1987 was Knees' last year of playing music in public. At the time he wrote this song he was till wondering what he would do about the dwindling demand for music in Las Cruces. Twelve years before when he moved to Las Cruces there were a half dozen bars with bands playing nightly. By 1987 there were none.
But he lucked out and got into home computers in the early 80s and was offered a job as the managing editor of LOADSTAR, a Commodore computer magazine out of Shreveport LA. If he had stayed with music he would have turned curmudgeon a decade or two before his time.
I recorded this song in Shreveport in 1993 and used an acoustic piano. That version is down below the doodle. In 2012 I did it again and used more guitar and here is that version. Probably Knees' most commercial song.
2012 Version
Written: Southern
California Interstate, 1987
Knees was driving back from Riverside CA in a rainstorm when he wrote one of his most normal songs. He had been out to visit a high school friend and had chickened out of her challenge for him to tackle California. Knees, not known for his bravery, was an inertia kind of guy and found it difficult to make big changes in his life. But later that year he moved to Shreveport LA to begin his second career as magazine editor. Apparently he was brave enough to move if he already had a job lined up. Plus, Louisiana was about 1/10 as cruel as California is to migrants.
It’s rainin on the
freeway
LA’s turnin shiny grey.
The people on the
freeway
Don’t they work so hard
to play?
It was rainin the first
time we met
We waited it out
together
An it may sound funny
but you know sometimes
There’s somethin good
about bad weather.
It was cold livin in
Durango
The snow kept us close
to home
Now when I’m in Durango
I go out into the cold
An remember all the
times that we were snowed in,
I wanted them to last
forever.
Cuz when you’re with
the one you love
There’s somethin good
about bad weather.
So let the lightnin
flash
Let the thunder roar
Let the four winds blow
Let it snow some more.
Mmm, there’s somethin
good about bad weather.
So we moved out to the
Gulf Coast
The most peaceful place
we’ve been
Now we walk out on the
Gulf Coast
An watch the waves roll
in.
Our love is stronger
than a hurricane
It can only blow us
closer together
Cuz when you’re with
the one you love
There’s somethin good
about bad weather.
So let the lightnin
flash
Let the thunder roar
Let the four winds blow
Let it snow some more.
Mmm, there’s somethin good
about bad weather.
Skirts
This song is unusual because it has a real, acoustic piano in it, instead of the usual electronic keyboard. It was hard for Knees to record because he is a lousy pianist and relies on the sustain pedal to cover up his mistakes. But he found when recording this song that every time he pressed or let up on the pedal it made a loud woomp sound on the recording. So he had to play the song without the pedal.
1993 Version
