There are, of course, millions of songs that predict the weather... from A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall to Here Comes The Sun. None of those are allowed in this Top Ten.
To be included here, you have to actually mention weather forecasting... or forecasters.
Special mentions to The Forecast... and Weather Report. (Hmm.. Jazz. Niiice.)
10. Jason Mraz - The Forecast
Jason swears he's no weatherman... but he doesn't half go on about it.
This song bears mention purely down to one of the most bizarre metaphors ever written...
But your mouth is my umbrella nowW. T. F.? (Weather: The Forecast.)
And I'm holding your tongue
9. Sheryl Crow - Weather Channel
When Sheryl gets depressed, she watched the Weather Channel. It doesn't appear to cheer her up.
8. Tom Waits - Emotional Weather Report
Not a song so much as the jamming intro to Tom's classic live album Nighthawks At The Diner. But there's plenty of forecasting to go around...
And a line of thunderstorms was developing in the early morning
Ahead of a slow moving cold front
Cold blooded
With tornado watches issued shortly before noon Sunday,
For the areas including...7. Hank Williams Jr. - The Weatherman
The western region of my mental health
And the northern portions of my ability to deal rationally
With my disconcerted precarious emotional situation
Hank Jr. needs a good forecast tonight...
6. Spearmint - The Weather Forecaster
It always upsets me when I can't find links to Spearmint records on the internet. This is a gorgeous little story by Shirley Lee about a young man who learns to predict the weather as a way of controlling everything that might happen in his life...
If you know what the weather will be like
There's no danger
You're in control
But then, inevitably, he meets a young lady... and the forecast becomes unpredictable.
Oh, just go buy the album.
5. The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men
Get ready, all you lonely girls - and leave those umbrellas at home!A song so great, even Geri Halliwell couldn't kill it. (Though she gave it a damned good try.)
4. A Tribe of Toffs - John Kettley Is A Weatherman
Ah, 1988 in the UK charts... a terrible time for music. During the dark days of Stock, Aitken and Waterman, Bros, Bomb The Bass, Brother Beyond and the Wee Papa Girl Rappers... I was 16. Everything was wrong with the world. And then there came the Tribe of Toffs, a silly group of lads with a jangly guitar pop novelty record full of terrible rhymes about minor British TV personalities of the day (and Johnny Marr). It may have only reached number 21 in the charts... but it was better than Another Day In Paradise.
Debbie Thrower's got a lawnmower,3. Fountains of Wayne - Traffic & Weather
Johnny Marr he plays guitar,
David Steel lives in Keele,
John Kettley... John Kettley... John Kettley:
He's a weatherman.
A love story unfolds among the Channel 6 news team...
Ooh, we belong together - like traffic and weather...Any song that contains that timeless chat up line "I like those shorts - I'd like them even more on my bedroom floor" get my vote.
2. Blur - This Is A Low
Damon lies in bed listening to the shipping forecast: the end result is one of their most moving records. Don't spend too much time studying the lyrics though, or the magic is lost.
1. ELO - Mr. Blue Sky
Wait a minute, Rol, I hear you cry... isn't this one of those songs you outlawed at the top of the page: like A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall or Here Comes The Sun? Ah, I reply... ahhhh... yes, but listen again to that timeless intro:
Morning - today's forecast calls for blue skies...However, if you're looking for Dylan or the Fab Four... close your eyes and listen to Mr. Blue Sky one more time. Not only is it one of the greatest pop records ever recorded... doesn't it just sound like "What if Bob was lead singer of the Beatles?"
...but which is your Michael Fish?
The great Louis Armstrong: Jeepers Creepers, "Now, I don't care what the weather man says When the weatherman says it's raining..."
ReplyDeleteTop work, Steve.
DeleteBillie Holiday's Stormy Weather always gets me going
ReplyDeleteGreat song, but I'm afraid it doesn't meet my (rather strict) criteria.
DeleteI would have had Tribe Of Toffs at #1 for this, but hey...
ReplyDeleteIt's only one line but for "Don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" perhaps Subterranean Homesick Blues by Mr Zimmerman should get a mention?
That would qualify.
DeleteHi Rol
ReplyDeleteThe first song that came to mind for this topic was Sheryl Crow's "Weather Channel"...I LOVE that song, so thanks heaps for including it.
Then I am with Martin, Subterranean was the next song that came to mind for that lyric.
Then, I thought about Rodriguez - "This is Not a Song, Its an Outburst, or the Establishment Blues", a belter of a track, and it contains the line "Weatherman complaining, predicted sun, it's raining."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnzGrQy7cwU
Then, Buddy Holly, "Raining in My Heart" - "The weather man says clear today, he doesn’t know you’ve gone away and it’s raining - raining in my heart"
And finally, one I cheated on - stumbled across it on the net but wasn't familiar with it, Dave Dobbyn's "Outlook for Thursday" - the lyrics probably read better than the song sounds though - but the lyrics fit the topic as well or better than most others on the list...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TIj-l3nykw
I'm not sure how I've managed to never hear that Rodriguez song before, but thank you for introducing me to it. It's bloody excellent. (I really should watch Searching For Sugar Man.)
DeleteGood call on Buddy, and the Dave Dobbyn track was fun too. Thanks.
I still haven't got around to watching Searching for Sugar Man either, but I would highly recommend his "Cold Fact" album - a bit of a lost classic until that doco came out. I don't think there is a dud track on it at all.
DeleteI also meant mention that I agree with your comment that Mr Blue Sky is what it would sound like if Dylan was the lead singer of the Beatles. Good observation there
Much as I love A Tribe of Toffs I can't argue with ELO being #1. Amazing song. Only made #6 in the UK chart too if memory serves.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more re 1988. Pop music just seemed to fall off a cliff sometime in late 1987. I blame SAW.
A couple of forecasting nominations from me: Mr DJ by the Concept and Headlines by Midnight Star. You have to listen on but they're in there!
I will investigate further - thanks, Kippers!
Delete