Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
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"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" was the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 list in the United States in January, 1970. It is known as a very happy, optimistic song. B. J. Thomas had the first number-one hit of the 1970s, when it took the top spot on January 3. It was written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach and has been covered numerous times.
The song is often associated with the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which features the song in a key scene (which is parodied in the Leslie Nielsen spoof film Spy Hard, keeping the song intact). The Academy Award winning song was later used in the superhero film, Spider-Man 2, to accentuate Peter's blissful mood after abandoning his Spider-Man identity and its responsibilities. Most recently it was used in the Kevin Smith film Clerks II. It was also sung in The Simpsons episode, Duffless.
Ray Stevens was first offered the opportunity to record the song for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but turned it down.
The former Newcastle United football player David Ginola sang a rather memorable version of this on Stars in Their Eyes. It has also been covered by french singer Sacha Distel (whose version was a hit in the United Kingdom as well as France), the Japanese band Shonen Knife, was a hit in Australia by Australian singer John Farnham, and Welsh band Manic Street Preachers. It is also mentioned in the Genesis song "In the Cage" on their 1974 album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
The Flaming Lips covered this song on their 1996 Brainville EP. Ben Folds Five also covered the song for the 1998 Burt Bacharach tribute TV special and soundtrack One Amazing Night. In 2005 Australian band Jebediah covered the song for Triple J's Like a Version compilation.
Dionne Warwick has collaborated with Kelis on a cover of this for her 2006 duets album.
Preceded by "Someday We'll Be Together" by Diana Ross & the Supremes |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single January 3, 1970 |
Succeeded by "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5 |
Preceded by "Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair |
Academy Award for Best Original Song 1969 |
Succeeded by "For All We Know" from Lovers and Other Strangers |