Following on from last week’s post, I thought I’d celebrate my new release – Feels Like Rain – with a bit of an exposition on the song's lyrics and the poem it inspired. I wrote this song one hot afternoon a couple of summers back. I was sitting by the canal, watching the surface of the water glisten in the sun, when it all came to me.
If you've lived in or visited Manchester, then you'll know just how wet and rainy it can get, at pretty much any time of the year. And yet, there I was, roasting under the piercing sun, longing for some respite from the scorching heat, and wishing for some cool breeze to blow my way. In that moment, hot as it was, I knew still, that I had it easy. Nothing stopped me from getting up and seeking shelter, nothing stopped me from going to grab a refreshing drink, nothing stopped me from treating myself to some ice cream. But then the thought turned dark as quickly as it entered my mind. What if I found myself stranded in a desert? What if I was surrounded by fine sand, hot enough to fry my bare feet, and subjected to conditions so arid to bring on severe dehydration? What if it became a matter of life and death?
Thankfully I didn't have to experience that scenario first-hand, but I knew enough to realise that coming upon an oasis, or even more improbable, rain showers, would literally mean the difference between life and death. I had the realisation that this rain that we so often take for granted is akin to something that could make everything better, something whose absence is sorely felt and could very well spell disaster.
This is what love represents. Something, or someone that comes into your life and you wonder how you ever managed to function without them, something, or someone that makes everything better, something, or someone that makes life worthwhile. Feels Like Rain is a celebration of this kind of love, an appreciation of each new day it makes pleasurable.
This is what I'm lucky enough to have. This is why I chose to release this song now, as a small, simple reminder that as summer rolls around in the northern hemisphere, as the temperature rises and heat stroke alerts start to go out, it is worth finding, hanging on to, appreciating, and celebrating the people in our lives that make the hottest, most uncomfortable days feel cool and breezy.
PS: Just a reminder that my latest single, Feels Like Rain is out now, everywhere. You can listen to it on several platforms. Please share it with a friend, share it with your social networks, and consider subscribing to the newsletter (below), my YouTube channel, or wherever else you listen to music.