THE SUN'S GONNA SHINE ON EVERYTHING YOU DO

I stood out in the rain this morning. It was that really fine invisible rain, fizzling out of the atmosphere and soaking everything.

I sipped my tea thoughtfully and went back inside the house.

I'm not sure I like days like this. The sky seems oppressive and overbearing, as though it's trying to squash everything. There's a pervasive dampness that gets under your skin and down into your bones.

So... I thought I'd cheer myself up by listening to Verdi's Rigoletto.

I thought it would remind me of the warm sunshine, the taste of a gelato limone or the perfect sparkling blue of the Amalfi Coast. What could be better?

It turns out to be a bit more baffling than that. I've got no clue what Rigoletto is about - and I only picked it because I quite like La Donna é Mobile. It fascinates me how it's somehow become a football chant.

Anyway, Rigoletto turned out to be typical Verdi - dark mahogany, distant horns and pacing marches with twirling and twiddling flutes as the pompous strings swell and fade - it's like listening to two hours of the Italian national anthem.

It didn't cheer me up or remind me of the Amalfi coast.

So, I put on Ocean Drive by the Lighthouse Family and pretended it was 1996.