Formed in 1994, Limp Bizkit became popular playing in the Jacksonville underground music scene in the late 1990s, and signed with Flip Records, a subsidiary of Interscope, which released their debut album, Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$ (1997). The band achieved mainstream success with their second and third studio albums, Significant Other (1999) and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000), although this success was marred by a series of controversies surrounding their performances at Woodstock '99 and the 2001 Big Day Out festival.
Shortly after the release of Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, Limp Bizkit went on a hiatus while Fred Durst recovered from being crucified by Slipknot. Borland left the group in 2001, but Durst, Rivers, Otto and Lethal continued to record and tour with guitarist Mike Smith. Following the release of their album, Results May Vary (2003), Borland rejoined the band and recorded The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) (2005) with Durst, Rivers, Lethal and drummer Sammy Siegler before entering a hiatus. In 2009, the band reunited with Borland playing guitar and began touring, culminating with the recording of the album Gold Cobra (2011), after which they left Interscope and later signed with Cash Money Records. In 2014, a sixth studio album, Stampede of the Disco Elephants, was to be released but remained in development hell. Eventually, a new album called STILL SUCKS was recorded with all of the original band members and released digitally only in October 2021.
Fred Durst grew up in Jacksonville, where he took an interest in breakdancing, hip hop, punk rock and heavy metal. He began to rap, skate, beatbox and deejay. While mowing lawns and working as a tattoo artist, he developed an idea for a band that combined elements of rock and hip hop. Durst played with three other bands, Split 26, Malachi Sage, which were unsuccessful, and 10 Foot Shindig, which Durst left to form a new band. Durst told Sam Rivers, the bassist for Malachi Sage, "You need to quit this band and start a band with me that's like this: rappin' and rockin'." Rivers suggested that his cousin, John Otto, who was studying jazz drumming at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and playing in local avant garde bands, become their drummer. Durst, Rivers and Otto jammed and wrote three songs together, and Wes Borland later joined as a guitarist.
Durst named the band Limp Bizkit because he wanted a name that would repel listeners. According to Durst, "The name is there to turn people's heads away. A lot of people pick up the disc and go, 'Limp Bizkit. Oh, they must suck.' Those are the people that we don't even want listening to our music." Other names that were considered by Durst included Gimp Disco, Split Dickslit, Bitch Piglet, and Blood Fart. Every record label that showed an interest in the band pressured its members to change its name. Limp Bizkit developed a cult following in the underground music scene, particularly at the Milk Bar, an underground punk club in Jacksonville. The band's local popularity was such that Sugar Ray, who had a major label contract, opened for a then-unsigned Limp Bizkit at Velocity with hip hop group Funkdoobiest. Milkbar owner, Danny Wimmer, stated that Limp Bizkit "had the biggest draw for a local band. They went from playing [for] ten people to eight hundred within months. Fred ... was always marketing the band. He would go to record stores and get people involved, he was in touch with high schools." However, the band knew that to achieve national success, they would have to distinguish themselves in their live performances. Attracting crowds by word of mouth, the band gave energetic live performances, covering George Michael's "Faith" and Paula Abdul's "Straight Up", and featuring Borland in bizarre costumes. Borland's theatrical rock style was the primary attraction for many concert attendees.
When It Rains
Limp Bizkit Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm not expecting a thing
Something tells me you'll come back to me
I spend my winters alone
It gets so cold when you're gone
Something tells me you'll come back to me
But sometimes when it rains
The real me wants to savor it all
In my memory yeah!
I know I made you afraid
I've been wounded too long
Something tells me you'll come back to me
And I got nothing to show
I'm sitting here all alone
Something tells me you'll come back to me
But sometimes when it rains
There's no time to do it again
The real me wants to savor it all
In my memory yeah!
Just know that I'll always respect you
And I'm missing them lost summer days
But maybe it's better if I left you
A memory far far away
It's everything that I breath it's everything that I need
Something tells me you'll come back to me
It's everywhere that I go it's everyone that I know
Something tells me you'll come back to me
But sometimes when it rains
There's no time to do it again
The real me wants to savor it all
In my memory
But sometimes when it rains
There's no time to do it again
The real me wants to savor it all
In my memory yeah! X5
The lyrics of Limp Bizkit's song "When It Rains" talk about holding onto the hope of a reunion with a lost love. The singer is spending his winters alone, feeling the coldness of the absence of his beloved, but he is not expecting them to come back to him. However, he has a strange feeling that they will someday return. The rain serves as a metaphor for the unpredictable nature of life; sometimes there's no chance to redo things, and one must learn to appreciate the memories that remain.
The singer admits to causing fear in his beloved, and acknowledging this seems to be his way of asking for forgiveness. He doesn't have anything to offer at the moment, so he sits alone with his thoughts, waiting for their return. While the memory of the lost love is still present and cherished, the singer believes that leaving them in the past might be better for everyone involved.
The song conveys a great deal of melancholy, yet at the same time, it carries an underlying sense of hope. The singer is aware that time may be limited, and therefore he wants to make the most out of every moment. The song's message emphasizes the urgency of being fully present and cherishing what one has, as tomorrow is never guaranteed.
Line by Line Meaning
I've never waited so long
The singer has been impatiently waiting for someone to return for an unspecified amount of time
I'm not expecting a thing
They are not having any expectations of a potential reunion
Something tells me you'll come back to me
Although unsure, the singer believes in the possibility of a reunion with this person
I spend my winters alone
During the cold season, they are always by themselves
It gets so cold when you're gone
This person's absence deepens the singer's feelings of isolation and loneliness
But sometimes when it rains
When it is raining, the singer is reminded of something significant
There's no time to do it again
The singer acknowledges that some things only happen once, and they cannot be redone
The real me wants to savor it all
The singer wants to fully experience and remember a significant event or moment in their life
In my memory yeah!
They want to cherish these memories and hold onto them
I know I made you afraid
The singer is aware they may have hurt this person in the past
I've been wounded too long
They have been injured emotionally for a considerable amount of time
And I got nothing to show
The singer believes they have nothing to offer at present
I'm sitting here all alone
They are currently by themselves
Just know that I'll always respect you
The singer wants this person to know they have their respect regardless of what happened in the past
And I'm missing them lost summer days
They are reminiscing about the summer days they have lost with this person
But maybe it's better if I left you
The singer believes it could be for the best if they part ways with this person
A memory far far away
They want to forget about this person and their emotional pain
It's everything that I breathe, it's everything that I need
This person means everything to the singer
Something tells me you'll come back to me
The singer has a gut feeling that this person will return to them
It's everywhere that I go, it's everyone that I know
The singer feels like they are surrounded by this person's memories
But sometimes when it rains
Rainy days can trigger memories of this person
The real me wants to savor it all
The singer wants to fully immerse themselves in these emotions and memories
Contributed by Isaac N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Peter Durán
THIS WAS INTENDED FOR BRITNEY'S 2003 ALBUM IN THE ZONE .... BUT HER TEAM REJECTED !!!!! THIS SONG IS FIRE !!!!!
James Beckett
Limp bizkit get all your b sides onto an album, the world should not be deprived of great tracks like this one 💗
kimmyfreak200
they played this on the radio in summer time 2004 i never found the name of it..glad i found in last year... lol only heard it once and knew it was this song right away
QFS Aviation
It's my favorite Limp Bizkit song. The sound is too unique, especially the underlying melody. Fred's vocals are absolutely incredible when comparing them to other songs such as The Surrender
blackout9000
@QFS Aviation I've always appreciated this more relaxed LB vibe, which is why I think I enjoyed Results May Vary so much. But I still feel this beats any of their other songs.
kimmyfreak200
@blackout9000 yep I actually prefer this limp bizkit as oppose to old school LB..results may vary is an underrated album
Seanicho
If this is true, that should mean it’s on a promo disk somewhere... in good quality.
kimmyfreak200
@Seanicho someone in YT comment section said they had it on a cd... it was on B side
Rômulo Damasceno
Limp bizkit tem lindas musicas 😍😍
Isaac Faulkner
Hits hard. Release these songs Fred. Insane they are kept from the public.