♪♫ ♪ ♪♫

Dry the Rain
The Beta Band
The Three EPs
1998

Proverb: Into every life a little rain must fall


A recent blissed-out music-moment:

The kitchen, a fall evening, chopping up vegetables and sipping an icy vodka-tonic.

The perfect Songza playlist: 1990s Anger Management.

Five, ten songs in succession, I knew them all; my kitchen-dancing more exaggerated, my humming louder, my grin wider.

But, the eleventh song made me pause, dry my hands, reach for my phone.
I KNEW this song, could name a time, a place, a feeling, but not the title.

When I saw what I was listening to, it was like a big OH YEAH.  THE BETA BAND.  I completely forgot that they even existed. I didn't own any of their albums or see them live, or follow their career trajectory (apparently they broke up in 2004), BUT I remembered this song.  I know I downloaded it way back when (probably on Napster), added it to mix-tape compilations, loved it.

The song verges every-so-slightly on generic--it could be any 90s Brit-Pop band, BUT.  BUT.
The feeling it stirs within me; the chills that make my scalp itch and neck tighten; the irrepressible urge to clap or kick or pump my fist.
That is what makes this song something special.


I considered A LOT of proverbs and songs before knowing that this was the one.
I think I have a penchant towards the proverbs that uplift and reassure.  As cheesy and cliche and worn-out as a proverb may be, there is something comforting in the fact that, like many human experiences, they are virtually universal.

Into every life a little rain must fall.

Under the right circumstances, rain evaporates.
The lyrics of "Dry the Rain" are simple, but so effective in their use of repetition; the song morphs into a chant, a mantra.  I like what they imply about connection and forging relationships; that the trust that emerges as a result of that connection can help "dry the rain"

If there's something inside that you want to say
Say it out loud it'll be okay
Take me in and dry the rain