Singing in The Rain is a musical that has it’s songs well positioned to ensure the smooth flow of the film’s story line. There’s never a point in the movie that we as audiences feel that any song is redundant. The songs were used to show audiences how the two main characters, Don Lockwood and Kathy Selden developed from being two untruthful strangers to a pair of sincere lovers. I am now going to analyze how the musical numbers “Fit as a Fiddle (And Ready for Love)” , “All I Do Is Dream of You”, “You Were Meant For Me” and “Singin’ in the Rain” depict the transformation beautifully before our eyes.
At the start of the film, at the movie premiere of “The Royal Rascal”, when Don was asked about his past by Dora, the event’s host, he told that he had a very “dignified” and “proper” childhood. Alas, at the same he said so, we were brought back to his past by the number “Fit as a Fiddle (And Ready for Love)” and only we the audience know that the truth was far from dignified! The title of the song pretty much says it all as Don and his best friend, Cosmo Brown were shown as young and carefree boys dressed in checkered green suits and performing tap dance in front of a stage audience. The song also indirectly implies that Don is very much single and was on a hunt to find his lady-love. However, despite being booed by the crowd, I could see that they really enjoyed what they were doing as both of them were smiling from ear to ear. The scene then cuts back to the movie premiere and we could see Don smiling too, but his smile now looks very in-genuine and forceful, very much a “plastic smile”. Also, it is important to note that Don wore a white trench coat to the movie premiere and I believe it symbolizes the lies that Don has been hiding from the world in order to put up with the false “mask” of a prim and proper movie star. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t blame Don for saying those lies because that is what the society and his fans expect from him.
The next song would be “All I Do is Dream of You” and its right after the boy meets girl scene where Kathy lies to Don that she’s on the way to New York to be an actress. Also she sneers at Don for not talking, not acting and doing lots of dumb show in his films and here too we see clash of egos between the two lead characters. The next time Don meets Kathy was in the after party of the movie premiere and she was performing to the tunes of “All I Do is Dream of You” in a tiny pink attire as a party performer. Kathy’s expression when she jumps out of that cake smiling like sunshine but then turns mortified when she sees Don was priceless as he now knows the truth! Nonetheless, she continues to dance gracefully and with joy, unleashing the girlishness inside of her and she too like Don is dreaming to find her prince charming!
Moving on, “You Were Meant For Me” is about Don trying to woo Kathy. In this song, both characters shed the image of dishonesty that we have seen in “Fit as a Fiddle” and “All I Do is Dream of You” as they express their true feelings to each other. Don brings Kathy to an empty studio set in Monumental Studios where he used a sunset background lit with various studio lights to create a dream-like and romantic set. It is interesting to note that Don dresses in normal casual clothing, creating an impression that Don doesn’t want to appear as a high-class person but rather as any other ordinary human-being in front of Kathy. In the song,we could see many instances where Don supports Kathy as a way to show his love for her. For example, Kathy pulls away from Don while dancing because she was hesitant about their relationship as Don was a famous Hollywood star whereas she was a struggling small-time actress. However Don approaches her and reassures her that he will never let her go. Also, in the dance sequences, its very apparent that Don was leading the dance as he was teaching Kathy the routines. Never once, he is seen pressurizing Kathy to accept his love when she was reluctant to accept his embraces. It can be interpreted that Don was willing to wait for Kathy’s love for as long as it takes! Finally, Kathy accepts Don’s embrace, thus agreeing to be his girlfriend and this is the turning point of their relationship in the film.
“Singin’ in the Rain” is the final song that I am going to analyze. Right before the song starts, Don kisses Kathy for the first time in the film and he says to Kathy “from where I stand, the sun is shining all over the place” despite the fact it was raining heavily! This shows that Don loves Kathy with all his heart and whenever he’s with her, all he could feel is warmth and happiness. When Kathy goes inside the house, he starts dancing on the streets and his dance steps becomes gradually clownish as the song progresses. He splashes and jumps around in water puddles like a little kid and this is a total contrast from an uptight Don that we have seen before. Also, it can be said, that Don doesn’t care about what the world thinks about him and Kathy anymore as he’s tired of putting a false front in front the world and wants to be truthful. This can be seen as Don wasn’t wearing the trench coat that we have seen at the start of the film which represented dishonesty. The rainwater in this musical number can be seen as “purifying” and the rebirth of an honest and free Don.
All in all, all the songs in Singing in the Rain has served its purpose well and its all thanks to the well-planned insertion of the songs throughout the entire course of the film. Undeniably, this the movie deserve its reputation as the greatest musical ever made in all times!
tjayakum 
Fine analysis of all four numbers. You are able to string them together to create a convincing narrative of your own. Your analysis of “All I do” might have included the lyrics, which are very girlish. I really like your observations on “you were meant for me” — but the setting is very important. Well done!
8/8