Rain, Music, and Smartphones: A Polygamous Marriage

One of my favorite sounds in the world is rain. You might find me walking in a midnight storm or curled up on a sofa with a glass of wine, night or day, being soothed by thunder and lightning. Three loves in my life feel primal: rain, music, and a third that will remain nameless to keep this G-rated.

I went on a quest to recall my favorite songs, featuring rain or storms, to put on a playlist. Immediately, I thought about how I would access them and how that looks different now than it did a few decades ago. The evolution of how I enjoyed music over the years is directly linked to the evolution of my history with phones.

In the years prior to the twenty-first century, I listened to music on TVs, radios, records, tapes, CDs, and computers. With the advent of smartphones and my slow gravitation to them circa 2010, treasured songs were at my fingertips within seconds of thinking about them. TVs were relegated to watching the news or music specials. Radios were great for Smooth Jazz. My libraries of records, tapes, and CDs grew dusty on shelves. My first smartphone changed my life.

Do you remember landline, rotary telephones? I am laughing. Probably, you do not or barely do. Prior to the cellular age, I never would have considered listening to music on a phone. My first was the standard blocky, black rotary model. It sat on a desk, and I felt privileged to have it (though I hated night time calls I had to stumble out of bed to answer). Later, I graduated to a brassy, standing rotary phone. I felt like royalty every time I used it.

After the rotaries was a landline, push-button phone—more of a square than my rotary, quicker to navigate, and a weird beige color. Again, would I have imagined listening to music on a phone—other than the dreaded Muzak when I was put on hold? Absolutely not.

When flip phones came along, I did not trust them. They were not landlines. I wondered, are they even Southwestern Bell or AT&T? I thought flip phones were a fad marketed to young people with too big of an allowance. Surely, the new gadgets would not last. I was wrong. The portability of flip phones won my loyalty, almost. I never quite trusted them and was only interested in using flip phones for expediency.

Now, tah-dah! My smartphone and I are partners. I go nowhere without it. Even when in bed, it is inches away from my fingers, though muted. Of course, it is not a landline.

I digressed; back to recalling songs with rain or storm themes.

It was not until I bought a smartphone that I could easily access music, old or new, any time of day or night. Some of the fact-checking for this article was done on a smartphone. Here are my top ten rain and storm songs. All make me relive that feeling of the first drops of rain on bare skin.

My Favorite Rain and Storm-Themed Songs Playlist

1. "Stormy Weather" Performed by Lena Horne (1943)

2. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" Performed by Judy Garland (1939)

3. "Making Love in the Rain" Performed by Janet Jackson and Herb Alpert (1987)

4. "Here Comes the Rain Again" Performed by The Eurythmics (1983)

5. "Riders on the Storm" Performed by The Doors (1971)

6. "Fire and Rain" Performed by James Taylor (1970)

7. "Stormy" Performed by The Classic IV (1967)

8. "I Can't Stand the Rain" Performed by Tina Turner (1984)

9. "Come in From the Rain" Performed by Melissa Manchester (1976)

10. "Purple Rain" Performed by Prince (1984)

The polygamous marriage of phone, rain, and music would be a bizarre sign of the times if viewed by the Rotary or Push-button Phone Me. The Flip Phone Me would have thought, Yes, possible, but I’m not interested. Today, the Smartphone Me proclaims, "Absolutely, yes! Kudos to Brilliant Music Writers and Inventors!"