My Ten Favorite Rain/Storm Songs: I'm No Stranger to the Rain (#4)

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I was so busy working in the kitchen, getting it cleaned up (part one of six or seven) that I ignored my duties for my top ten lists. Here's my next song in the "rain/storms" list. #4: I'm No Stranger to the Rain In his song "Yesterday Once More" (no relation to the Carpenters song by the same name!) Moe Bandy said, "There's a lot of Leftys now with different names." Keith Whitley didn't necessarily impersonate Lefty Frizzell, but his voice certainly recalled the legendary singer. Keith Whitley's life was far too short. He died at the age of 33 of alcohol poisoning. The reason he drank himself to death is the stuff of theories, legends, and finger-pointing, but before he died he had a remarkably long career. He was just coming into his own as a superstar when he died, but before that he had spent years in JD Crowe & the New South's band and performed bluegrass with fellow Kentuckian Ricky Skaggs before both of them moved into country, spearheading the "neo-traditionalist" movement of the 80s that was the last attempt to have country music sound like country music that we've seen in the commercial world. This marvelous song was written by Sonny Curtis, the same man who wrote "I Fought the Law" that Bobby Fuller (and later the Clash, if you want to hear a great cover) did. Curtis was a member of Buddy Holly's Crickets. The song uses rain as a metaphor for the problems and ills that befall a person in life, with the promise, "I'll put this cloud behind me, that's how the Man designed me, ride the wind and dance in a hurricane." Unquestionably one of Keith Whitley's greatest songs from his all-too-brief country career. I'm No Stranger to the Rain Written by Sonny Curtis & Ron Hellard Recorded by Keith Whitley From Don't Close Your Eyes, 1988 Here's Whitley's great song: