We have a complicated relationship with rain.

We need it to grow our crops, to keep our bodies of water at the right level and to hydrate our own bodies. But just as it gives us life, it can take it away with devastating floods and catastrophic drought.

Yet rain is associated with far more than our physical needs. It touches off almost every kind of emotional reaction, varying from one person to the next.

A gentle rain may bring feelings of cleansing refreshment, relaxation or a gloomy malaise. By contrast, hard rains and storms can trigger uneasiness and fear or excitement and sensuality. When rain seems never-ending, or by contrast when it seems like it will never come, it can make us feel helpless.

On this week's "How We Heard It," your hosts look at how songwriters have used rain to convey themes. Artists throughout the ages have manipulated rain to make us laugh, to make us cry, to make us celebrate and to make us reflect.

You might be surprised at how many rain-themed songs there are washing through our consciousness.