Some Emotions Can Only Be Held by Piano and Rain

Two in the morning. Rain tapping on the window. I took off my headphones and only then realized the piano piece had just ended — I'd been listening to a mix of raindrops and notes for those few minutes.

That stretch of time, I kept coming back to these 9 tracks. No vocals, no drums. Just piano, strings, and the kind of quiet that feels like breathing. They don't ignite you. They don't push you forward. But they catch you — when you least want to speak, they sit there for you.

I call this playlist "Rain and Afterglow."

1. Nuvole Bianche – Ludovico Einaudi

2. On the Nature of Daylight – Max Richter

3. Experience – Ludovico Einaudi

4. Comptine d’un autre été, l’après-midi – Yann Tiersen

5. River Flows in You – Yiruma

6. Vladimir's Blues – Max Richter

7. Una Mattina – Ludovico Einaudi

8. Divenire – Ludovico Einaudi

9. Near Light – Ólafur Arnalds

If you want, open your music app right now, put these 9 tracks in order into a new playlist. Then find a night with no one around, put on a good pair of headphones.

Why These 9? What Have They Been With Me Through?

I'm not a music critic. I can't give you harmonic analysis. But I know which one let me finally close my eyes at 3 a.m. after lying awake for hours. Which one made the raindrops on my windshield look beautiful as I drove through a wet road.

Let me walk you through where each one sits.

🎹 1. Nuvole Bianche – Raindrops falling into an empty room

Einaudi's quietest opening. There's so much space between the notes — like someone waiting for the rain to stop. I don't put this on as background music. I pause everything else and just let these 5 minutes happen. It doesn't say "cheer up." It says "I'm here."

🎻 2. On the Nature of Daylight – No explanation needed after you cry

Max Richter's strings+piano piece. If you've seen Arrival or Shutter Island, the first few notes will tighten your throat. Even if you haven't, it can open the softest part of you in under two minutes. I put it second because sometimes we need to admit we're hurting before we can move forward.

🌅 3. Experience – The sky starts to lighten a little

Another Einaudi, but here it's "ascent." The low notes push forward, layer by layer, like you slowly straightening your back in the dark. I never listen to this when I'm happy. It's best when you've just crawled out of a low place but aren't fully standing yet. Like a hand, gently pushing from behind.

🌼 4. Comptine d’un autre été – Walking through old days

The melody from Amélie. French tenderness. Left hand steady rhythm, right hand simple melody — like flipping through an old comic book as a kid. It makes me think of people I won't see again, but it doesn't hurt anymore. Just a light touch on their name.

💧 5. River Flows in You – The years when you laughed and cried at the same time

Yiruma. You might have heard it at a wedding. Or cried to it at midnight with your headphones on. The melody sounds so bright, yet somehow it makes tears fall. This track is the soundtrack for all those "I can't quite name it" days.

🤍 6. Vladimir's Blues – A 1-minute, 21-second hug

Max Richter's shortest. Clean as a breath in winter. In this playlist, it's a vent — no long storytelling, no big climax. Like when you're crying and suddenly stop to look at a streetlamp outside, then go back to it.

🌄 7. Una Mattina – The first morning after losing something

From the film Intouchables. If you've just been through some kind of goodbye, this song will make you sit on the edge of your bed and stare at the floor for a long time. It's not dramatic. It's a quiet "we can't go back." But strangely, after enough listens, you start to think: maybe that's okay too.

🦋 8. Divenire – Turning all your feelings into something else

The title means "becoming" in Italian. It starts with solo piano, then strings enter little by little, and finally recede. Like a full farewell ritual. I put it near the end because you need a long enough track to piece the broken parts of yourself back together.

✨ 9. Near Light – Just a little glow, and that's enough

Ólafur Arnalds. Icelandic minimal piano. The title "Near Light" — the melody really feels like that thin line on the horizon just before dawn. It doesn't solve anything. But it makes you think: maybe if you sit a little longer, the sky will actually brighten. This is where I close the playlist. Not dramatic, not summing anything up. Just gently closing the lid.

When Should You Listen to This Playlist?

- At 2 a.m., when you can't sleep and don't want to force it

- On a rainy afternoon, sitting by the window, wanting to do nothing

- Right after something ends, when you just need someone to sit quietly with you

- When you're writing, drawing, or simply staring into space

Don't listen during your commute, at the gym, or when you need to focus. It will pull you in — not pull you out.

How to Get the Best Experience

Use a device that won't interrupt you with notifications. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb, or leave it in another room.

Notifications, messages, buzzes — they kill every breath between these 9 tracks. The silence between the softest notes. The way strings slowly slide into your ears. The lingering resonance after a piano pedal is released — all of that needs you to be uncut, unhurried, and fully there.

If you can, turn off the lights. Leave just one small lamp on. Put on closed-back headphones. Give yourself 35 uninterrupted minutes.

Then let these notes quietly, completely catch you.

💬 Finally, I Want to Hear Your "Quiet"

If you also have an instrumental playlist that has stayed with you through many nights, don't keep it to yourself.

Share your story on social media with #LoreLoaded.

I want to know: which instrumental track, at which exact moment, caught the heaviest silence inside you?

The most compelling story will win a free dedicated music player — the kind that doesn't get interrupted by notifications — plus a cash reward.

Click the link below to learn more:

👉 Share your story – Every Playlist Tells A Story.