The rain came down the rain came downThe rain came down on meThe wind blew strong and summer’s songFades to memory
I knew you when i loved you thenIn summer’s yawn now helplessYou laid me bare you marked me thereThe promises we made…
The first time I ever watched the George Cukor classic ‘The Women’ was on a lazy summer day, when it was too hot to stay outside, so I flipped through the channels of the television and this black and white movie came on TCM. Knowing it had inspired various fashion designers over the years, I settled in for the afternoon and watched the travails of Mary Haines and her female cohorts (with one of my favorites, Rosalind Russell, battling Joan Crawford for a meal of scenery). The bottle of perfume that forms a pivotal plot point for discovery was named ‘Summer Rain’, a name that has gone largely forgotten in favor of the more pointedly named ‘Jungle Red’ nail polish.
Tonight we are being deluged by rain, and so I was put in mind of the movie, and this song, which has nothing to do with the movie, but is from a summer-themed album ‘Reveal’ by R.E.M. That collection contained the more-overtly-related ‘Summer Turns to High‘ and the glorious ‘Imitation of Life‘.
I used to think as birds take wingThey sing through life so why can’t we?We cling to this and claim the bestIf this is what you’re offeringI’ll take the rain i’ll take the rain
The nighttime creases summer schemesAnd stretches out to stayThe sun shines down you came aroundYou loved the easy days but now the sunThe winter’s come i wanted just to sayThat if I hold i’d hoped you’d foldOpen up inside, inside of me
Most of the favored songs for summer are upbeat and effervescent and hopeful. That’s what summer is supposed to be – sunny and light and airy. That leaves out the darker underside, and somehow the more beautiful and somber shades of summer. It’s here in this song, here on this rainy evening, in which I take my own version of ‘Summer Rain’ down from the shelf, ‘Un Jardin Apres la Mousson’ by Hermes – which translates to a garden after the Monsoon – and spray a little on before bed.
Far from waking from thunder, I’ve always slept better during the rain, in or out of Hermes.
Back to Blog
