Today’s weather was a blustery, cold rainy day. I managed to stay home and work on school. (There ARE perks for school on-line!) I remember a couple of Novembers when it was cold and nasty, and I would end my day with a two hour marching band rehearsal… Yes. In the cold and the rain. First I had to slog across campus and get into marching gear. Then I had to march the new show’s drill, regardless of the weather, outside on the practice field. And yes, when we were standing at attention, you could not shift or move, or try to stop the rain from running down the brim of your hat and down your shirt. I would go home, chilled to the bone, grateful for a warm dinner and a hot shower.

Many days as I would cross the Oval to head for my noon class, I would time it so that I could hear the day’s selection from the chime ringers. One person at a time, (usually organ majors from the music school,) would throw the levers and play traditional chime tunes, and for fun they would always play a song that was a joke. Sometimes it was a theme from an upcoming show in the music school. It was something to look forward to, regardless of the weather. The chimes would end with the school’s alma mater, Carmen Ohio. (The uninformed among you think that this tune is a hymn. That would be incorrect.)

One particularly nasty rainy day, the chimes ringer played tunes that related to the weather. The one that absolutely cracked me up was “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head,” and the crowd started to really grow when he played “MacArthur Park.” There were probably fifty or so of us, standing in the rain, waiting for him to come out at the end of the quarter hour, and we applauded and cheered. (And yes we were late for class. But no matter.)

So in the grand tradition of “music you don’t want to hear on a rainy day” I thought I’d start a list. Feel free to add to my list in the comments…

Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head
Let a Smile be your Umbrella
I Wish it Would Rain
Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get me Down
Ark-y, Ark-y
April Showers
I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone
MacArthur Park
Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain
Over the Rainbow
Here comes that Rainy Day feeling again
It’s Raining Men
The Rain in Spain
10,000 Maniacs Rainy Day
and…
Stormy Weather

Deb

Oh – P.S. Row, Row, Row your Boat!