Rainy Days

I don't always listen to opera. There are some days when I'm feeling a little blue, that a good dose of The Carpenters is just what the doctor ordered. The familiar sound of Karen Carpenter's natural, easygoing style is always therapeutic. It takes me back to the summer in 1973, before I turned 17, that I spent in Japan. (Okay, do the math! ) We rode bicycles every day on the roads surrounding Kagoshima, with a breathtaking view of Sakurajima in the background, singing Carpenters songs at the top of our lungs. It was surreal, just like a musical! And because of Karen's untimely death, I feel a touch of melancholy when I listen.

It's a dark and gloomy rainy day. Think I need a dose!


Rainy Days and Mondays
words and music by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols

Talkin' to myself and feelin' old
Sometimes I'd like to quit
Nothing ever seems to fit
Hangin' around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

What I've got they used to call the blues
Nothin' is really wrong
Feelin' like I don't belong
Walkin' around
Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

Funny but it seems I always wind up here with you
Nice to know somebody loves me
Funny but it seems that it's the only thing to do
Run and find the one who loves me.

What I feel has come and gone before
No need to talk it out
We know what it's all about
Hangin' around nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

**Rain, painting by Gustave Caillebotte