The Jesus and Mary Chain “Happy When It Rains” 1987. 12″ single. It is a surprisingly dreary and rainy day here for mid-June and I’m not entirely happy that it is raining, but the song feels right. I picked this up last week at Harvest Records in Asheville, NC while on vacation.

“Happy When It Rains” appears on The Jesus and Mary Chain album “Darklands” and reached #25 on the UK charts. This is a promotional copy so Side A and Side B both feature the LP version of the single, while the commercial 12″ has “Happy When It Rains,” “Everything’s Alright When You’re Down,” “Happy Place” and “F-Hole.”

The song revels in its misery – upbeat gloominess that characterizes the mood of many alt-pop/post-punk/goth-lite bands of the mid-to-late 80′s.

Step back and watch the sweet thing
Breaking everything she sees
She can take my darkest feeling
Tear it up, till I’m on me knees
Plug into her electric cool
Where things bend and break and shake to the rule

Talking fast couldn’t tell me something
I would shed my skin for you
Talking fast on the edge of nothing
I would break my back for you
Don’t know why, don’t know why
Things vaporise and rise to the sky

And we tried so hard
And we looked so good
And we lived our lives in black
But something about you felt like pain

You were my sunny day rain
You were the clouds in the sky
You were the darkest sky
But your lips spoke gold and honey
That’s why I’m happy when it rains
I’m happy when it pours

Looking at me enjoying something
That feels like, feels like pain to my brain

And if I tell you something
You take me back to nothing
I’m on the edge of something
You take me back

And I’m happy when it rains
And I’m happy when it rains
And I’m happy now
And I’m happy when it rains

And I’m happy now
And I’m happy when it rains
And I’m happy now
Oh I’m happy now
Oh I’m happy when it rains