The Top Ten Rain Songs

Call it cats and dogs or condensation...a deluge or a drizzle...a monsoon or a mist...sprinkles or showers. It's rain! It's that liquid precipitation that falls on us all from time to time. It's the stuff that can make the flowers grow and the traffic slow.

Rain is also the topic of many a song. This page would be virtually endless if we were to list every great rain song. Therefore I had to whittle it down to a Top Ten list. What a shame! So many great rain songs are getting left out. Hopefully you will pick up on this and mention your favorite.

As always the songs are organized by how well each has done on the various charts. I'll say it again: If you don't see your favorite rain song, be sure to leave a comment. Who knows, your submission could be the next entry!

Let's start at the bottom (but certainly not least) and work our way up to the #1 spot.

10. Singin' In The Rain




Classic! What's else can you think of to sing in the rain but this one? Gene Kelly sang and danced this in the 1952 film Singin' In The Rain (of course,) but it was originally published in 1929! Many years later it reached the top spot. The catch: it was a dance remix by Mint Royale. It was a #1 hit in the UK in 2008.

Singin' in the rain, just singin' in the rain
What a glorious feelin', I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds so dark up above
The sun's in my heart and I'm ready for love


9. Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain



Originally written in 1945 by Fred Rose and released by Roy Acuff, it was released 30 years later in 1975 by Willie Nelson on his concept album Red Headed Stranger. It was Nelson's first #1 country hit as a singer, and reached #21 on the pop charts. One of the greatest of all rain songs - in every sense of the word. (This also made our list of Top Ten Blue Songs.)

In the twilight glow I see
Blue eyes crying in the rain
When we kissed goodbye and parted
I knew we'd never meet again



8. Kentucky Rain



In 1969 Elvis Presley began recording again in Memphis. The results: some of the greatest songs he ever recorded. "Kentucky Rain" is no exception. It was co-written by Eddie Rabbitt and features a young Ronnie Milsap playing some thundering piano. In 1970 it reached #16 in the US and #3 on the US Easy Listening chart.

Seven lonely days and a dozen towns ago
I reached out one night and you were gone
Don't know why you'd run

What you're running to or from
All I know is what I want to bring you home


7. Crying In The Rain




A real gem written in a rare collaboration by Carole King and Howard Greenfield. In 1962 the Everly Brothers reached #6 in both the US and UK with this. Tammy Wynette's version was a Top 20 country hit. The Norweigan pop group a-ha made it an international hit. Still today I am surprised to find that many people haven't heard of it!

I'll never let you see
The way my broken heart is hurting me
I've got my pride and I know how to hide
All my sorrow and pain
I'll do my crying in the rain


6. I Wish It Would Rain



David Ruffin sang the soulful lead on this Temptations song. It reached #4 in the US and #1 on the US R&B chart in 1967. Fellow Motown artist Barrett Strong ("Money (That's What I Want)") composed the song's intro on a piano with only ten working keys. Truth: you don't need every note in the book to make a great song.

Sunshine, blue sky, please go away
My girl has found another and gone away
With her went my future, my life is filled with gloom
So day after day, I stay locked up in my room
I know to you it might sound strange
But I wish it would rain


5. Rhythm Of The Rain



In 1962 the Cascades recorded this classic. It features John Gummoe (who wrote the song during a thunderstorm) on lead vocals, Hal Blaine on drums, Carol Kaye on bass and Glen Campbell on guitar. In 1963 it reached #3 in the US and #5 in the UK and sold over one million copies. It's also been played on the radio over six million times!

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I've been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again


4.
Raindrops



The intro of this song sounds much like the previous song, but don't be fooled! This one (sung by soul singer Dee Clark) has the street cred of having come out in 1961, a year before "Rhythm Of The Rain". It was written by Clark with guitarist Phil Upchurch (who later recorded the hit instrumental "You Can't Sit Down"). It reached #2 in the US and #3 (US R&B).

The raindrops, so many raindrops
It feels like raindrops
Falling from my eye-eyes
Falling from my eyes


3. 
Who'll Stop The Rain



Ah, Creedence Clearwater Revival. (Always liked that name!) It was either this or "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" Tough choice. Both were written by John Fogerty; both are cool songs. But I just had to go with this one. "Who'll Stop The Rain" was a US #2 hit in 1970. In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked it #188 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Long as I remember the rain been comin' down
Clouds of mystery pourin' confusion on the ground
Good men through the ages tryin' to find the sun
And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain


2.
Just Walkin' In The Rain



A big hit for the inimitable Johnnie Ray in 1956. It reached #2 (US) and #1 (UK). It was originally recorded by the Prisonaires in 1953. It was written by Johnny Bragg and Robert Riley. Both were inmates at the Tennessee State Prison. Johnny wrote the majority of the song but could not read or write. Robert wrote down the lyrics in exchange for songwriting credit. The rest is history. How cool is that?

Just walking in the rain, getting soaking wet
Torturing my heart by trying to forget
Just walking in the rain, so alone and blue
All because my heart still remembers you


And it's time to reveal the number one song on our list. Perhaps you have anticipated this moment with glee. Perhaps not. But here it is. It's...!

1. Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head



Why is this number one? Let's see. It was a US #1 hit for four weeks. It won composers Burt Bacharach and Hal David Oscars for Best Original Song for 1969 (as the theme for Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid.) It sold over one million copies (a first for Bacharach and David and the third to do so for singer B.J. Thomas.) And Thomas's version was ranked #12 on Billboard's Greatest Songs Of All Time. And it rocks. Need I say more?

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin' seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head

They keep fallin'

Do you agree with this list? Have any suggestions for honorable mentions? I can think of a few myself, but I want you to decide.

Check out all of the lists here at Rock The Jukebox:

2 comments:

  1. You have all my favorite "rain" songs.. don't think I could think of another

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. well you missed my number one which is songs about rain by Gary Allan

    ReplyDelete

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