Hasta La Ideas

Weather is a powerful muse in a number of ways, and when it comes to music, it seems to fall into four categories: songs that evoke weather or seasons, but does not mention them directly; songs that uses weather as a metaphor for the themes of the song; songs that use weather as part of the background of a story of scene; and lastly, songs that are simply about the weather. 

Earlier this year, the Weather Channel had a tournament, NCAA style, matching 64 weather-themed songs against one-another to determine a weather music champion. Readers voted on songs in head-to-head matchups, and after 63-such matchups, The Beatles Here Comes the Sun was crowned champion. While the reader-voted aspect of the competition was always going to favour mainstream classics (like other contenders Over the Rainbow, Singin’ in the Rain, and White Christmas), it’s a little disappointing that more contemporary music wasn’t featured, even in the early rounds. I think U2’s Beautiful Day and Adele’s Set Fire to the Rain are the only pieces from the last decade featured. One can also question whether some of the songs are really songs about weather. Is Ice Ice Baby a ‘weather’ song in any sense of the word? I’ll save you the trouble of googling the lyrics: it’s not. 

So, with the weather channel having taken care of the mainstream selections, what are your favorite underrated weather-themed music? 

I think one could probably identify an entire bracket of 64 Tom Waits songs that feature weather imagery in one way or another, with the comic musings of Emotional Weather Report (with tornado watches issued shortly before noon Sunday, for the areas including the western region of my mental health and the northern portions of my ability to deal rationally with my disconcerted precarious emotional situation); and the simple observations of Strange Weather (All over the world / It’s the same / Strangers talk only of the weather) being a couple top contenders.

So, share some of your favorites in the comments!