Symphony of monsoon | Here’s how rain inspired the creative flow of these musicians 

Nothing compares to the pitter-patter of rain, accompanied by the repetitious croaking of frogs and Nature’s own symphony of monsoon. But if you are a music aficionado looking for an excuse to drown your senses in raaga Malhar, then the rain could possibly be your trusty sidekick. What? You don’t like Indian classical music? Jazz, then? Perhaps, something mainstream — a Bollywood banger from the ‘90s with pelvic thrusts by women draped in drenched chiffon saris?

In a country where advice and judgement comes cheap, song recommendations can only be perceived in three ways — portentous, perfunctory or passionate. (In case of rain, that would be, respectively and respectfully, Fuzzy Logic’s ‘Guerrilla Monsoon’, Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ or ‘November Rain’ by Guns N’ Roses).

In matters as subjective as the arts, we will (or at least try to) toe the line of objectivity. So, here are four different musicians who have composed songs about rain and here’s how the monsoon fuelled their creative stream.

For the ‘Indie’philes

‘Indian Monsoon’ by Tech Panda and Kenzani

The inspiration came from the vocals of the song that goes something like ‘Jhiri jhiri barre’. Mid-August is when it would rain in Delhi when, I was a kid, says Tech Panda. “The wordings are celebratory and for mesort of captured the message of relief and burst of new life that the Indian monsoon is synonymous with.” For Kenzani it was “The relief one gets from the heat and dust and the promise of rising hopes and dreams and celebrating over chai and pakodas.”

NEWYORK, 24/08/2007: Sitarist Anoushka Shankar and Musician Karsh Kale, at a press conference in New York on August 24, 2007 as part of her latest music album release “Breathing under Water”, on August 28th in Manhattan, New York. Photo: Shaju John
| Photo Credit:
SHAJU JOHN

‘A Perfect Rain’ by Anoushka Shankar and Karsh Kale

We initially worked on the song back in 2006 when Anoushka Shankar and I were writing sketches for our album Breathing Underwater. At the time I was using an acoustic guitar and we were writing guitar and sitar compositions. So, one of those was the initial idea for ‘A Perfect Rain’. I was writing something in raaga Jog, which also then opened up in the chorus into a major chord. The name ‘A Perfect Rain’ came before we actually had a vocalist. We were writing the song in Delhi and it was raining. The album itself was therapy for Anoushka Shankar and me as our lives were going through transitions. I think, our partnership was based in helping each other to the next place — that’s what the rainy season represents too, the blossoming of a new season.

Regional reprise

M Jayachandran
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

‘Mazhaye Thoomazhaye’ from Pattam Pole by M Jayachandran

Romance and the drizzle — they have always felt inseparable to me, like ragas gently conversing with soft rock and two distinct genres getting together. It is like two moods meeting and creating something tender and timeless. To me, composing the feeling of being in love, musically, is one of the most beautiful forms of expression. Pattam Pole gave me the chance to rediscover romance in the rain. With Mazhaye Thoomazhaye, I wanted to offer something fresh to the younger generation — a song where different musical genres blend seamlessly into one emotion. My director gave me complete freedom to explore. Santosh Sharma penned the lyrics with delicate grace and Haricharan poured his soul into every note. That is how Mazhaye Thoomazhaye was born. It’s a gentle rain of melody, love and freedom.

Talwiinder

‘Baarish Da Mausam’ by Talwiinder

Rain is my favourite weather. There was a week when it was raining continuously. Rippy had written a few lines and I remember I went for a walk and repeatedly listened to Rippy’s voice note as the rain continued to fall. The voice note was the lyrics of ‘Baarish Da Mausam’. It was pensive and deep. That’s what rains mean to me too. We recorded the song, and even today we have people tagging it and playing it whenever it rains.

“There are more than 2,000 user created playlists on Spotify featuring the words rain, baarish, barsaat, and monsoon. A few of the popular Spotify curated playlists for monsoon (across languages) include Barso Re, Tip Tip Barsa, Monsoon Hits Indie, Hits Di Jhadi, Mazhai Feels, Ee Varsham, Monsoon Malayalam, Paus Ani Ti, and Mungaru Malebillu. While Spotify listeners in India generally love ‘love songs’, the consumption of romantic, mellow songs increases during this season. ”SpokespersonSpotify