This 1995 Alt-Rock Band Wrote This Moody Hit As a ‘Dig’ to Themselves, but the Rest of the World Obviously Related to It
Shirley Manson joined Butch Vig, Steve Marker, and Duke Erikson for their sarcastically named band Garbage in 1994. When she arrived in Wisconsin, they already had a few demos for her. “Vow” was their 1995 debut and “Queer” their first Top 20 hit. But “Only Happy When It Rains” undoubtedly became a fan-favorite, even if the lyrics were self-deprecating. “Out of all the songs, that was the one that arguably was the most formed,” Manson recalled during a 2022 interview with Consequence’s The Story Behind the Song podcast. The demo had vocals from Erikson, but once Manson came in, her voice really opened up the throttle. “But of course, when you have someone with such a big personality as me coming in and performing a song,” she added with a laugh, “It’s going to be so wildly different from what you imagined, and I came at that song with a lot of verve and gusto.” Shirley Manson Explains the ...