No Rain

"No Rain" is a song by American rock band Blind Melon. It was released in 1993 as the second single from the band's debut album Blind Melon. The song is well known for its accompanying music video, which features the "Bee Girl" character. The music video, directed by Samuel Bayer, received heavy airplay on MTV at the time of its release. It subsequently helped propel Blind Melon to a multi-platinum level.

"No Rain"
U.S. CD maxi-single
Single by Blind Melon
from the album Blind Melon
ReleasedApril 1993 (1993-04)
Recorded1992
StudioLondon Bridge Studio, Seattle
Genre
Length3:37
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Blind Melon
Producer(s)Rick Parashar and Blind Melon
Blind Melon singles chronology
"Tones of Home"
(1992)		 "No Rain"
(1993)		 "I Wonder"
(1993)

The song is the band's highest-charting song, reaching number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on both the Billboard Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts. It proved to be successful internationally, hitting number one in Canada and number eight in Australia.

Background

"No Rain" is in the key of E Mixolydian, and is performed in a moderately fast tempo.[2]

Although the song is credited to the whole band, it was bassist Brad Smith who wrote the vast majority of "No Rain". He said: "The song is about not being able to get out of bed and find excuses to face the day when you have really, in a way, nothing." At the time, Smith had been dating a girl who was going through depression (she would sleep through sunny days and complain when it didn't rain), and for a while he told himself that he was writing the song from her perspective, though Smith later realized that he was also writing about it himself.[3]

Music video

The music video, directed by Samuel Bayer, stars Heather DeLoach as the "Bee Girl" — a young tap dancer wearing a homemade bee costume and large glasses, modeled after the Blind Melon album cover: a family picture of Georgia Graham, younger sister of drummer Glen Graham.[4] The Bee Girl's story is intercut with footage of Blind Melon performing in a field against a clear blue sky.

It opens on the girl's tap routine; the audience responds with mocking laughter, and the girl runs off stage in tears. As the song plays, she wanders through Los Angeles, stopping to perform her dance for whoever will watch, but still feels alone. Ultimately — at the point in the song where the word "escape" is repeated — she peeks through a gate, which elicits a look of astonishment on her face, then runs through it to join a group of "bee people" just like her, dancing joyfully in a green field.

As a result of the video, DeLoach appeared on the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, and reprised her Bee Girl dance (in full costume) in the video for "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Bedrock Anthem".

Track listing

The following tracks appeared on the original 1992 release:

  1. "No Rain" 3:37
  2. "No Rain (Live)" 4:07
  3. "Drive (Live)" 4:40
  4. "Soak The Sin (Live)" 5:30

The following tracks appeared on the original 1992 French release:

  1. "No Rain (Live)" 5:23
  2. "Candy says (Country Jellyfish version)" 3:30
  3. "Paper scratcher (Acoustic version)" 3:12
  4. "tones of home (Remix)" 4:26

The following tracks appeared on the original 1992 Netherlands release:

  1. "No Rain (Live)" 5:23
  2. "Paper Scratcher (Board Mix)" 3:13

The following tracks appeared on the later 1993 CD/Vinyl re-release:

  1. "No Rain" 3:37
  2. "Soak The Sin (Board Mix)" 4:00
  3. "Paper Scratcher (Board Mix)" 3:13
  4. "Deserted (Board Mix)" 4:20

The following tracks appeared 1993 UK Vinyl release:

  1. "No Rain" 3:34
  2. "No Bidness" (Triple Vision Version) 2:23
    • recorded live at Bogarts, Cincinnati, Ohio, August 11, 1993.
  3. "I Wonder" 5:29

A live version of the song appears on radio station KMTT's Live From The Mountain Music Lounge Volume 14, released in 2008.

Charts and certifications

The song was played in several episodes of The O.C., and has featured in TV commercials for Nestle chocolate bar Sahne Nuss. The song was used in the trailer for the film Sideways. The song was also featured in the background of a 1993 episode of the US soap opera One Life To Live. It was covered by John Craigie on his 1990s cover album, Leave the Fire Behind. American folk/roots pop singer-songwriter Josh Rouse performed a version of the song in August 2015 for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series.[25] The song was heard briefly in season 1 episode 2 of the television show New Girl and in the short-lived U.S. TV show Surviving Jack in episode three "How Do You Talk To An Angel". It was also the opening track for episode 5 of Season 2 of My Mad Fat Diary. A Dave Lichens cover version of the song appeared in the season 1 finale of the TV show Preacher. The song was also referenced in Anna Nalick's song "Paper Bag" off the album "Wreck of Day". The song was featured in the 1997 movie Private Parts based on Howard Stern's early career. On August 18, 2009, it was made available as a downloadable track for the music video game Rock Band.

See also

References
  1. Starkey, Glen (August 30, 2018). "Blind Melon with local singer Travis Warren plays SLO Brew on Sept. 5". New Times. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  2. "No Rain". Musicnotes.com. 1992.
  3. https://www.songfacts.com/facts/blind-melon/no-rain
  4. "To Bee Or Not To Bee". Entertainment Weekly. September 24, 1993.
  5. "Australian-charts.com – Blind Melon – No Rain". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  6. "Austriancharts.at – Blind Melon – No Rain" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  7. "Ultratop.be – Blind Melon – No Rain" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  8. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2297." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  9. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11 no. 2. January 8, 1994. p. 11. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  10. "Offiziellecharts.de – Blind Melon – No Rain". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  11. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (4.–10. nóv)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). November 4, 1993. p. 20. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  12. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – No Rain". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  13. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Blind Melon" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Blind Melon – No Rain" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  15. "Charts.nz – Blind Melon – No Rain". Top 40 Singles.
  16. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  17. "Blind Melon Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  18. "Cashbox Top 100 Singles: October 30, 1993". Cashbox. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  19. "Blind Melon Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  20. "Blind Melon Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  21. "Blind Melon Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  22. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  23. "The RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1993". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  24. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1994". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  25. Modell, Josh (August 4, 2015). "Josh Rouse covers Blind Melon". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Retrieved August 4, 2015.


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