Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

"Have You Ever Seen the Rain"
Single by Creedence Clearwater Revival
from the album Pendulum
B-side "Hey Tonight"
Released January 1971
Format 7 in 45 rpm
Recorded 1970
Genre
Length 2:39
Label Fantasy
Songwriter(s) John Fogerty
Producer(s) John Fogerty
Creedence Clearwater Revival singles chronology
"Lookin' Out My Back Door"
(1970)		 "Have You Ever Seen the Rain"
(1971)		 "Sweet Hitch-Hiker"
(1971)

"Lookin' Out My Back Door"
(1970)		 "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"
(1971)		 "Sweet Hitch-Hiker"
(1971)
Music video
"Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" (lyric video) on YouTube

"Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" is a song written by John Fogerty and released as a single in 1971 from the album Pendulum (1970) by roots rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song charted highest in Canada, reaching number one on the RPM 100 national singles chart in March 1971.[1] In the U.S., in the same year it peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (where it was listed as "Have You Ever Seen the Rain? / Hey Tonight", together with the B-side).[2] On Cash Box pop chart, it peaked at number three. In the UK, it reached number 36. It was the group's eighth gold-selling single.[3]

Some have speculated that the song's lyrics are referencing the Vietnam War, with the "rain" being a metaphor for bombs falling from the sky.[4] In his review of the song for Allmusic website, Mark Deming suggests that the song is about the idealism of the 1960s and about it fading in the wake of events such as the Altamont Free Concert and the Kent State shootings and that Fogerty is saying that the same issues of the 1960s still existed in the 1970s but that people were no longer fighting for them.[5] However, Fogerty himself has said in interviews and prior to playing the song in concert that the song is about rising tension within CCR and the imminent departure of his brother Tom from the band.[6] In an interview, Fogerty stated that the song was written about the fact that they were on the top of the charts, and had surpassed all of their wildest expectations of fame and fortune. They were rich and famous, but somehow all of the members of the band at the time were depressed and unhappy. Thus the line "Have you ever seen the rain, coming down on a sunny day." The band split in October the following year after the release of the album Mardi Gras.

In a literal sense the song describes a sunshower such in the lyric "It'll rain a sunny day" and the chorus "have you ever seen the rain Comin' down on a sunny day?".[7] These events are particularly common in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but less common in other parts of the country, due to localized atmospheric wind sheer effects.[7] In Southern regional dialect, there is even a term for it: "the devil beating his wife".[7]

John Fogerty released a live version of the song on his The Long Road Home - In Concert DVD which was recorded at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, California on September 15, 2005.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1971) Peak
position
Australia 6
Austria 6
Belgium 6
Canada RPM Top Singles[8] 1
Finland 13
Netherlands 3
New Zealand (Listener)[9] 3
Norway 2
Sweden 8
UK (OCC) 36
US Billboard Hot 100[10] 8
US Cash Box Top 100[11] 3

Year-end charts

Chart (1971) Rank
Australia [12] 40
Canada [13] 13
US Cash Box [14] 60

Cover versions

Spanish-language versions

References

  1. ↑ "Item: 2736 - Library and Archives Canada". Retrieved 2016-03-03.
    "Item: 2795 - Library and Archives Canada". Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  2. ↑ "Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  3. ↑ Chronicle, Vol. 1 Linear notes
  4. ↑ "Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen The Rain Lyrics". SongMeanings. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  5. ↑ Mark Deming. "Have You Ever Seen the Rain? - Creedence Clearwater Revival | Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  6. ↑ "Have You Ever Seen The Rain? by Creedence Clearwater Revival Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  7. 1 2 3 Simon Mahan (September 2, 2016). "Did a rock band explain why wind power will work in the south, 45 years ago?". Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  9. ↑ http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=742#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 3 May 1971
  10. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  11. ↑ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, March 13, 1971
  12. ↑ "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-11. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  13. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  14. ↑ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 25, 1971
  15. ↑ "Dr Victor & The Rasta Rebels - Greatest Hits". Shazam.com. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
Preceded by
"One Bad Apple" by The Osmonds		 Canadian RPM 100 number-one single
March 13–20, 1971 		Succeeded by
"Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted" by The Partridge Family
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