1001 Songs Challenge #758: Weather with You (1991)

On 11 February 2019 I set myself the challenging of reading 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery (ed.) and following the book’s advice to the letter. I’ve previously read 1001 Films… and started 1001 Albums… but felt 1001 Songs… would be a sensible place to start for what I have in mind here.

My challenge is to read about one song per day and listen to it (YouTube and Spotify, I need you tonight!) before sharing my own thoughts. Some songs I will love, others I’ll hate, and I’m sure there will be those that leave me perplexed but listen to them I shall.

I’ll also try, and most likely fail, to pinpoint the best song from the 1001 on offer but I’m nothing if not foolhardy. Instead of one song, I’m predicting I’ll have about 100 favourites by the end and may have to resort to a Top 10 so far to maintain any semblance of sanity.

So long as I post everyday (including Christmas) then this challenge should come to an end on Wednesday 8 November 2021. Staying with the Barney Stinson theme I am hoping that the whole experience will prove to be…

 

Crowded House – Weather with You (1991)

 

 

We’re leaving California and the US behind, dear reader, and making the long journey down to Australia. Formed in 1985 Crowded House were initially popular in both Australia and New Zealand before branching out and finding success in the rest of the world. It’s 1991 and the group have released their third album – Woodface. 1001 Songs have been looking at the forecast and decided that their song of choice will be Weather with You. 

Weather with You seems to describe the interior of a particular home on Mount Pleasant Street. The individual wandering inside seems lost as if someone isn’t there who should be. The chorus uses the refrain of “always take the weather with you.” The band have described this as creating your environment, time and space in the places that you go and ultimately make your home. I guess it is all to do with leaving your mark, your own personal impression wherever you go. If two of you share a space and one leaves then the environment changes dramatically along with their absence. Maybe the song explores such an idea. 

Crowded House enjoyed one of their biggest hits with Weather with You and climbed into the UK Top 10. It is one of their most familiar tracks along with Don’t Dream It’s Over. The group disbanded in 1996 but have reformed on multiple occasions in the years that have followed, most notably for a new tour in 2020 that would be delayed by the coronavirus pandemic that changed the world so dramatically.

 

Favourite songs so far:

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)

The Beatles – A Day in the Life (1967)

The Doors – The End (1967)

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)

Ultravox – Vienna (1980)

The Smiths – How Soon Is Now? (1984)

Tracy Chapman – Fast Car (1988)

U2 – One (1991)