Songfacts®:

• The first charting single for 10,000 Maniacs (#68 US), "Like the Weather" was written by lead singer Natalie Merchant, and is simply about being in a foul mood on a day when the weather is horrible and she can't find a good reason to get out of bed.
• The dark lyric stands in opposition to the buoyant music on this track: while Merchant is delivering lines like "A quiver in my voice as I cry, 'What a cold and a rainy day,'" the band is playing a chipper tune. "We liked to play toe-tapping music," bass player Steven Gustafson said in his Songfacts interview. "Stuff you could dance to with a big beat. Her view of the world was sometimes in stark contrast to that joy we got from playing. It made us unique."
• The video was directed by Adrian Edmondson, who is best known for his work as an actor: he starred in the British shows The Young Ones and Bottom. Edmondson is also a comedian, and his sardonic wit is at play in this clip, which finds Merchant in a beatific state amid a colorful, breezy set as she sings the rather morose lyrics.