Tuesday, October 18, 2005

It's Raining Again

For a lot of local Las Vegans, today and last night we had weather that many moved here to avoid. Yes, the dreaded thing called rainfall. Somewhere in this city, there are a bunch of pots and pans under leaks in the roof. There are people getting in car accidents because they can't drive. There are roads closed due to flooding (we don't actually have the best drainage.) There are people that can't work (outdoor jobs.) But, we are second to Arizona in getting the least rainfall so I find it hard to complain and I actually like it.

I don't know specifically why but there may be several reasons for it. My father teaches tennis. Having rainy days meant that he wouldn't be at work and we'd have him to ourselves. That could be a good one. It could be that amazing smell that comes before the rain here in Vegas. I've heard people talk about the smell after the rain but by that time the smell I notice is gone. I also like seeing empty streets in the middle of the day. It's a break from the hustle and bustle. Maybe it's even the feeling that the rain is washing away the impurities that have built up and is starting our town with a clean slate. What am I saying, it's Sin City. Heck, I've even thought of it as the Lord either urinating, spitting or crying at different times in my life, too.

Sometime after I graduated high school, I found an album that I've mentioned before called The Size Of Food by The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience. After becoming transfixed and sucked into their sound, I went looking for more. All I could find was an old vinyl album of theirs called Love Songs. That's where I found my favorite song, "I Like Rain," and for a few weeks I'll leave it up here (it's going to kill my website's bandwidth otherwise.) It takes repeated listenings but there is something about the cheesy keyboards, simple guitar picking, rollercoaster of melody and innocence... maybe even the falling notes. I also notice that some of my favorite songs are about rain: Jars Of Clay's "Flood," Supertramp's "It's Raining Again," the Eurythmics' "Here Comes The Rain Again," Depeche Mode's "Sun And The Rainfall," Cracker's "Another Song About The Rain," Eddie Rabbitt's "I Love A Rainy Night," New Edition's "Can You Stand The Rain?," The Everly Brother's "Crying In the Rain," The Cult's "Rain," The Jesus And Mary Chain's "Happy When It Rains"... let's just say there are a whole lot of them.

5 comments:

Bar L. said...

I really like that song by the Eurythics and the one by Supertramp!

Rain is not as uncommon here as it is up there, but it's still a "big deal". If there's a mist in the air people freak out about "the storm". No one can drive in the rain down here and we have tons of mudslides.

LoraLoo said...

Today was an absolutely beautiful day in Vegas!! True, people can't drive in the rain, kids were kept inside and we had flooded streets - but I sat in my office for awhile today and listened to the most calming sound... rain.

Jenn Doll said...

Rain rules. I don't like driving in it and sometimes the storms scare me (Yeah, I'm a big baby), but I really love the smell, the sound and the mood it sets.

Anonymous said...

Rain is my absolute favorite thing in the world. It's also my favorite smell. When we were little if it rained enough to flood a street or parking lot, we played in it. Nowadays I think, sheesh, that's so gross..lol. But it was a blast. The country song, "Songs About Rain", can't remember who sings it, but that's my favorite 'rain' song. :)

FantasticAlice said...

I'm only happy when it rains-Garbage Good song!

I think us Missourians are getting your rain now.... er, uh, thanks.

I concur with Jenn, I hate driving in the stuff but I could watch it rain for hours.