Songs About the Weather

Small talk, set to music.

Entries
10
Category
Music
Updated
  1. A pair of bright yellow sneakers on a sunlit sidewalk, long cheerful shadows stretching behind them.

    10. Walking on Sunshine

    Katrina and the Waves · 1985

    Kimberley Rew wrote it, the band recorded it twice, and the second take hit No. 9 in the US. It went on to soundtrack roughly every commercial ever made, and BMG bought Rew's catalog for a reported 10 million pounds. Sunny, with a chance of royalties.

  2. A gray New York skyline seen through a rain-streaked hotel window, a teacup on the sill.

    09. Here Comes the Rain Again

    Eurythmics · 1984

    Annie Lennox looked out a window at the Mayflower Hotel in New York, saw gray sky and sang the title on the spot. Dave Stewart finished the job. It reached No. 4 in the US, and the video was shot on a windswept Orkney island. On brand.

  3. An old bicycle leaning against a wooden fence in a sunny orchard, a few apples on the ground.

    08. Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head

    B.J. Thomas · 1969

    Bacharach and David wrote it for a bicycle scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where it does not rain. Ray Stevens passed. B.J. Thomas sang it hoarse from laryngitis and got the first No. 1 of the 1970s plus an Oscar for the writers.

  4. A glossy black umbrella open on a flooded London pavement, rain bouncing off it under a streetlight.

    07. Umbrella

    Rihanna featuring Jay-Z · 2007

    Written with Britney Spears in mind, then passed to Rihanna. It held No. 1 in the UK for ten weeks during a summer of rain and flooding the tabloids blamed on her. Def Jam responded by selling branded umbrellas. Marketing is just meteorology.

  5. A sweating glass of iced tea and an electric fan on a sunny Hollywood windowsill, a paper snowflake taped to the glass.

    06. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

    Vaughn Monroe · 1945

    Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne wrote it during a July heat wave in Hollywood, wishing very hard. Vaughn Monroe had it at No. 1 by Christmas. It never mentions Christmas once, and has been played at Christmas every year since. Weather is weather.

  6. Dozens of men's fedoras and bowler hats falling from a stormy sky onto a wet city street.

    05. It's Raining Men

    The Weather Girls · 1982

    Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer, yes, that Paul Shaffer, wrote it. Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Cher and Barbra Streisand passed. Martha Wash and Izora Armstead, then Two Tons o' Fun, cut it in about 90 minutes and renamed themselves after the forecast.

  7. A dark desert highway at night under lightning, rain sheeting across a vintage electric piano left on the shoulder.

    04. Riders on the Storm

    The Doors · 1971

    The last song Jim Morrison recorded, built on "Ghost Riders in the Sky," with real rain and thunder effects and Morrison whispering over his own vocal. It entered the charts the week he died in Paris. Ray Manzarek's electric piano does the drizzle.

  8. A bright blue sky with sunshine and rain falling at the same time onto an empty porch with four wooden chairs.

    03. Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

    Creedence Clearwater Revival · 1970

    John Fogerty says it's about Creedence falling apart, specifically his brother Tom heading for the door. Rain on a sunny day, as metaphor for a band meeting. It hit No. 8 in the US and later passed a billion Spotify streams. Family business.

  9. A grand piano on an empty 1930s nightclub stage, rain streaking the tall windows behind it and a single spotlight.

    02. Stormy Weather

    Ethel Waters · 1933

    Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler wrote it, and Ethel Waters introduced it at the Cotton Club the same year. Her recording is in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. Lena Horne later took it to the movies. Ninety years of forecasting gloom.

  10. An acoustic guitar leaning on a garden bench in an English country garden at sunrise, dew on the grass.

    01. Here Comes the Sun

    The Beatles · 1969

    George Harrison skipped an Apple business meeting, wandered into Eric Clapton's garden with a borrowed guitar and wrote it on the spot. It's now the most-streamed Beatles song on Spotify. Avoiding accountants remains the best creative process known.

Honorable mentions

  • A small suitcase on a wooden veranda with a tiny storm cloud hovering above it, clear sky all around.

    Weather with You

    Crowded House · 1992

    Neil and Tim Finn wrote it on their first day working together for Woodface. Neil says the point is you make your own weather. It went top 10 in the UK and barely registered in America, where people prefer to complain about it.

Dishonorable mentions

  • Two microphones on stands in an empty studio, unplugged, with their cables lying in a puddle of rainwater.

    Blame It on the Rain

    Milli Vanilli · 1989

    A Diane Warren song that spent two weeks at No. 1, fronted by two men who did not sing it. The duo later lost their Best New Artist Grammy over the lip-syncing. The rain, to be fair, had nothing to do with it.

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