Anyone remember those commercials in the ’80s for 7-Up, the “Feels so good, comin down” commercials? I do. I used to sing that song when I was about 14, driving a tractor for $3.50 an hour across the green pastures that are now just about two miles down the road from my home. I used to sing it like I was calling the rain, as if I was the rain man, doing a rain dance, praying for the heavens to unleash their gift. I still do, sometimes, when it’s really hot like it has been lately, I’ll sing it to myself, staring up at the sky as I do, rousing the Great Spirit to let loose the Thunderbird. I evoke rain. It rarely ever works, but then, rarely is still pretty good odds when you’re dealing with rain in a drought-stricken landscape. Tonight, it worked; yes, I know you doubt, but I walked outside, taking out the trash, felt the grass crunch under my shoes, pulled my head back and sang, softly, the rain song:
“Rain rain rain rain, beautiful rain,
Feels so good, coming down.”
And then I felt the cool breeze and, moments later, a plop splattered down on the porch. By the time I came back inside to tell my wife what was happening, she said, “What did you do?”
“What do you mean?” I asked. I actually thought I’d done something wrong.
“Is that thunder?” she asked, letting me in on the joke. Little did she know, though, that I did do it.
I smiled and nodded, and another rumble boomed, rattling the door in its frame. ”It’s raining right now,” I said.
“Let’s go outside!” she said, and we did. We let the sprinkling drops rain down on our upturned faces, feeling the cool drops for the first time in at least a blue moon. I did that. There’s no possible way it was a coincidence, is there? Still, it was pretty nifty.
And now, in its full glory, the original commercial that made me like 7-Up (It’s since fallen out of favor. Once they claimed to have only 7 ingredients and “all natural!” I checked the can and, yep, high fructose corn syrup. If they’d have put arsenic in it, I guess they still could call it “all natural” though, right? Still, don’t peddle poison and expect me to gleefully put up with it. But they did have some, um, delightful commercials back in the day).
If you liked that post, then try these...
Egret Island on June 30th, 2008
Lunar Eclipse on February 21st, 2008
Who gets the good table? on March 21st, 2008
Sometimes the Blues Hits Like Bricks on June 3rd, 2008
Living in a High Definition World on May 9th, 2008
