WHEN it rains, most people can’t help but desire the warmth of their blankets and spend the rest of the day lounging in their beds as they feel the comforting breeze of the wet season on their skin. 

Sweatpants, their favorite warm beverage, a good book, or maybe yarn to crochet with, are rainy day staples. But of course, lazing around their safe spaces on a rainy day would not be complete without some music to mellow out to. And sometimes, the rain would also push them to reflect on their past.

Memories would play in the back of their minds like a broken cassette, bringing back feelings of pain, regret, and grief. 

While it can be a downer if the sun is behind thick, gray clouds, these five songs handpicked by republicasia from popular Korean artists might help in mending that broken red beating symphonies in our rib cages. 

Rain by Taeyeon 

Rain drops above my clasping hands 

Nostalgia swells and drips off my mind 

Starting off with this top-charting hit from Girls’ Generation’s leader-nim Taeyeon, Rain is a mid tempo song accompanied by jazz and R&B sounds that metaphorically describe the haunting memories of a past love. 

In this emotional ballad, Taeyeon reflects on how brightly the world once shone because of a former love and how the coming of the rain revives the grief because of this lost flame. 

When This Rain Stops by Wendy (Red Velvet) 

Even when rain falls in my heart 

When this rain stops 

We can just laugh again 

This slow-tempo ballad song from Red Velvet’s Wendy’s debut extended play (EP) Like Water. 

When This Rain Stop is a delicate and hopeful reminder for listeners that it is okay to rest for a while during moments in life when they feel jaded and worn out. 

Rainy Season by MAMAMOO 

Time goes so slowly 

But your footsteps going away are so quick 

Oh right now 

If this is a dream, I wanna wake up 

Rainy Season by MAMAMOO is part of the quartet’s 2018 EP called Red Moon.

This soulful ballad embodies the misery that comes with ending a relationship. The group used the rain as a metaphor to describe the persona’s aching heart that wonders why the relationship had to come to an end. 

Sleepless, Rainy Night by IU 

On a rainy night like this, you make me so sad 

The songs you liked are still in my ears 

Originally sung by Kim Gun-mo, Sleepless, Rainy Night is a cover by KPop superstar IU that was included in her second remake album A Flower Bookmark 2. 

The song entrails the bittersweet nature of rainy nights that allows people the opportunity to long for a former lover. 

You, Clouds, Rain by HEIZE featuring Shin Young-jae 

I’d rather have this rain never stop 

So that I could live every day in my memories 

Because I’m a fool that hurt you 

And I don’t even deserve to hold you in my arms ever again 

This R&B collaboration from Korean artists HEIZE and Shin Young-jae was released in 2017. 

You, Rain, Clouds narrates the regrets and sorrow one holds after the death of a relationship, where the persona wishes to relive the memories they had and make things right.