Greatest love songs ever: #50 “Stormy Weather”

By Tom Quiner

“Don’t know why, There’s no sun up in the sky, Stormy weather, Since my man and I ain’t together, Keeps raining all the time.”

These are some of the most memorable opening lyrics to a love song I’ve ever heard. When you take these words, written by Ted Koehler, and add in Harold Arlen’s extraordinary music, you have a song that unveils the dark side of love. Sometimes love is unrequited. You love someone, but he or she does’t love you back.

Or sometimes someone you love seems to love you back, but then they leave the relationship, leaving you with a broken heart. Love is a risky proposition, and it seems an increasing number of young people don’t want to take the risk anymore. (Marriage rates have plunged from 8.2 marriages per one-thousand people in 2000 to 6.2 marriages per thousand in 2022.)

The torch song

As you can see, my list of the ‘Top 52 Love Songs Ever’ includes songs that explore the pain that love can bring to our lives. This is a sub-genre called the Torch Song. They explore the agony of lost love. Stormy Weather is a classic of the genre.

Arlen and Koehler wrote the song in 1933, and it’s been covered by a who’s who of great artists ever since, including Lena Horne (above), Frank Sinatra, and Etta James. The song was so good that MGM did a whole movie with the same title a decade later, featuring the song halfway in.

Sinatra sings “Stormy Weather”

As is almost always the case in these classic love songs, the lyrics are solid gold, plumbing the complex depths of what it means to be human and to love. God made us to love, because God IS love, and we’re made in His image. So this blog’s encouragement to young readers is simple: love is worth the risk.

Yes, sometimes we get hurt, as “Stormy Weather” presents with such aching honesty. New York chanteuse, Nellybombs, offers a stripped down bluesy version, backed by only guitar, showcasing how a great song holds up regardless of the arrangement:

Nellybombs sings “Stormy Weather”

I can’t help but think of the scripture passage where a furious storm descends upon the Disciples in their boat while Jesus sleeps (Matthew 8:23-27). Life is like that. Storms hit us. It might be a broken relationship; a death or illness; or a crisis pregnancy.

In those moments, we do the same thing the Disciples did, we cry out “Lord, save us!” (Pulse has rich resources on this website for women in crisis pregnancies. Please check them out.)

Next week, we’ll take a look at a timeless classic that was a hit song for a dad, and then again for his daughter four decades later. Pulse Life Advocates believes that love songs are an antidote for the culture of death. So keep checking back. The songs keep getting better!

[If you like this blogpost, be sure to share it. Then donate to help spread pro-life love.]