It Always Rains on a Picnic

I'm a manic depressive, I think Isaac Brock is too.

To me this song perfectly describes it, using the picnic as a metaphor...Whenever you're in the manic phase, you can be happy. But whenever things start looking up too much, the scales tip and you slide into this depression. And you can never stay on one for too long, because you always get your hopes up again. "Don't let go quite yet" Don't let go of life because just because of the rain; you can always reschedule the picnic. maybe this line is trying is about relationships, he's trying to convince his dining partner to not give up on him yet just because he's run into a bad spot in his life, because it will get better.

I think that would be today.

I think this song goes unnoticed because it doesnt have very many words. I think it has more power and meaning than alot of book lyrics. Its a beautiful song and more people should pay attention to it. yah, thats right! =)

hmm i think this song is just about bad luck

i love this song. i think it's modest mouse'd "prettiest" songs by far.

this song amazing. The name of the music it's like, nothing will ever works out right...! Like Murphy's law!

To sort of echo the others, yes, this song is amazing. I like listening to it when driving at the end of a long night, just having dropped off the last of my friends, speeding through narrow streets that are usually very heavily congested, and just turning this on. Ideally, it would be raining outside as well...

But a quick attempt at actually offering an interpretation:

Overall, the song seems to me sort of a resigned, but tireless attitude in the face of adversity...

"No, I don't suppose Downpour, downpour"

I can think of 2 possible interpretations. (i) The literal one: he's looking up at the sky, kind of thinking 'you've got to be kidding' but then it starts raining, or (2) the somewhat deeper one, it's the guy starting to think something, and is then interrupted by circumstances, in this case the rain. What makes it even more tragic is the fact that it happens during a picnic (more on this below... READ ON!)

"It always rains on a picnic Downpour, downpour"

This, with the title, provides the biggest hint, in my opinion, as to the meaning of the song. In the 2 interpretations I offered of the first couple of lines, I opt for the 2nd one, as it allows us to reach a holistic interpretation of the song. So anyway, this guy is just starting to think of something, possibly productive, possibly not, it doesn't matter; what does matter is that it never comes to fruition, interrupted as it is by external circumstances beyond his control (in this case the rain, but that can be seen as a metaphor for any cicrcumstances beyond our own control that mess things up). The tragic part of this song is the fact that it happened on a picnic - obviously our protagonist has put in effort to get a picnic organized, but still things get messed up. It suggests, in a way, that we simply cannot ever be in full control, and that things may at any time go wrong, without us being able to do anything about it. The picnic, and it raining, is just a big metaphor for anything of this kind that might happen - I'm sure everyone and anyone reading this can think of an example of something like that.

"Don't let go quite yet Downpour, downpour"

Thankfully, there is a hopeful ending. Don't give up trying, even after setbacks. Accept the fact that this kind of stuff is just a part of life that we cannot escape, so chin up and keep trying.

Alternatively, one can see the title 'it ALWAYS' as meaning that it's useless even trying, but I choose to reject that as a possibility, both because the music, after the beginning with the sound of rain*, is fairly upbeat, and of course, the last couple lines seem quite explicitly hopeful rather than dejected.

*As a personal thing, I imagine happiness when I hear the rain falling. It reminds me of what it's like at the end of a long day, when you're with friends, and everyone's tired, and you're just together and don't need to speak, everyone is just sort of being quiet and thinking to him/herself. Can't really explain it much better, and I'm actually off on a tangent here, no longer really interpreting the song at face value. Still, I think it can't be too bad trying to offer a bit of a personal side to the meaning I see in it!

As always, comments and criticism appreciated...

this song is one of their most emotional, moving. it's not that long, but it hits you hard and takes you away just for those 3 minutes. definitely definitely underappreciated!!

To me it's just saying that even the good things in life (here the picnic) always have bad patches i.e. the rain.

No matter what we do in life there are always going to be bad spells, and the "Don't let go quite yet" is the plea for not giving up on life because at least there are the good times, whether they are marred (by rain...) or not.

The repetition of "downpour" to me represents the shit days in life, and how some people dwell on them (the way he sings downpourrrr is kinda sarcastic, almost of if he's mocking those people who are constantly thinking of half empty glasses instead of half full.

wortel - I think the picnic is just a metaphor but it could always be a physical thing that the protaganist has gone to great pains to organise.

This is almost certainly my favourite Modest Mouse song, simply yet haunting. It's a really positive image as well, wrapped up in all the sadness (downpour) that at least we get the chance to have picnics (the good times) so we should all float on (to use a MM song) with life.

"no i don't suppose it always rains on a picnic... don't let go quite yet!" awesome. so it's raining on the picnic they're at, and mr. narrator tries to make it sound better by saying it's not always like that, though the title suggests it is. So it's like denial in hope for better times, and he's asking his picnic-partner person not to give up on it yet.