1956 Johnnie Ray: Just Walking In The Rain

And from Frankie Laine's square peg in a round hole to a man definitely comfortable with what he's singing - songs of self flagellation and broken hearts were manna for Johnnie Ray and this tale of 'my gal's gone' misery in the wet is one of the defining songs in his catalogue. So why is something so full of sadness and self pity so popular? Well it helps that Ray manages to sound both heartbroken but also amused at himself for being such a loser simultaneously. To remove all doubt, there's a chirpy whistling motif that punctuates the song with good indication that Ray isn't on his way to buy a packet of razor blades just yet.

And that's just what the song needs, because with lyrics that overload on literal heavy handedness ("Just walking in the rain, getting soaking wet"), any reading with a moribund, furrowed brow could have produced the unintentional comic effect of a tacky Victorian stage melodrama. Ray's 'Gee what the heck' tone adds sigh of relief enough to raise it from suck lowliness into something more enjoyable, though I'd have enjoyed this all the more if Johnnie wasn't followed on his walk by a groaning barbershop quartet chorus, a device that's ruined many a fifties song for me.