Serious Contenders: Blind Melon, "No Rain"

This is pretty much the exact reason I started doing "Serious Contenders," my feature dedicated to well-liked songs that aren't always thought of in best-song-ever lists. I have this song on a Mix CD I sometimes play in the store, and whenever it comes on everyone in the place seems to take notice and soak in the good vibes in puts out. It could be the retroactive memory of getting high while listening to it. More likely, though, its jangly guitars and Shannon Hoon's new age 90's hippie vocals just hit that sweet spot between "dark and grungy" and "hopelessly sunny." Music is great for acknowledging, then combating, the darkness in the world, and it all seems to be summed up by the feeling of "watching the puddles gather rain."