It has been awhile since we did anything musically for “Amusing Monday,” so I wandered around the World Wide Web and learned that some people have compiled top-10 lists of their favorite water-related songs.
Jonathan Kay, who works for KOR, felt compelled to create a top-25 list of water tunes while working in a booth where he promotes the company’s specially designed water bottles. Check out the blog called “The Water Advocate.”
Jonathan listed “Rain” by The Beatles as his top choice for playing in the background while he made his sales pitch. Others were: 2, “Sloop John B.” by the Beach Boys; 3, “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding; 4, “Tide is High” by Blondie; and, 5, “Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin.
Before I mention other song lists, I’d like to refer to a website called Songfacts, which compiles songs into dozens of categories and then tells you about each song. Included are facts about the artists and the music with links to the song on YouTube. You can also get the lyrics, sheet music and ringtone, as well as information about purchasing the song.
According to Songfacts, Ringo once said his best drumming was done on “Rain,” which was the first song to use a tape played backward for unusual audio effects. The fade-out vocals at the end was the backwards version of the opening line, “When the rain comes they run and hide their heads.” The rhythm track was played fast and slowed down for the version we hear. It was also John’s first song to explore themes of reality and illusion.
Songfacts lists more than 200 songs with weather conditions in the title, including lots of songs with the word “rain” in them. The list includes six songs titled simply “Rain.” In addition to the version by The Beatles, there are “Rain” songs by:
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Bill Lamb of About.com Guide lists his top-10 rain songs, leading with Brooke Benton’s “Rainy Night in Georgia.”
Others on the list are: 2, “Here Comes the Rain Again” by Eurythmics; 3, “Who’ll Stop the Rain” by Creedence Clearwater Revival; 4, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” by B.J. Thomas; 5, “Rain” by The Beatles; 6, “I Can’t Stand the Rain” by Ann Peebles; 7, “Umbrella” by Rihanna; 8, “Purple Rain” by Prince; 9, “Rhapsody in the Rain” by Lou Christie; and 10, “Rainy Days and Mondays” by the Carpenters.
Another song list with “Rain” in the title, which includes 30 songs, can be found on the website Epinions.com. Aida Ekberg of Yahoo Contributor Network compiled what she calls “30 songs about rain that rock.” And Michelle Barlond-Smith has compiled 48 videos on YouTube that address the issue of water.
Shifting categories, Jeff Opperman of The Nature Conservancy created his top-10 list of river songs for World Water Day, led by Woody Guthrie’s “Roll on Columbia,” Randy Newman’s “Burn On” and Johnny Cash’s “Five Feet High and Rising.”
When Opperman asked for reader contributions, the top-10 list started with “River” by Joni Mitchell tied with “Moon River” by various artists. Next came “Down by the River” by Neil Young and “Take Me to the River” by Talking Heads and others.
Other categories in Songfacts that include some water-related songs:
Songs with bodies of water in the title
