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Cover of In My Tribe by 10,000 Maniacs
Cover: In My Tribe

Song · 10,000 Maniacs

“Like the Weather” by 10,000 Maniacs

From the album In My Tribe (1986)

“Like the Weather” by 10,000 Maniacs appears on 40 radio countdowns from 12 stations between 1988 and 2026. It was first released in 1986 on the album In My Tribe. Its best result is #15 on the WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1988. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #26 alternative song of 1988, #479 alternative song of all time and #185 of the '80s.

40countdowns
12stations
#15best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1988–2026years charted

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10,000 Maniacs - Like The Weather

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"Like the Weather" was the second single from 10,000 Maniacs' In My Tribe, following "Peace Train", and it belongs entirely to Natalie Merchant, who wrote both the music and the words and sings it in that rich, rolling voice of hers.

The band gives it a bright, jangling lift that plays against the gray mood of the title: Robert Buck's guitar chimes, Dennis Drew's keyboards shimmer, and Steven Gustafson and Jerome Augustyniak keep it skipping along. Peter Asher produced, with George Massenburg recording and mixing alongside Frank Wolf, and the sound is clean and warm, college-rock sincerity in a polished frame.

The song has stayed in the band's book: a live version with Mary Ramsey singing lead turned up on their 2016 album Playing Favorites.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1988 17 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1988 91
1988 66 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1988 106
1988 15 WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1988 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1988 366 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1989 181 91X 91X Top 191 Songs of the 1980s (1989) 191
1989 199 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1990 202 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) 299
1991 193 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1992 406 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1992 244 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1994 361 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 67 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1995 440 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 280 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1999 386 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 199 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 748 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 218 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 218 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 218 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 218 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 1034 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 218 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 693 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 218 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 218 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 789 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 740 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 758 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 776 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 804 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 842 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 888 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2019 694 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2019 694 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2021 223 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2023 615 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 1075 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2024 259 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2026 559 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Also listed as: Like The Weather.

Charting alongside it in 1988

Best songs of 1988 →
  1. 1SuedeheadMorrissey
  2. 2DesireU2
  3. 3Beds are BurningMidnight Oil
  4. 4Route 66Depeche Mode
  5. 5Peek-A-BooSiouxsie and the Banshees
  6. 6Chains of LoveErasure

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