Florence. Here’s more happy music: if the rain plays a dampener on your travel plans, let German band Fool’s Garden (of ‘Lemon Tree’ fame) lift your mood up with this sing-at-home number, ‘Rainy Day’. Rains are nothing if not romantic, and what better way to set the mood than some Spanish guitar — a sound made good use of in multiple movies such as Vicky Cristina Barcelona and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly . If you’re not one for walking in the rain, enjoy the weather from inside Antoni Gaudi’s buildings in Barcelona and listen to the masterful composition of ‘‘Mediterranean Sundance’ by Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin.
For adventure lovers however, the fun is further North. Driving through Iceland in the rain can be as challenging as it can be rewarding. For a tour of the eastern fjords, drive to Akureyri in the North from the Vik village in the South, crossing Egilsstaðir and the Mývatn lake. As you take in the surreal landscape, put on Sigur Rós’ ‘Hoppípolla’ on the speakers. Let Jónsi tell you about the joy of jumping into puddles and make you feel as if you are in a movie.
Speaking of movies, no song has made iconic the act of jumping around while it pours as ‘Singin in the Rain’. Gene Kelly’s carefree dancing on California roads is infectious; gone are the worries about catching a cold. It is the one song that proves rain songs don’t have to be brooding or nostalgic to hit the sweet spot.
Not to say that those can’t be just as powerful. ‘Rainy Night in Georgia’, the 1969 RnB hit by Brook Benton, spells out the melancholia of travelling alone with its opening line “Hoverin’ by my suitcase, tryin’ to find a warm place to spend the night”. On the other side of the Atlantic in a different time, The Pogues came up with a similar-titled soulful melody, ‘A Rainy Night in Soho’, for lovers in the rain.
Crossing another ocean, we reach Japan, the land of director Akira Kurosawa; a man accomplished in the art of using rain for storytelling. Escape the bustling city life of Tokyo and instead visit the quieter parts of Karuizawa, the port town of Otaru, and Hakone looking out towards Mount Fuji, with Fumio Hayasaka’s music to keep you company. In the Asian mainland, Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love , set in erstwhile Hong Kong, epitomises secret love: the stolen glances between Chow Mo-wan and Su Li-zhen as they pass each other, dumplings in hand, in a corridor, while it pours outside. Taking the scene a notch higher is Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi’s hauntingly wistful melody. It’s the melody you should be listening to as you go hunting for dim sums in the dai pai dongs at Old Town Central.
Not everyone loves the rains though. If you, dear reader, would rather shut yourself in a hotel room, watching from the windows till they die down, who better than the Irish to keep you company. Get yourself a hot cup of coffee, blast Celtic band Gaelic Storm’s ‘Pina Colada In a Pint Glass’ and wait for the sun to shine again.
