The band released their debut album, Good Feeling (1997), to moderate success where it debuted at number nine on the UK Albums Chart and was later awarded a silver certification from the BPI in January 2000. The band gained greater success with their second album, The Man Who (1999), which spent nine weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart, totalling 134 weeks in the top 100 of the chart. In 2003, The Man Who was certified 9× platinum by the BPI, representing sales of over 2.68 million in the UK alone. Following this success, the band released their third effort, The Invisible Band (2001) album. The Invisible Band went on to match the success found with their previous album, where it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and spent a total of four weeks at the top spot, fifteen weeks in the top ten, and a total of fifty-five weeks in the top 100 chart, as well as peaking at thirty-nine on the US Billboard 200 album chart, spending a duration of seven weeks in the Billboard 200 chart. A year following the release of The Invisible Band, the BPI awarded Travis with a 4× platinum certification for the album.
In recent years, the band's discography has included studio albums 12 Memories (2003), The Boy with No Name (2007), Ode to J. Smith (2008), Where You Stand (2013), Everything at Once (2016) and 10 Songs (2020). In 2004, the band released their first greatest hits album, Singles, which spent nineteen weeks in the top 100 of the UK albums chart. Travis have twice been awarded best band at the BRIT Awards and were awarded the NME Artist of the Year award at their 2000 ceremony, and in 2016 were honoured at the Scottish Music Awards for their outstanding contribution to music. The band are widely said by the media to have paved the way for other bands such as Keane and Coldplay to go on to achieve worldwide success throughout the 2000s, particularly with the success of The Man Who.
Craft Recordings celebrated the 20th anniversary of Travis' breakthrough year with two simultaneous releases: Live at Glastonbury '99, plus expanded editions of The Man Who – both of which were released on 21 June 2019.
City in the Rain
Travis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Opportunity may come your way
You can take a bus or catch the train
Let me tell you now you'll want to stay
Sky was brown
Trees were green
Birds all sang a song in vain
City in the rain (x3)
Sitting in the city in the rain
Won't you tell me what you came to see
Came to see the university
I trust you had a very pleasant day
Actually it wasn't quite that way
The sky was brown
Trees were green
The birds all sang a song in vain
City in the rain (x3)
We were sitting in the
Sitting in the city in the rain
Oh what fun we had
T he weather wasn't that bad
There just is no sun
Oh no here it comes
If you find the time to get away
Opportunity may come your way
You can take a bus or catch the train
Let me tell you now you'll want to stay
The sky was brown
The trees were green
The birds all sang a song in vain
City in the rain (x3)
We were sitting in the
Sitting in the city in the rain
The lyrics of “City in the Rain” by Travis depict a story of two individuals spending a day in the city while it is raining. The first paragraph talks about the opportunity of getting away and exploring new things, and how one can take a bus or train to do so. The second paragraph seems to be a conversation between these two individuals, where one of them asks about the purpose of their visit, to which the other replies that they came to see the university, but the day wasn’t quite pleasant as the weather was bad. The song then returns to its chorus which talks about the city in the rain, and how the sky was brown but the trees were green. The song ends with a repetition of the chorus and how they were sitting in the city in the rain, and how there was no sun.
One possible interpretation of the song could be about exploring new things and taking risks, as the lyrics suggest that opportunity may come your way if you find the time to get away. The reference to university could also suggest a desire for education and learning, while the city in the rain could represent the challenges and struggles that come with such endeavors.
Line by Line Meaning
If you find the time to get away
If you manage to make time for yourself and escape from your daily routine
Opportunity may come your way
You might come across an opportunity that can change your life
You can take a bus or catch the train
You have options to travel and explore the world
Let me tell you now you'll want to stay
Once you visit a new place, you will want to stay for longer and enjoy everything it has to offer
Sky was brown
The sky was dull and uninteresting
Trees were green
The trees were the only bright and lively thing in the city
Birds all sang a song in vain
The birds sang a song, but it was not heard or appreciated by anyone
City in the rain (x3)
The city was heavily raining, which made it look gloomy and sad
We were sitting in the
The artist and someone else were sitting somewhere in the city
Sitting in the city in the rain
They were sitting in the city, listening to the sound of the rain and feeling melancholic
Won't you tell me what you came to see
The singer asks someone what they wanted to see or do in the city
Came to see the university
The person wanted to visit the university as their main attraction
I trust you had a very pleasant day
The singer assumed the person had a good day and enjoyed their time in the city
Actually it wasn't quite that way
Contrary to what the singer assumed, the person did not have a pleasant day
Oh what fun we had
The singer remembers a time they had fun in the past
The weather wasn't that bad
The weather was not too bad during the time they were reminiscing about
There just is no sun
The sun was not visible during the rainy day, making it even more gloomy
Oh no here it comes
The singer realizes that the rain is starting to come down even harder
Contributed by Jayce E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.