Renowned Canadian singer-songwriter, Tara MacLean, wrote “Let Her Feel the Rain” following a breakup at the age of 19 which was deeply affecting.

“I noticed that I felt numb, and I went and laid outside on the grass at night in the rain, and just let it fall on me. I just needed to feel it, to feel the pain, and then let the rain wash it away. And it did. I wrote this song when I came inside, still wet and muddy. This was the song that made me realize that music was going to save my life,” explains MacLean.

Decades later, MacLean has reimagined the song with layered background vocals and strings evocative of the lush environment which she calls home in the Pacific Northwest.

“In so many ways the song is about rebirth,” says MacLean. When it came time to shoot the video for “Let Her Feel the Rain,” MacLean returned to her ‘nest’ on Salt Spring Island to perform the song, complete with hair and makeup done by her children.

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Tara as she dives into her new video, below!

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically?

Lay Here in the Dark is a song I wrote when I was deep into a break up with my partner of 16 years.  It was the death of the dream, and I felt this incomparable loneliness and was grieving hard.  The world was shut down at the time and it felt like my loneliness was compounded by the collective experience at the time.  The song saved me that night. So I wanted to make a video that illustrated the experience of just laying in the dark, waiting for the light. It symbolized the discomfort and emptiness of those times, but it also shows how beautifully we can emerge.

2. What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)?

The video was filmed at the Broadview Hotel in Toronto in the winter.  I wanted to work with one of my favourite directors, Nathan Sizemore. All we had was a camera and an iphone light. It was simple and intimate, just like the song.  I love how the video turned out. Unglamorous and unpretentious, but still elegant. It feels more like a French film.

3. What was the process of making this video?

Nathan and his son, Xan, who came to assist, set up the camera and most of the time Nathan just stood over me while Xan held the light. We turned the main light off and just played around in the darkness for a few hours. It was really sweet that I could film a whole video laying in bed! However, I think Nathan’s back must have been hurting standing over me filming downward!  Then Nathan took it away and edited it, and when I saw it, it was exactly what I had envisioned. It really plays with the idea of the shadow self, and how we must face that.  I love the video.