Nick Ryder Songwriter: Weatherman

This is an old song, and when I say old, it dates back to the mid 90’s although it was somewhat different back then. What I will say is that I was never happy with it, even though I thought it had potential.

To explain…… Back in the 90’s I used to write songs all the time for the band I was in. We’d turn up to a rehearsal, I’d play them my latest song and we’d work out an arrangement together as a band. However, these songs were all very much first drafts. What I mean by that is that I’d always go with my first idea, without stepping back and letting the song breathe, or even consider ways of improving it. It was very much a case of quantity not quality. Weatherman was a victim of this work ethic.

I always liked the verse sections, but the original chorus was simply not good enough. It wasn’t even a chorus. I was so lazy back then. If only I’d known what I know now.

So anyway, fast forward to 2023 and I wondered if I could do something with this song as it would have been a shame for it to go to waste. I experimented with different rhythms for a start which led to a new reggae style chorus section, but that didn’t work. I even toyed with the idea of arranging it as a purely acoustic number, but that didn’t work either.

So I went back to basics. I kept the electric guitar based arrangement and worked on writing a new chorus which complimented the original verse sections. I picked a theme of the weather as a metaphor for the world constantly changing, but yet the protagonists stay the same so long as they’re together. Once I had the theme, everything else fell into place.

When I am in the mood, I find it extremely easy to come up with melody lines. I’m guessing it’s because over the years I have listened to mainly melodic music. The Beatles, Costello, ELO, Orbison, McCartney etc. What you listen to informs what you create.

Some writers get very pedantic about lyrics. To them, they have to be clever and make sense or tell a story. Sometimes, the music suffers for this. I tend to lean more towards melody as it is that which stays in someone’s mind. There are so many classic songs with bad lyrics, but it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day.

So that’s it, the song was finished and I feel it is all the better for the rewrite. It only took 30 years……….