Looking forward to a wet weekend? Well, neither are we. As inconvenient as it is in real life, rain is one of the classic tropes in the history of the music video. So when the BOM says we’re in for some precipitation, there are some classic videos that’ll see you through the gumboot weather.
As heavy-handed a metaphor as they come, rain equals drama and sadness in the music video form. But can it also be a recipe for happiness too? Let’s dive into the selection and find out.
Did the BOM just ruin your weekend? All is not lost. Slip on those gumboots and check out 10 classic videos that make the most of the wet weather.
Here Comes the Rain Again – Eurythmics
Any excuse to play a Eurythmics tune. The duo comprised of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart were about as big as it gets in ’80s synth-pop, so they had their fair share of high-budget film clips. As you can see in the video for Here Comes the Rain Again, they weren’t afraid to ham it up.
In a song all about the rain, it only appears for about one second, while Annie is indoors. While we don’t think the BOM is about to predict indoor rain any time soon, it’s still pretty great.
Purple Rain (Live at the Superbowl Halftime Show) – Prince
Nobody could summon drama within live performance like the inimitable Prince. Purple Rain, the song, the album and even the film marked him out as a megastar so it didn’t surprise anyone that he brought this epic track to the biggest show of all.
The Superbowl Halftime Show attracts more eyeballs than just about anything else. So when it was forecast to piss down, Prince had only one response: bring it on.
Only Happy When It Rains – Garbage
Garbage exploded in the mid-’90s, full of the post-grunge and pre-emo angst which typified the era. This clip couldn’t be any more of its time as well, replete with mascara and high-contrast colours.
The rain that falls here is only in confetti form though. And what’s with those masked monsters in a bleak field? All that matters is that unforgettable refrain.
Singin’ In the Rain – Gene Kelly
While Shirley Manson sang about being Only Happy When It Rains, Gene Kelly actually looks happy. Heck, he’s even singin’ and dancin’.
Would anyone actually be happy with this amount of rain though? I mean, it’s pretty torrential, but the all-singing, all-dancing Gene Kelly sure does a great job of convincing us that everything is hunky-dory. That’s falling in love for you.
Gypsy – Fleetwood Mac
Much like the Eurythmics, Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac isn’t afraid to ham it up for this rainfest of a clip.
It’s hard not to get sucked into the crazy world of this video: a wild ride through the depression era, film noir and fantastical forests. All the while, Stevie gets chased around by the rain. She doesn’t seem to mind though.
Blue Sky Mine – Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil is one of those quintessential Aussie pub rock bands that seems to go hand-in-hand with the dry dustiness of the outback. This is pretty much the case for the majority of the clip for Blue Sky Mine, until the drought is broken in the end.
It probably takes the cake for the fakest rain in a video. Where the hell does it come from?
Umbrella – Rihanna
Rihanna‘s megahit Umbrella, of course, references the rain. There’s rain of a kind, but none of it is about to be predicted by the BOM.
It rains sparks and whatever that CGI stuff is and it’s all very confusing. But just sing the chorus to this track before you head out the door so you don’t forget you know what.
November Rain – Guns N’ Roses
Oh, it’s the ultimate rain/pain track. It starts with rain in the background as Axl Rose chugs down his bedside painkillers. You know, because life is so painful.
A wedding, a funeral and three guitar solos later, we find the Guns N’ Roses frontman at the cemetery getting soaked. Somehow it goes for more than nine minutes, but that’s it in a nutshell.
London Calling – The Clash
For those who have actually been to London, you know what the weather can be like. It couldn’t be any more foreign for an Australian—you can be battered into submission by relentless rain for weeks on end.
London Calling wasn’t exactly intended to be a tourism ad for England—it’s bleakness summed up The Clash‘s punk rock reaction to the dawn of Thatcherite austerity. It looks pretty damn cold.
It’s Raining Men – The Weather Girls
We’re not sure if these particular Weather Girls are BOM accredited, but it seems they know a thing or two about rain. What we hadn’t discovered about this dancefloor classic, though, was just how bonkers this video clip is.
It’s all in the title of course, but the execution of this singular idea is incredible. Hallelujah indeed.
