# I've seen fire and rain, but mostly rain **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 13, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210 "2017-09-13T05:01:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/1 "2017-09-13T05:01:09Z")
While contributing to the["I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=833415) thread over in MPSIMS, I’ve been amusing myself by circling back to the original subject matter. Fire and Rain. But I’ve found that I can remember a _lot_ more songs about rain than about fire. Is that just me? Or have I uncovered a universal truth about popular music? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/2 "2017-09-13T08:44:50Z")
Depends on the genre. In heavy metal, fire songs definitely outnumber rain songs. Not long ago, I tried putting together a playlist featuring blocks of songs from the four classical elements: Fire, Water, Earth & Air. Turns out there’s tons of songs about water (rain, rivers, oceans, etc.) and tons of songs about fire, but not so many about air (wind, clouds, etc.) and precious few specifically about earth. In fact, it was hard enough to find songs that _don’t_ mention fire or water at all. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/3 "2017-09-13T14:11:57Z")
Adele once [Set Fire to the Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93dCIYaB4Os). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/4 "2017-09-13T16:31:35Z")
_“I am the God of Hell-fire, and I bring you… FIRE!”_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RLG1ys2CGcI/maxresdefault.jpg "Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLG1ys2CGcI) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/5 "2017-09-13T21:06:02Z")
Sometimes [they come in a package](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DrOqRQQ9mg). Just call me “Joe.” ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/6 "2017-09-14T21:49:07Z")
OMG! You’ve actually seen fire and rain? What do they look like? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/7 "2017-09-14T23:38:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **buddha\_david** : > > Turns out there’s tons of songs about water (rain, rivers, oceans, etc.) and tons of songs about fire, but not so many about air (wind, clouds, etc.) and precious few specifically about earth. Whaddaya mean? There’s a whole genre of songs about earth. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/8 "2017-09-15T00:54:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There’s a whole genre of songs about earth. There is? You mean, like dirt metal? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/9 "2017-09-15T02:38:00Z")
I was thinking of rock. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/10 "2017-09-15T03:08:40Z")
Not a genre, but there was Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. Their album “[The Good Earth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Earth_(Manfred_Mann%27s_Earth_Band_album))” came with a coupon good for a square foot of land somewhere in Wales. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-fire-and-rain-but-mostly-rain/796210/11 "2017-09-15T10:35:39Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > …But I’ve found that I can remember a _lot_ more songs about rain than about fire. > > Is that just me? Or have I uncovered a universal truth about popular music? I think there are more words in English to describe rain than there are to describe fire. If so, that might have something to do with it.