The Evolution of the Song “The Rain” by Frank Sardella

The Rain has an interesting back story, lineage and evolution from a heart-felt piano ballad, the first full-length song I had written, to an up-tempo, driving modern-punk-rock song.

What started as an outpour of emotions from personal experience I had been withholding, unexpressed with no outlet other than a borrowed piano keyboard, a drum machine and a week’s vacation from work I took advantage of to woodshed in the shared Victorian farmhouse I was living in, became one of the best hooks I’ve ever written, musically and lyrically.

It was intensely down-pouring that day in mid-February, 1992, and I was determined to spend the week, locked in my room, songwriting. Borrowing an electronic keyboard from the band leader of the band I was playing in, I set out to write the first of 4 full-length songs I would leave that room at the end of my vacation week.

It should be noted that I wanted to be entirely metaphorical with the lyrical representation of a very real situation which occurred the previous autumn, that of October 1991. At the time I was new to the poetic process and felt I had to be entirely metaphorical so as “not to be too obvious” in my writing. But this would change almost two decades later, which I will get to in a minute.

The Rain was so satisfying to write and was added to the original songs list of the band I was playing for at the time, a project that never went anywhere. And so the song stayed in my library until almost 2 decades later when I would take another run at it, all of which led to my ultimate demo recording of the 2022 version, 30 years after the fact of having composed the original version. But there is more to the story…

The Rain (Original Ballad, 1992)

When I thought I fell in love one day
there was nothing left to say,
I knew from the time I saw your face
From my ordinary soul,
came ordinary feelings,
’til I saw you that day,
that cloudy day when you took me away

And, it hurst me to say
that new feelings aren’t to blame
just some cloudy day
and I’m far away
from the rain
Just some cloudy day
that storms my life
from miles away
and miles away
Please take me far away
from the rain

I saw your face today,
it made me want to go away,
far from here
where I might forget,
with no regrets,
I might forget

What it might have been to know
but it was just touch and go
I still feel the same
Touch the rain
Feel the rain
Feel the pain…

…Water touches my window pane
and I’ll never be the same…

When it rains I can see your face
from the depths of this special place,
behind my hardened face,
Please take me far away
from the rain
Far away
from the rain
please take me far away
from the
rain…

Rewriting the Lyrics and “Modernizing” the Song

Over nearly two decades since first writing the song, I became quite inspired by both my environment and personal experiences over the preceding years. I owned a house a few miles away from that original Victorian farmhouse where I wrote the original version of “The Rain,” and had been recently gifted an old, out-of-tune, upright piano from a neighbor. [Honestly, anytime, to this day, that I come in contact with a piano, I feel compelled to play the chords of The Rain.] One day I decided it was time…

I wanted to step out of the total metaphor and write from the heart, the real experience, while using the metaphor to help tell the real story. I wanted to tell it in the verses of what had actually happened, and even detail in the song what it was like the day I wrote it.

If you read the lyrics to the first verse the, “room all day”, “open shades”, “all this rain”, as well as “a downpour so extreme”, are all literal descriptions of that day, something I remember so vividly, even now.

The second verse gives up a few details of the actual situation I was recalling. So in 2009, I was recalling the actual day I wrote it AND the day this particular situation occurred. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this version and feel content I’ve told the story I was trying to tell back in 1992, the one I couldn’t find the literal words to write!

Here is the piano version of the rewrite…

The Rain (2009)

In my room all day
with these open shades
watching all this rain
that sought me out, then found me
I swear, I’ve never seen
a downpour so extreme
I knew it had to mean
some metaphoric thing about me

Still, it hurts me to say that I know that I’m to blame,
for my lack of words and that face you made
And, now that cloudy day, it storms my life,
from miles away, and miles away
Now I keep far away from the rain

We left the club so late
but it was not a date
Want to tell you straight
what I’ve been keeping from you
Then you looked at me
and fumbled with your keys
I knew it had to be a sign,
but now this rain reminds me,

how it hurts me to say that I know that I’m to blame,
for my lack of words and that face you made
And, now that cloudy day, it storms my life,
from miles away, and miles away
Now I keep far away from the rain

I recall the sky that night was clear,
so why does rain bring this to mind?
‘Cause every time it rains it feels
the same as never sayin’ what I feel
and there’s no way I’d ever find

And, don’t you find it strange
something like this could change
a clear night into rain?
Hope it won’t rain forever…

It storms my life…
Now, I keep far away
from the rain…

The Guitar Version (2009)

Immediately following the piano rewrite of 2009, I picked up my acoustic guitar, and I learned the chords to the song. Here is the guitar version as it was written that day… (lyrics are the same as above)

The Rain 2021

Some of the best songs I have ever written started out as ballads and then were changed in tempo and intensity to become high-octane, modern punk rock songs. The rain is no exception. After the passing of my mother in 2021, I was reevaluating my music career trajectory and decided to form a band and make a record. I called up a very talented friend of mine who plays guitar and other instruments too. He listened to some of my stuff and said he was in. We immediately started work on some of my material. One day, we did a session in the rehearsal studio and recorded it. We did a fast-tempo, punk rock version of the rain with me on drums and Steve on guitar and vocals.

The result was this…

The Rain (2026)

And, finally, I recorded a demo version with full guitars, bass and backup vocals. And here is what that sounds like on my current demo of an album for an upcoming first release from my punk band “Go Ahead Punk” entitled “Whining and Pining”…

franksardella · The Rain

The Rain

I recall the sky that night was clear,
so why does rain bring this to mind?
‘Cause every time it rains it feels
the same as never sayin’ what I feel
and there’s no way I’d ever find

And, don’t you find it strange
something like this could change
a clear night into rain?
Hope it won’t rain forever…

It storms my life…
Now, I keep far away
from the rain…