Recently, I was looking into bands that were big in the UK but never fully crossed over to the US, and someone mentioned how the Scottish band Travis was on the verge of making their big break here, when it all just fell apart.
That brought back memories of their 1999 song “Why Does It Always Rain On Me?”, which received at least some US airplay (I heard it on “The Edge”, Dallas’ KDGE, most likely) – but still remained pretty low profile. If you’re American and weren’t around at the time, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of it, or them. (Apparently their video aired on MTV2 as well, from what I’ve read, though that’s not how I’m familiar with it.)
So this blog post is a shout-out to a catchy yet melancholy number that never quite left my head, from a band that I can’t say I ever heard from again (despite remaining active and continuing to chart in the UK).
Two fun facts for you:
1. The band’s name comes from a character in the film Paris, Texas – which was also reportedly Kurt Cobain’s all-time favorite film.
2. When Travis performed this song at the 1999 Glastonbury Festival, rain unexpectedly began to fall after the song’s first line.