Weather Can Influence Popular Music
Songwriters Sometimes Gain Inspiration From Percipitation
Aug 10, 2009
Be it rain, sleet or snow, recording artists have pulled from the atmosphere for keys to expressing feeling and perhaps no metrological event has been so creatively manipulated as rain. Used a metaphor for loss, love and sometimes even light-hearted fun, here are some examples of hit songs inspired by rain.
I Can't Stand The Rain - By Ann Pebbles
Starting out with an example of a dislike of rain, or really what the rain represents, Pebbles was the original writer and singer of the song which came out in 1973 and was a top R & B hit at the time. The rain brings back haunted memories to Pebbles and that's why she doesn't like it "against her window".
This simple song has been covered extensively since its' inception by artists such as Humble Pie, Ronnie Wood, Tina Turner and was dubbed as the chorus of rapper Missy Elliot's I Can't Stand the Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) in 1997.
Have You Ever Seen The Rain?- By Creedence Clearwater Revival
Written by John Fogerty, the song was recorded by CCR and released in 1970 on the album Pendulum. Critics at the time suspected that the song's lyrics were a metaphor for the Vietnam War and that the "rain" was actually a metaphor for bombs dropping out of the sky.
During an interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Fogerty himself said that the song really was about the disintegration of Creedence Clearwater Revival as a band and the "departure of his brother Tom" from the group. The song was most recently used in the opening scenes for the movie Evan Almighty, a re-telling of the Noah's Ark myth.
Kentucky Rain-By Elvis Presley
This 1970's hit song was written by Eddie Rabbit and Dick Heard and featured a then unknown Ronnie Milsap on piano. With a melancholy overtone, the tune is essentially a love song about someone searching for their love in the "cold, Kentucky rain". An interesting side note is that the song was played before every pre-game show at the Cleveland Browns Stadium when University of Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch played there from 1999-2003.
I Love A Rainy Night- By Eddie Rabbit
Rabbit, who co-wrote Kentucky Rain also had a huge cross-over hit with this song he wrote and recorded in 1981. The song that declares that thunder lightening up the sky "makes him feel good" was a number one hit on BillBoard Hot 100, Hot Country Singles and Adult Contemporary Singles. "Showers washed all my cares away", Rabbit sings.
It's Raining Men- By The Weather Girls
The song, which was written by Paul Jabara and Paul Schaffer (of The David Letterman Show fame) was offered to a number of famous female singers at its' inception in 1979. Gloria Gaynor, Diana Ross and Barbara Streisand all rejected the song and The Weather Girls went on to record the hit record which sold over six million copies worldwide.
"Amen" and "Hallelujah" are scattered throughout the songs as the women praise the heavens for the weather-related release of males, "she rearranged the sky, so that each and every women could find the perfect guy", the song goes. Since it's release it has become known as a dance, female and gay anthem.
No Rain- By Blind Melon
"I like watching the puddles gather rain", sings Shannon Hoon on this huge hit from 1992. Released on the band's debut album, the song was known as much for it's catchy simple lyrics, as for the accompanying video which had a young girl dressed as a bee trying to find her place in the world.
"I start to complain and there's no rain" is another example of the lyrical content of the song which reached #20 on the Pop Charts and #1 on both the Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song is the only real legacy of Blind Melon after it disbanded due to the death of Hoon from a drug overdose.
November Rain-By Guns N' Roses
This nearly nine minute epic song was released in 1992 on the album Use Your Illusion I. Written by lead singer Axl Rose, it featured a departure from the hard rock bands usual sound, featuring an orchestra, string arrangement and a prominent piano intro.
The song, a ballad concerning a broken love, warns "that nothing last forever" and compares bitter feelings of love to "cold November Rain". The song became the band's sixth and last hit on the Billboard Charts, coming in at #3. Critically it has acclaimed as one of the great rock songs and has also been voted as having one of the greatest guitar solos of all-time by Guitar World magazine.
Musicians pick common themes in order to express their feelings in ways that apply to the human condition on a wide scale. By choosing objects or events that everyone has experienced, i.e. rain, they are able to manipulate ordinary objects into symbols of emotions. Popular music by definition appeals to the masses and by doing so creates a social and musical web of interconnection between the listener and artist.
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