Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1999
Why Does It Always Rain on Me?
Buy Why Does It Always Rain on Me? now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Why Does It Always Rain on Me?
| cover = Travis_Rain_on_Me_cover.png
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Travis
| album = The Man Who
| released =
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Post-Britpop
| length =
| label = Independiente
| writer = Fran Healy
| producer = Mike Hedges
| prev_title = Driftwood
| prev_year = 1999
| next_title = Turn
| next_year = 1999
| misc =
}}
'"Why Does It Always Rain on Me?'" is a song by Scottish band Travis, released as the third single from their second studio album, 'The Man Who'. The song became the group's international breakthrough single, receiving recognition around the world. It was their first top-ten hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at 10 in August 1999. The song also peaked within the top twenty in Australia and achieved moderate success in mainland Europe, North America, Ireland, and New Zealand. In a poll by listeners of Absolute Radio, the song was ranked 62nd on a list of the top 100 songs of the 1990s.
Background
Fran Healy started writing the song while on holiday in Israel. According to Healy, he wanted to go somewhere sunny in the middle of winter because in his hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, it rained frequently. His accountant suggested the southern vacation city of Eilat, Israel which is known for its hot weather even during winter time. However, on the way to the hotel, it began to rain, which lasted until he left a week later.
Healy said he wanted to write the song, and wrote the second verse starting with "Why does it always rain on you? Is it because I picked you up in '92?" but decided that it wasn't good and changed it. He said that the line "Is it because I lied when I was 17?" refers to the time when he lied about his age to get a job behind the bar at the biggest club in Glasgow. The rest of the song was written six months later in Madrid at 1 o'clock in morning. He had just spoken to his manager on the phone who assured him that his career is taking off, but he felt things were not working for him, and wrote the lines "I can't sleep tonight / Everybody's saying everything is alright" and "I can't stand myself" which refers to him hating himself as well as not being able to stand up. "I'm being held up by invisible men" refers to people in the music industry who propped him up as well as holding him up like robbers.
Live performances
When Travis began to perform this song at the 1999 Glastonbury Festival, after being sunny for several hours, it began to rain exactly when the first line was sung, and stopped at the end of the song. Their performance was a talking point of the festival, and their career took off afterwards. Their single was released a month after Glastonbury, and it reached No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and it also helped push the album 'The Man Who' to No. 1.
Music video
The music video was directed by John Hardwick and filmed in Cornwall, with scenes filmed on Bodmin Moor. The pool of water that Healy (actually a stuntman) jumps into is part of a disused mining quarry known locally as "Gold Diggings" in Craddock Moor which is on the edge of Bodmin Moor. The video features the band in a rain-soaked setting, with the band having locked frontman Healy, wearing a kilt, in the trunk of a 1970s Vauxhall Viva. Healy escapes, and chases the rest of the band into a disused mining quarry. The video continues with the band being shown in a floating living room, performing the song. The video ends with the living room floating away. It does not actually rain at any point during the video.
The underwater scenes were filmed by underwater cinematographer Mark Silk, in the tank at Oceanic SW Limited, Honiton, Devon. (The company went into administration in January 2019). The director of photography of the video was Ben Davis with Derrin Schlesinger the producer.
Track listings
'UK CD1'
# "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?"
# "Village Man"
# "Driftwood" (live at the Link Caf, Glasgow)
'UK CD2'
# "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?"
# "The Urge for Going"
# "Slide Show" (live at the Link Caf, Glasgow)
'UK cassette single'
# "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?"
# "Village Man"
'European maxi-CD single'
# "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?"
# "Village Man"
# "Driftwood" (live at the Link Caf, Glasgow)
# "The Urge for Going"
'US and Canadian promo CD'
# "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" (radio edit)
# "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" (album version)
'Australian and New Zealand maxi-CD single'
# "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" 4:25
# "Village Man" 3:18
# "Driftwood" (live at the Link Caf, Glasgow) 4:06
# "...Baby One More Time" (live at the Bay Tavern, Robin Hood's Bay) 3:30
# Multimedia
'Japanese EP'
# "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?"
# "Village Man"
# "Driftwood" (live at the Link Caf, Glasgow)
# "The Urge for Going"
# "Slide Show" (live at the Link Caf, Glasgow)
Credits and personnel
Credits are lifted from the UK CD1 liner notes.
'Studios'
* Produced at Chateau de la Rouge Motte (Domfront en Poiraie, France) and Abbey Road (London, England)
* Mixed at Mayfair Studios (London, England)
'Personnel'
* Fran Healy writing
* Sarah Wilson cello
* Mike Hedges production
* Ian Grimble co-production
* Nigel Godrich mixing
* Blue Source art direction
* Stefan Ruiz photography
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Category:1999 singles
Category:1999 songs
Category:Independiente (record label) singles
Category:Song recordings produced by Mike Hedges
Category:Songs about suicide
Category:Songs written by Fran Healy (musician)
Category:Travis (band) songs
Buy Why Does It Always Rain on Me? now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1999