Songs about nasty weather for the rest of hurricane season

Hurricane Matthew treated us pretty well in Manatee County. We kept an eye on it, we took some precautions, but it basically blew past us.

We still have almost two whole months left in hurricane season, though, so chances are we’ll have another scare or two. And since we all like to listen to cry-in-your-beer songs when we’re heartbroken, we might like to listen to songs about nasty storms when we’re hunkering down. Here’s a suggested playlist to get you started when Hurricane Otto or Walter comes breezing through Bradenton.

▪  “Like a Hurricane” (Neil Young): Yes, the storm’s metaphorical, but the song rages, especially in concert. One of Neil’s true classics, and one of his most often covered.

▪ “Stormy Weather” (Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler): It’s considered Lena Horne’s signature song, but Billie Holiday, Etta James and Ethel Waters also made sensational recordings of it.

▪ “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” (Bob Dylan): One of Dylan’s most enduring protest songs, thanks to chilling lyrics that are more impressionistic than specific, and that have been interpreted as referring to everything from the Cuban Missile Crisis to air pollution.

▪ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (The Rolling Stones): No one really knows what a “crossfire hurricane” is, but this is a great song from way back when the Stones were the best rock ’n’ roll band in the world.

▪ “Gimme Shelter” (The Rolling Stones): It’s nearly 50 years old, and its over-familiarity has sapped a lot of its power. But if you can listen to this song with fresh ears this record can still thrill you, thanks in large part to Merry Clayton’s vocals.

▪ “When the Levee Breaks” (Led Zeppelin): Great song, nonsensical lyrics.

▪ “Storm Comin’ ” (The Wailin’ Jennys): A haunting and beautiful song by the Canadian harmony trio.

▪ “Hurricane” (Thirty Seconds to Mars): No one would pay any attention at all to this band if it weren’t fronted by actor Jared Leto, but it’s a decent band and this is one of its best songs.

▪ “Hurricane J” (The Hold Steady): Really nothing at all about hurricanes herein, but it’s a great song from the great Brooklyn band that for some reason has a penchant for writing songs about Tampa’s Ybor City.

▪ “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” (from “The Fantasticks”): One of the best songs from the inexplicably popular musical.

▪ “Who’ll Stop the Rain?” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” and “Bad Moon Rising” (Creedence Clearwater Revival): At their peak, John Fogerty and the boys — including current Sarasota resident Stu Cook, the band’s bassist — had a propensity for songs with meteorological metaphors, including these three hits.

▪ “Mama Will Provide” (from “Once on This Island”): The entire musical is essentially about a storm, so there are lots of songs to choose from, but this joyous calypso tune is irresistible.

And if you get tired of listening to songs that are actually enjoyable there’s:

▪  “Santa Never Made It to Darwin” (Bill & Boyd): You’ve probably never heard this song unless you’re Australian. If you have, you no doubt regard it as one of the worst songs you’ve ever heard. It’s lyrically and musically inept, and to make it worse it’s a grotesque attempt to cash in on a real-life tragedy. Cyclone Tracy pretty much destroyed the city of Darwin on Dec. 24, 1974, and Bill & Boyd made a Christmas song out of it.

This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Songs about nasty weather for the rest of hurricane season."