Rain Plans

Often when I hear a song, it reminds me of other music.

Like I wrote yesterday, some tracks from the Pink Floyd album Division Bell reminded me of music from their earlier albums Animals, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. Other times, a song will remind me of a completely different artist. Does that happen to you? Let me know in the comments!

When I first heard today’s selection by American indie rock/alternative/Americana singer, songwriter and guitarist Israel Nash (aka Israel Nash Gripka, b. 1981), it brought to mind the long-running American/English/Canadian folk-rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, though scanning their catalogue, I don’t think it really matches their sound. Another thought was the American rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival, but again, I’m not sure if that’s a match either. Finally, I recognized it is probably the 1969 song “Down by the River” by Canadian-American singer, songwriter and musician Neil Young (b. 1945) played with his band Crazy Horse that I’m reminded of by elements in Nash’s “Rain Plans.”

“Rain Plans” is a moderately long song at seven minutes and nineteen seconds, but its lyrics are brief; two short verses begin with the same line, and a chorus plays twice, and there is an extended outro. The song’s premise seems simple: life is filled with uncertainty (thus, rain plans), and this is in contrast with the constancy of his lover.

“I got rain plans
Written in these storms
When I throw it
Tell me where to go

Hold on there’s a woman in my bed
And I want her to stay there
Hold on there’s a woman in my head
And I want her to stay there

I got rain plans
Tell us where we’ve been
I got new hands
To pawn us west again

Hold on there’s a woman in my bed
And I want her to stay there
Hold on there’s a woman in my head
And I want her to stay there”

“Rain Plans,” by Israel Nash.
Lyrics retrieved from Genius.com.

And to go back to Pink Floyd for another moment, the last half-minute or so of the outro on today’s selection reminds me of the endings on songs from their epic 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon (for example, “Us and Them,” Any Colour You Like”). This is part of what musicians are talking about when referring to influences: other songwriters or groups whose music has inspired them and led them to use certain styles, chords or other sounds in their own music.

At any rate, “Rain Plans” is a pretty solid number with a lot of skillful guitar playing, especially in the outro. The song comes from Nash’s fourth album, Israel Nash’s Rain Plans (released in 2013 in the UK; 2014 in North America).

Now you know a little about why this is my Song of the Day for Today. Thanks for joining me here. Please enjoy the audio from the Loose Music record label’s YouTube channel:

With warmest wishes,

Steve