April, rain, and love seem to be words gentle on the minds of musical composers through the years.
In the 1920s, Broadway goers could hear the raspy voice of Al Jolson belting out the old standby, "April Showers," while the 1950s crowd swooned to the boy-next-door, Pat Boone, making "April Love" his trademark. It was written for the movie of the same name.
"April in Paris" dates to 1932 and was written by Vernon Duke and E. Y. Harburg. If anyone knows which month pairs up love and Paris, it would be the French. That is, unless you live a couple of countries away and would rather have "April in Portugal."
Of course, a natural choice is "Singing in the Rain," from the musical of the same name, released in April 1952 and sung by Gene Kelly and Jean Hagen.
If you want to leave April out of it, there are tons of rain songs from which to choose.
In 1964, The Temptations released the mournful "I Wish It Would Rain," surely one of the most famous rain songs.
In 1984, another rain song was released by Prince: "Purple Rain," and although it had nothing to do with April, it saturated the culture. By 1986, Prince discovered that "Sometimes It Rains in April."
The reason for all this romanticizing about the fourth month may be just because you have to stay inside, dodge the showers, and do something. Or, if you are Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown, maybe you throw caution to the wind and go "Singing in the Rain."
