Favorite Songs From Movies: Stormy Weather
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (74515)
United States
March 20, 2023 10:29am CST
We did it!! We made it through winter and now it’s time for spring! For my friends on the other side of the equator, you sweated through summer and now it’s time for autumn. It wasn’t arranged for this song to be showcased on the first day of spring, because this portion of the countdown is alphabetical (the top ten starts on Wednesday). Happy coincidence. Sing along.
Stormy Weather - Lena Horne
I guess everyone has a favorite version of this Great American Songbook standard. The original, by Ethel Waters in 1933, is in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Lady Day (Billie Holiday) did a smoking version in 1952.
In the 1943 film Stormy Weather you see Lena Horne perform the tune. The movie was made for blacks by blacks. The segregation of the era gave us a most memorable film with some of the greatest talent (not just “African-American” talent) of the era.
And, if you haven’t seen it, you must see the Nicolas Brothers’ dance routine to “Jumpin’ Jive.” Fred Astaire said it was the greatest dance sequence ever filmed, and I don’t dispute that opinion in the least. The movie plot is based loosely on the life of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, famously noted for dance routines with Shirley Temple in her movies.
All that, and this classic song as well!
Stormy Weather
Written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler
Recorded by Lena Horne
From Stormy Weather, 1943
Old rockin’ chair will get me:
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12 people like this
10 responses
@BarBaraPrz (49579)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
20 Mar 23
She sure put a lot of emotion into that song (which I've always liked) and I like that bit at the end when lightning strikes and she runs back up to shut the window. At first, I wondered who keeps their window wide open like that during a storm, but I guess the movie director knew what he was doing.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (49579)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
21 Mar 23
@FourWalls Didn't ya noticed? It was looking out into the alley behind the nightclub 
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (74515)
• United States
21 Mar 23
Who gets lightning in a window on stage inside a building, too? 
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (74515)
• United States
21 Mar 23
Indeed. I think it’s one of the great classics from the 30s and 40s.
1 person likes this
@thebos (5960)
• Kisumu, Kenya
21 Mar 23
@FourWalls it's just wonderful, im looking forward for your next song post
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (94525)
• Arvada, Colorado
20 Mar 23
Such a lovely lady and song, RIP
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (74515)
• United States
21 Mar 23
Indeed she was! And to think segregation deprived so many people of hearing this incredible talent for years.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (74515)
• United States
15 Apr 23
Oh, so do I!! A gem of a classic pop tune!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (74515)
• United States
21 Mar 23
Spring has sprung, finally! I slept through the technical start time, but hey, it’s here!
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (84793)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
20 Mar 23
Never saw the movie but I like and know the song well,
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (74515)
• United States
21 Mar 23
I’ll take 80!!! And Billie’s or Lena’s. Or both.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (74515)
• United States
20 Mar 23
This is the first day of spring, not April Fools Day! 
1 person likes this
