Rainy Day Blues or Here Comes The Sun

Written for Song Lyric Sunday –
“How’s The Weather”
This is my response to the challenge.

This week at Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday, the theme is “How’s The Weather”. Our challenge is to write about a song related to sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy, or stormy weather conditions, suggested by yours truly. I have chosen three classic and very different rainy day songs with deep meanings that deal with much more than just the weather.

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Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart met in 1976 when he walked into a London restaurant where she was working. They started a band in the late 70s called The Tourists and became lovers; the relationship lasted for almost four years, during which time they formed a deep personal and musical bond. Their affair ended when The Tourists broke up in 1980, but they decided to continue working together; their intense personal connection allowed them to understand each other intimately. The transition from lovers to bandmates was rocky, but this tension directly influenced their emotional 1980s music, including the hit “Why?”. Over the years, they separated, reunited for projects, and maintained a friendship despite, at times, not talking regularly. Lennox and Stewart last performed together on November 5, 2022 at their induction ceremony into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where they performed a set of their classic Eurythmics hits.

“Here Comes the Rain Again” was a #4 hit for the Eurythmics in 1984. The duo wrote the song in New York’s Mayflower Hotel a few years after their love affair ended. In his book, The Dave Stewart Songbook, Stewart wrote that he was playing a little riff on a keyboard in his hotel room while Annie Lenox was looking out the window watching the pouring rain. At one point, she sang the words “here comes the rain again”, and that was all they needed. As Stewart wrote, “With a lot of our songs, we only had to start with that one line, that one atmosphere, that one note. And the rest of it was like a puzzle where we just had to fill in the missing pieces.”

Undecided events in life are at the heart of “Here Comes the Rain Again” …. things like the return of sadness, or the start of a downward spiral. It’s the wandering in and out of melancholy. Rain is used as a metaphor for depression, loneliness, and emotional heaviness following a breakup or during a period of isolation. It captures a moody, nostalgic, and melancholic feeling …. but then Annie Lennox sings “so talk to me like lovers do” and, despite the sadness, the song begins to express a longing to reconnect with someone …. one of the most basic of human instincts, that need and desire to love and be loved.

This is “Here Comes the Rain Again” by the Eurythmics

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Born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles, to a 14-year-old mother, Etta James overcame a traumatic childhood and later, severe drug addiction. Known for her raw, emotional and powerful voice, Etta began her career in 1954, becoming a legendary singer-songwriter who bridged R&B, soul, jazz, and R&R. She achieved lasting stardom with her hit “At Last” (1960). She was inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame (1993), Blues Hall of Fame (2001), and awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2003) in addition to her four other Grammys. In 2009, she sang “At Last” at President Barack Obama’s inaugural ball. She continued recording until her final album, “The Dreamer” (2011). Her ability to blend gospel-trained vocals with gritty blues made her a monumental figure in American music. Etta James passed away in 2012 at the age of 73.

“Stormy Weather” was written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler in 1933, and was famously associated with singer Lena Horne. In 1960, Etta James recorded a notable interpretation of the beloved torch song, highlighting her transition into a mature jazz and blues vocalist. Her version of “Stormy Weather”  features adaptations by Riley Hampton, her long-time band leader and arranger. The lyrics convey an intense lasting sorrow, with phrases like “keeps rainin’ all the time” indicating a constant and inescapable state of depression rather than a temporary sadness. The “rain” and “stormy weather” represent emotional turmoil; when the singer’s man left, the sun disappeared from the sky. The song describes the feeling of the “blues” literally walking in and settling in her life, creating a sense of isolation. She describes herself as “weary all of the time”, highlighting the exhausting nature of grief and heartbreak. Yet, despite the darkness, the song expresses a desire for the storm to end, with the singer praying to walk in the sun once more.

This is “Stormy Weather” by Etta James

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Ray Charles knew a thing or two about facing life’s storms. Born Ray Charles Robinson in Albany, Georgia, on September 23, 1930, he was raised in rural Florida. His father left his pregnant mother for another woman; by his first birthday, Ray had a baby brother, George. At the age of four, he witnessed George’s accidental drowning in their mother’s laundry tub and soon after lost his eyesight to juvenile glaucoma. Both parents died by the time he was 15. His saving grace came in the form of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind where he studied classical music and learned to read/write music in Braille, playing piano, clarinet, and saxophone. Dropping “Robinson” to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, Charles started his career inspired by Nat “King” Cole. In the late 1940s, he moved to Seattle, cutting his first records. In the 1950s with Atlantic Records, he famously combined gospel techniques with secular blues lyrics, pioneering the genre of “soul” music, particularly with the 1954 hit, “I Got a Woman”. He achieved massive success in the 1960s with hits like “Hit the Road, Jack” and by covering country songs in his Modern Sounds albums, which helped desegregate country and pop music. Known as “The Genius” (a nickname from Frank Sinatra), he overcame a heroin addiction in the mid-1960s. He was a supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and refused to play in segregated venues. Ray Charles continued to perform until his death in 2004.

Ray Charles’ iconic 1959 rendition of “Come Rain or Come Shine” appeared on his album The Genius of Ray Charles, blending his gospel/R&B roots with the Great American Songbook. Written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the 1946 musical St. Louis Woman, this jazz standard was interpreted by Charles with a soul-stirring, bluesy intensity, elevating it to a definitive, often-covered version. A departure from his purely R&B hits, the song showcases a sophisticated yet raw, emotional performance. The song expresses an unconditional, long-term commitment to love someone regardless of circumstances, hardships, or changes in fortune. It’s an anthem for all those who are in love with someone they can’t have and can only love them from afar. Lyricist Johnny Mercer aimed to capture a simple, direct expression of love, describing it as “the way a guy in a saloon would feel it”. The repetition of “come rain or come shine” emphasizes inevitability and dedication, vowing that nothing will stop the love from enduring. The use of weather and financial circumstances in the lyrics (“in or out of the money”) represents the highs and lows of life, reinforcing that the commitment is not conditional or dependent on convenience. 

This is “Come Rain Or Come Shine” by Ray Charles

How’s the Weather

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week and every week. Be sure to follow the link and check out Jim’s site.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to some great music. I hope you enjoyed the theme for this week as well as the information and songs I featured.

That’s all she wrote, kids. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2026

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