Songs About Rain

What is it about rain that inspires so many songs, poems, stories, romantic feelings, melancholy and so on? Is rain more powerful just by itself or does it make a bigger impact accompanied by thunder and lightning?
In country music there are a lot of songs about rain. One them happens to be Songs About Rain by Gary Allen. Another is Like The Rain by Clint Black which has a line in it that says: "I hear it talking through the trees and on the window pane." Personification is one of the most powerful ways to express a form of nature. Perhaps its so easy to do because rain is so plentiful.
Another song about rain is Raining On Sunday by Keith Urban. This song talks about the emotional healing aspects of rain. Is this true? Does rain have a soothing effect on us?
I'll admit, there's something comforting about the rhythmic slapping of rain against a roof, or its faint pattering on window panes. Such sounds can be the background for inspiration, or a relaxed night of leisurely reading.
There's another country song that talks about rain: Come in with the Rain by Taylor Swift. This song speaks about love and waiting for that special person to come back.
Obviously rain has an ugly side. It can come down in thick torrents and flood entire cities or it can harden and form into hail. Either way rain has inspired many a writer, whether it be in novels, poems, songs or even scripts for a television show.