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The Weather, a commentary, episodes 1-5
🕑 Added 2023-11-08 15:41:28 +0000 UTCI get asked a lot about the weather in Night Vale. Why is the weather music? Because I like music. For the first couple years of the show, the weather was almost entirely just songs I had liked for years and wanted to share with people. And so here I will give some commentary on those early weathers, and my history with them, starting with the first five episodes
These and More Than These by Joseph Fink
The first episode, more than anything, was made as just a test of concept. How did all of these elements sound together? And so, as someone whose father was a professional musician and who has done music as a hobby my whole life, it just made sense to put together the first weather. At the time, I had the idea that all the weather should be weird, and so I wrote a new song that was a kind of weird fiction story in song. By the third episode, I had abandoned this idea and moved to the current version: "song I like".
The Bus Is Late by Satellite High
Satellite High was a fellow user of the Something Awful forums, which is where I knew him from. He had a lot of great, more serious rap, but in these early stages I still had the idea that all the weather should be "weird" in some way, and so I chose this strange novelty track he made based on a well-known (at the time) internet user who was obsessed with buses and reported regularly on his bus experiences.
The song became something of a viral hit in the early days of Night Vale, and it still will come up every time people ask about favorite weathers. This at first bemused, and then I think somewhat infuriated Satellite High, who wanted to be known and respected in indie rap circles, and not be celebrated for what, for him, was a throwaway joke track. Soon after this song took off, he quit rap, retired the Satellite High name, and started a podcast that appears to have just ended.
Bill and Annie by Chuck Brodsky
As an early user of the internet with an interest in indie music, I used to do kind of the only thing you could do at the time to discover new music: I would order sampler cds and cassettes from indie folk labels. Then, if I liked a song from the sampler, I would order that artist's album. This makes me sound a thousand years old, but I'm not even 40. This is how we did it, as recently as the early 2000's. If you wanted to try a song, you mostly just had to order the cd, which also meant you got a bunch of other songs by the artist you could maybe fall in love with.
The first Chuck Brodsky song I heard was the incredible Acre by Acre. That led me to buy a few Brodsky albums, where I found this song, which is less catchy, but far more sad and memorable for me. This story about two people who could have had one life, but instead had a different kind of life, resonated with me. It's the kind of tragedy we all live. Not grand and operatic. But quiet, survivable, the kind of tragedy we just bundle away and then keep on living.
Closer by The Tiny
I first heard this song on the Something Awful forums, on a subforum dedicated to just sharing music people loved. This is also where I first heard frequent Night Vale collaborator Danny Schmidt. I love this song, but also have never sought out more by the same artist. It's the new kind of song discovery, the opposite of the older process. It requires very little investment, and allows us to fall in love with songs without knowing anything about an artist, or ever hearing anything else they've done.
Jerusalem by Dan Bern
The first time I heard this song it was not being played by Dan Bern but by Ani DiFranco. She did a cover at a live show, and I heard a bootleg. What is there to say about this song? The melody is repetitive, his voice is...fine, his guitar playing is...fine. But the lyrics are just so funny and strange and memorable, that it remains another weather regularly brought up when discussing listener favorites.
Ok, there's episodes 1-5. Let me know if this is the kind of thing you're interested in and if you'd like me to do more, or if there's something else you'd like me to talk about.
-Joseph Fink
Comments
The AHulls
I like this commentary, keep it coming!
Wesley Hunt
"Bill and Annie" is one of the most underrated Weathers. And "Jerusalem" got me to check out Dan Bern's other work. "Estelle" is my favorite by him.
Daniel Boline
z, a lotx Jo Iko Iko
Fiona
I too, would love more weather commentary. I've found several songs/artists I quite like from the weather
Lea-Anne Bursa
I would love to hear more weather commentary!
Peter Wilsnack
Adding my vote for more weather commentary. Yay!
Sebastian C. Ravel
Absolutely more of this! As mentioned by others, Joseph, I absolutely love your music, and would always want to hear more of it for the weather. These and More Than These has haunted and continues to haunt me even years after first being introduced to Night Vale.
LarryB
I always like the break the weather brings into the story - it kind of adds to the suspense before the resolution. I was really surprised to hear Dessa a few episodes ago. I really love her music (nerd rap!) but it was an artist I know. Both satisfying and a bit disappointing - I'm looking for new things. I hope everyone enjoyed her!
Parashar Bhise
Yes, more of this. I have bought many wonderful albums over the years due to the "weather."
allie p
Yes please, more of this! I love hearing this back story and more about the individual songs.
Aleta Fera
Yes, this was great!
Katie C
I love this and would love to hear more!! The weather has changed my (music) life and it's cool to see behind the curtain
Serpentine
Me too. It's catchy as heck. I've only ever listened to it once or twice, in the episode, and it still gets stuck in my head. It's a real shame it became the thorn in his side. I hope he's made peace with it now.
KG
Dude, These and More Than These is one of my favorite songs on the planet, along with others by Joseph Fink, and I've always wondered why all of the weather isn't Joseph Fink. I've enjoyed other weathers, especially by Danny Schmidt, but I'd be 100% content with all-JF-all-the-time weathers.
Julia Kringlen
Yes, definitely More of this. Please 🙏
Julia Kringlen
In my early days of listening to the show, I thought your song choices were along the lines of “songs you liked and wanted to share” or something less thrilling like “ randomly selected from a pool of unknown artists.” But then a friend told me that the mood of the song is supposed to reflect the weather from that day. Happy song, sunny skies. Uneasy and chaotic, very windy. Slow and somber, overcast or rainy. I never found evidence of that theory, but it does help my immersion. Reading these analyses now, it feels the most like the songs are the cat that followed you home and now you’re like “hey everyone. Look at this!”
mguin
NV has positively impacted my music tastes as an adult like few things have. Always happy the hear the weather.
Adam Eaton
More please. There are several songs from the weather that have become part of my regular playlist. The funny thing is, for a long time, I never really thought about the songs from the weather as being Indie. After discovering Night Vale, I discovered the web comic Questionable Content. One of the main characters is big into indie music and talks about all sorts of bands I had never heard of (or at least he used to in the early days of the strip. I would occasionally think, I should look into some indie artists sometime. Then one day it hit me that I already was, thanks to Welcome to Night Vale.
Jeff B
I sent an email to Good Morning Night Vale about the weather back in the early days, but it didn't get read on the show. My theory is that for many, weather triggers an emotional response. Music also triggers an emotional response. So figure out which weather conditions spark the same emotions as the music you are listening to, and that's the weather.
MadHatterPlushArtist
Definitely interested in more commentaries like this :D
Jalen Brooks-Knepfle
I would love to read more of this!
Esther
Loved this! Would love to hear the commentary on Mystic’s Neptune’s Jewels
Cindy Pury
I'm so sad that Satellite High was unhappy about people's love of The Bus is Late. There just isn't enough art about the hassles of daily life, which have a considerable impact on well-being. This song captures that annoyance perfectly.
Joseph Robertson
Would love to hear more of these for sure.
Ray Timpson
Love this!
Dan Coffey
Yes, please, more weather analysis - this is fascinating to me.
