A hard, hard rain fell on about 200 audience members in front of the Festival Shell on Old Main Lawn yesterday afternoon.

But onstage, singer-songwriter Tom Paxton was all smiles and sunshine. Paxton, who was about 20 minutes late for his 1 p.m. show due to travel complications, laughed at the crowd's resilience as he approached the microphone and said, "You people are crazy."

Crazy or not, the largely middle-aged crowd was unfazed by the weather and clapped and sang along to songs from Paxton's 30-year career. The material ran the gamut from pensive love songs to hilarious political parodies, with several tunes from Paxton's albums for children thrown in to entertain the many pre-schoolers in attendance.

Several audience members were long-time Paxton fans. Paul Oorts, a Belgian graduate student in comparative literature, said he has been familiar with the singer's work for years.

"He's pretty well-known (in Belgium) as one of the early figures of the folk movement," Oorts said. "I've never seen him live before."

Paxton, a veteran of the 60s New York folk scene, opened his show with songs familiar to many in the audience. "Ramblin' Boy" was greeted with applause and smiles, as was "The Marvelous Toy," a Paxton song popularized by Peter, Paul and Mary. Adults and children alike sang along to the song's chorus: "It went zip when it moved/ Bop when it stopped/ Brrrr when it stood still. . ."

Between songs, Paxton's banter-cum-stand-up comedy kept the crowd in a good mood. Explaining the inspiration for "The Marvelous Toy," the singer said, "In the summer of 1960, I was doing eight weeks advanced studies at a place called Fort Dix, N.J. where the Pentagon had sent me to the clerk/typist school -- it's where they sent those of us who read without moving our lips.

"There were about 10 of us who were perfectly adequate typists, but we still had to take this typing class. So finally one day I started freaking out; I started writing beat poems, writing letters home. After I'd written everyone I'd ever known in my life, I had no one else to write to, and so I wrote the words to this song on the army's typewriter."

Several of the songs themselves were stamped with Paxton's trademark humor. Targets as diverse as Dan Quayle, Exxon and Republican Airlines (whose baggage handlers once broke Paxton's guitar) came under his satiric fire. The biggest crowd-pleaser was undoubtedly "Yuppies in the Sky." Sung to the tune of "Ghost Riders in the Sky," it came complete with cries of "Yuppie-I-Ay" and "Rolex, Rolex."

Many of the comic songs rang with echoes of late 50s satirist Tom Lehrer, who penned classics like "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park," an influence Paxton confirmed after the show.

"He definitely did a number on my head," Paxton said of the Harvard professor. "I readily acknowledge and blame him for half the stuff I write."

Paxton showed a more serious side, though, in the ecologically-minded "Whose Garden is This." Told from the point of view of a child who can't believe the sky was once blue and meadows once green, it served as a sobering cautionary tale. Paxton dedicated the song to the children in the audience.

By the time Paxton closed his set with "The Last Thing on My Mind," another song covered by Peter, Paul and Mary, the crowd had thinned somewhat. Those still sitting or standing in the rain, however, flocked the stage to purchase Paxton tapes and shake hands with the singer.

In an interview after the performance, Paxton again expressed surprise that anyone was willing to endure the decidedly ugly weather.

"I was amazed that there was a single soul here," he said. "Not only was I pleased with how many people were here, but they were really a terrific audience - very wide-awake. They laughed in all the places that one would hope they would laugh."

The lack of college-aged people at the concert didn't bother Paxton, but he said he thinks many people are missing out on a genre of music they might enjoy. He's pleased by the recent success of Tracy Chapman and Suzanne Vega because the two singers are re-popularizing acoustic folk music.

"To see someone like Tracy or Suzanne, both of whom came out of folk-music clubs, succeed at the enormous level they've reached is gratifying," Paxton said. "I know Suzanne - she's a really nice person, and I'm glad to see this. It can put acoustic guitars back in the hands of young people."

He also said it is encouraging to see several current artists such as Midnight Oil and U2 addressing political issues.

"I think it's great that pop musicians have had their consciousness raised, and are setting about trying to raise the general consciousness as well," he said.

As for his own future, Paxton said he is currently working on several projects: another children's album, several children's books, a "lyrical" album, and a political album.

And does he harbor any hopes for widespread success and fame? Nope.

"I'm quite happy with the way things are going for me," Paxton said. "Personally, I don't have anything to hope for. The last thing I want right now is more traveling, which is what more success would mean. I want to stay home, not get on another airplane."