Only Happy When It Rains

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For the song by The Jesus and Mary Chain, see Happy When It Rains.

"Only Happy When It Rains"
Mushroom, Almo Sounds
Songwriter(s)Garbage
Producer(s)Garbage
Garbage singles chronology
"Queer"
(1995) 		"Only Happy When It Rains"
(1995) 		"Stupid Girl"
(1996)

"Only Happy When It Rains" is an alternative rock song written and produced by American alternative rock band Garbage for their self-titled debut studio album (1995). It was recorded at the band's own studio, Smart Studios, in Madison, Wisconsin, and is known for its tongue-in-cheek lyrics parodying the typically angst-filled themes of mid-'90s alternative rock.[4]

Replacing "

Hot 100.[5]

The music video made MTV's next-big-thing Buzz Bin category, helping "Only Happy When It Rains" to cross over to Top 40 radio formats, and propelling the album Garbage from being a Heatseeker title into the top half of the Billboard 200 album chart.[6] In Europe, where it was the fourth single from Garbage, it followed the success of "Stupid Girl", by reaching the top ten European Alternative Rock airplay charts over the summer of 1996.[7]

"Only Happy When It Rains" is one of Garbage's enduring works, covered by multiple artists, including

Homicide: Life on the Street and The X-Files. In 2019, it was used in the Captain Marvel soundtrack.[9]

Composition and recording

"Only Happy When It Rains"
The opening for "Only Happy When It Rains", showcasing the bleak lyrics.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Only Happy When It Rains" was written and recorded between March 1994 and May 1995. It was written in sessions with band members Duke Erikson, Shirley Manson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig in Marker's basement recording studio, and recorded at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.[10] Bass guitar was played by Mike Kashou, and additional percussion by Pauli Ryan.[11] In the latter stages of the album's recording, Garbage mixed this song twice before it was mastered. At the last minute, Vig made the guitar tracks louder; he later claimed it still did not sound the way he heard it in his head.[12] The mix was noted for Manson's voice being at the same volume as the instruments; in mainstream pop, the lead vocal is usually louder than the instruments.[13] The song is in the key of G♯ minor, the time signature of 4/4, and at a tempo of 120 beats per minute. Its chord progressions are G♯m–F♯–E–C♯m–E–F♯ in the verses and C♯-F♯-A-B in the chorus.[14]

Marker explained the song's bleak lyrics as a mockery of the angsty "wearing your heart on your sleeve thing" prevalent in mid-1990s alternative rock songs, as well as a self-deprecating reference to Garbage's own dark lyrics.[15] Manson explained that the song was "a dig at ourselves because we like records that don't make us feel very happy, and at this so-called 'alternative' scene of 'we're so weird and more wonderful than everybody else'".[16] Vig added that "'Only Happy When It Rains' was "about what happened with grunge and the angst-filled thing which has dominated the American alternative rock scene... With us there's self-deprecation, we have to poke fun at ourselves because we're so incredibly obsessive about the songs and the lyrics, which makes us filled with self-loathing, hurhur."[17] Garbage said they referenced both the title of The Jesus and Mary Chain song "Happy When It Rains" (1987) and Manson's own Scottish psyche.[18] Lyrically, Manson described "Only Happy When It Rains" as "about wanting love but knowing life will always get in the way... yet not being obliterated by that. It's a song for people that know what it is like to live on the dark side of life. It's about devotion but a different kind—a devotion to the truth and to freedom... and to hell with the consequences."[19]

When "Only Happy When It Rains" was

analog masters for the debut album had been lost. This resulted in some discernible differences in the remaster.[21] The original master tapes were found a few years later.[citation needed
]

In 2015, an early demo mix of "Only Happy When It Rains" was included as a previously unreleased bonus track on Garbage (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition).[22]

Critical reception

Upon both the release of Garbage and of "Only Happy When It Rains" as a single, the song received a positive reception from

music journalists. Larry Flick from Billboard described it as "solid all the way through", praising the overall production.[23] Steve Baltin from Cash Box picked it as Pick of the Week, adding, "When Shirley Manson requests "pour your misery down on me", it's hard to say no. Rarely has sadism sounded as inviting as it does on Garbage's high-energy, poppy masochistic anthem." He noted Manson's "alluring vocals" and stated that "giving the song its cool rock star vibe is the strong guitar solo in the middle. A winning song, "Only Happy When It Rains" validates the accolades being heaped upon the group."[24] Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian described it as "perversely pretty".[25] Patrick Brennan of Hot Press declared it his Single of the Fortnight, writing, "It's hugely refreshing to come across a song which celebrates all those sad moments of loneliness that can be so life affirming",.[26] Another editor, Jackie Hinden felt that "Only Happy When It Rains" was "like a Pretenders for the nineties".[27] A reviewer for Kerrang! wrote, "A truly inspired single... Garbage combine a slightly sinister acidic approach with an infectious melodic atmosphere and an alternative punch. The result is awesome".[28] Alastair Mabbot, writing for The List, described the song as "Spitting Image's notion of alternative rock".[29] A reviewer for Music Week stated that "Shirley Manson's vocals veer between fuzzy darkness, grinding catchy and crystal brilliance."[30] The magazine's Leo Finlay compared the song to Mazzy Star, and that it "employs the current hip status of country music to devastating effect".[31] In reviews for the debut album, Robert Yates of Q wrote that there was "a nice self-deflating Morrissey touch to [the song]".[32] Spin's Eric Weissard said the song was the only one he hated in Garbage's debut album, but reacted positively to the intro where "backward guitars produce a chiming solo."[33]

At the end of 1995,

signature song,[35][36] and in 2000 was ranked as 69th in a list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs Of All Time jointly compiled by Rolling Stone and MTV.[37]

Single release and chart performance

Initially,

UK Singles Chart at number 29.[41] At the end of the month, Garbage made their debut live appearance to perform the single on Top of the Pops,[42] providing momentum for the album Garbage to debut on the UK Albums Chart at number 12.[43]

In United States, after multiple stations began playlisting "Only Happy When It Rains" from mid-December 1995,

Hot 100, eventually spending twenty weeks on the chart. Garbage rounded out the promotional work for the track by performing "Only Happy When It Rains" at the 1996 MTV Movie Awards on June 8.[56]

In Australia and New Zealand, Garbage's Australasian record label,

New Zealand singles chart, peaking the following week at 38th.[60]

Across Europe, Mushroom Records international distributor

Single Top 100.[63][64]
"Only Happy When It Rains" began to be playlisted by a number of radio stations across the continent, eventually reaching number eight on the European alternative rock chart by September 1996.

Music video

The music video for "Only Happy When It Rains" was filmed in mid-January 1996 in Los Angeles by director Samuel Bayer, simultaneously with the video for single "Stupid Girl".[65] As Almo Sounds thought "Only Happy When It Rains" would be more successful, the video was given a higher budget than the video for "Stupid Girl".[66] The music video debuted in the United States on February 12,[67] where MTV playlisted it immediately as a "Buzz clip", thus guaranteeing it heavy rotation.[68][17]

The video begins with a short

musical instruments as Manson performs to the camera. Some sequences feature Manson performing the song while on her own in dilapidated toilet stalls. The video ends with inter-cut footage of Manson joining the children on the field.[67]

The "Only Happy When It Rains" video was first commercially released – along with

VEVO in 2013.[71]

Track listings

Continuing their theme of collectible 7-inch vinyl releases, which had seen "

flower-press. The nuts were meant to be unscrewed to find the vinyl disc inside - between ten layers of different types of cardboard.[16]

Credits and personnel

Charts

Chart (1995–1996) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[75][59] 80
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[76] 79
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[77] 11
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[78] 6
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[63] 34
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[64] 36
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[60] 38
Scotland (OCC)[79]
 27
UK Singles (OCC)[80]
 29
UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[81]
 2
US Billboard Hot 100[5] 55
US Cash Box Top 100[82] 44
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[83] 16

Release history

Region Date Format Label
United Kingdom September 18, 1995
Mushroom
United States January 20, 1996 Modern rock radio[47] Almo Sounds
February 20, 1996
March 26, 1996 Contemporary hit radio[6]
Australia May 27, 1996
  • CD single
  • cassette single[57]
White Label
Europe
BMG

In popular culture

Covers

As one of Garbage's signature songs, "Only Happy When It Rains" has been

second season episode "The Sacrifice".[89] In 2017, New Years Day and Lzzy Hale from Halestorm covered the song at Alternative Press Music Awards.[90][91] New Years Day later included a studio version of the cover featuring Hale on their 2018 EP Diary of a Creep.[92][93]

In 2009, "Only Happy When It Rains" was featured as a playable song in the

unlocked for use elsewhere within the game.[8]

Media

"Only Happy When It Rains" appeared in the

"White Lies" and in a 1999 episode of The X-Files entitled "Terms of Endearment".[94] The song was going to appear in the 1997 movie Nightwatch (along with "Supervixen"), but they got replaced by different songs in the final cut. "Only Happy When It Rains" also appeared in the 2019 movie Captain Marvel.[9] In 2021, it appeared in season 1 of the show Cruel Summer
.

References

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External links

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