Now that Geri Halliwell has perpetrated one of the worst cover versions of all time, we feel compelled to return to the powerful (yet ultimately problematic) enigma of the Weather Girls' original. Indeed, it is in the true spirit of the original that we offer this brief and humble critique of their intriguing lyrics:

by Dominic Pettman

It's Raining Men Performed by The Weather Girls
(Copyright, blah blah blah)

Hi - Hi! We're your Weather Girls - Ah-huh -
And have we got news for you - You better listen!
Get ready, all you lonely girls
and leave those umbrellas at home. - Alright! -

Humidity is rising - Barometer's getting low
(How low girl)
According to all sources - what sources now?
The street's the place to go - Oh yeah!
Cause tonight for the first time
Just about half-past ten
For the first time in history
It's gonna start raining men.

It's Raining Men! Hallelujah! - It's Raining Men! Amen!
I'm gonna go out to run and let myself get
Absolutely soaking wet!
It's Raining Men! Hallelujah!
It's Raining Men! Every Specimen!
Tall, blonde, dark and lean
Rough and tough and strong and mean

God bless Mother Nature, she's a single woman too
She took off to heaven and she did what she had to do
She taught every angel to rearrange the sky
So that each and every woman could find her perfect guy

It's Raining Men! Hallelujah! - It's Raining Men! Amen!
It's Raining Men! Hallelujah!
It's Raining Men! Ame---------nnnn!

I feel stormy weather / Moving in about to begin
Hear the thunder / Don't you lose your head
Rip off the roof and stay in bed

Analysis of "It's Raining Men"

So, in this song, we are dealing with an unprecedented event ("for the first time in history, it's gonna start raining men")

These lyrics are, however, quite problematic; in that many women do not find men in the least bit attractive, and in fact, would prefer it to be raining, say, other women, chocolates, vibrators or credit cards. In other words, this is a heterosexist narrative.

Yet this song has become something of a male gay anthem since it was released nearly twenty years ago. So we must distinguish between the text itself, and the way the text circulates in t he culture and various subcultures: in other words, we must pay attention to the song's role in t he libidinal economy.

But if we do take it simply at the level of the text, we come across another problem: what about women who already have a perfectly good man already? Are these men to be locked in the cellar during this libidinal storm?

Turning to the lyrics, we see Mother Nature is in a pact with heaven - the natural and the super-natural working together. And yet this miraculous union only acts to take chance out of the equation, thereby ignoring the importance that contingency has historically played in the lover's discourse.

The angels "rearrange the sky" - so where do these men come from? are they dead men coming back to life? are they angels themselves? (which raises all sorts of theological questions?)

These are the Weather Girls - they align themselves with meteorology: one of the few forms of prophecy which have been semi-legitimized by science (along with stockmarket speculation). In this song they are forecasting a particular utopia, but how long will it last?

"According to all sources - What sources?" Indeed, what sources? The bureau of meteorology itself? Are the Weather Girls really qualified to make such a prognosis?* Especially with such accuracy: " just about half past ten." Is this a global storm? Or limited to the United States?

And how exactly does this storm take place? Is it like terrestrial weather patterns, and these precipitous men are the result of condensation? (Remembering, of course, that Freud defined significant quilting-points in dreams as "condensations.") Perhaps these men are scooped up off the earth, like the rapture, and then dropped again, in which case this song portrays a massive vision of husband-swapping.

Recall also the phrase, "plenty more fish in the sea" - remembering that there are several recorded cases of raining fish (thanks to the vortex-effect of a tornado).

If we look at the line, "I'm gonna let myself get absolutely soaking wet" - well, this is both obvious and pornographic, but it could also refer to the Flood itself. However, this time around, the Flood is washing away loneliness and horniness, rather than sin itself. In the Christian sense, raining men is a dystopian vision, but for the Weather Girls it is the revenge of Sodom and Gomorrah.

This song talks about "find[ing] the perfect guy" - so does that mean that there is only one soul mate for each person? And this, after they've claimed they want to get absolutely soaking wet? As a consequence, the Weather Girls speak of the tension between fidelity and the promiscuity, the urge to find one's Other Half, verses the thrill of trying different Other Halves on for size.

The women whom the song addresses are encouraged to both run into the streets (representing the public sphere . . . that is, a carnaval, an orgy), and yet they are also encouraged to "rip off the roof and stay in bed" - a clear reference to the private sphere. Which reminds us that the truth of love is forged in the constantly shifting overlap between private and public space.

Which all goes to show, that Lacan

may have been right when he insisted that "there is no such thing as a sexual relationship."

Especially when it's raining.