I Think It's Going to Rain Today

"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (or "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today") is a song by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It appears on Julius La Rosa's 1966 album You're Gonna Hear from Me, Eric Burdon's 1967 album Eric Is Here, on Newman's 1968 debut album Randy Newman, in The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1 (2003), and in Newman's official and bootleg live albums. It is one of his most covered songs.

"I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
Single by Randy Newman
from the album Randy Newman
A-side"The Beehive State"
Released1968
Length2:55
LabelReprise
Songwriter(s)Randy Newman
Producer(s)Lenny Waronker
Van Dyke Parks
Randy Newman singles chronology
"Last Night I Had A Dream / I Think He's Hiding"
(1968)		 "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
(1968)		 "Love Story"
(1968)

Background

Newman told Rolling Stone that he wrote the song around 1963 or 1964. He went on to say that the "music is emotional – even beautiful – and the lyrics are not." Newman also said that the song bothered him due to the darkness and that the song felt "sophomoric" and "too maudlin".[1]

Newman stated in 2017 that he had signed away the publishing rights on his first album and as a result, does not see any money from people doing covers of those songs.[2]

Tom Northcott version
"I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
Single by Tom Northcott
from the album Upside Downside
B-side"It's True"
Released1971
Length2:37
LabelUNI
Producer(s)Barry DeVorzon
Tom Northcott
Tom Northcott singles chronology
"Crazy Jane"
(1970)		 "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
(1971)		 "Spaceship Races"
(1971)

The song was covered by Canadian folk-rock artist Tom Northcott in 1970. It was released in 1971 as the second single from his debut album, Upside Downside. The song reached number 46 in Canada and number 17 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart.

Charts
Chart (1971) Peak
position
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM) 17
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 46

UB40 version
"I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
Single by UB40
from the album Signing Off
A-side"My Way of Thinking"
Released6 June 1980
GenreReggae
Length3:41
LabelGraduate
Producer(s)Bob Lamb
UB40
UB40 singles chronology
"King / Food for Thought"
(1980)		 "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
(1980)		 "The Earth Dies Screaming / Dream a Lie"
(1980)

The song was covered by British reggae band UB40 in 1980. It was released in June 1980 as the second and final single from their debut album, Signing Off. The song reached number 6 in the UK.[3] The UB40 single was a double A-side with "My Way of Thinking", which was the first-named track and received most of the radio airplay. However, the German single (which appeared later) had "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" as the A-side.[4]

Charts
Chart (1980) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] 90
Ireland (IRMA)[6] 12
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] 6
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[8] 6

Other cover versions

The song was covered numerous times by a variety of artists, especially during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

ArtistAlbumYear
Judy CollinsIn My Life1966
Bobby DarinInside Out1967
Dusty SpringfieldDusty... Definitely1968 (UK)
Claudine LongetColours1968 (US)
Peggy LeeA Natural Woman1969
Nina SimoneNina Simone and Piano1969
Neil DiamondStones1971
Françoise HardyIf You Listen1971
Dave Van RonkVan Ronk1971
Cass Elliot[9]Cass Elliot1972
Joe CockerJamaica Say You Will1975
Tom OdellLong Way Down2013

Bette Midler included the song in her film Beaches (1988) and it appears in the soundtrack recording. The song is also featured in the TV series Designated Survivor in the episode, "Two Ships".[10] Nina Simone's version of the song's first verse was the opening theme for the BBC One series Broken.

gollark: You can mostly have those things without needing to unsafely connect things to your brain.
gollark: I wouldn't really want that because aaaaaa, but it's probably technically possible.
gollark: Stick a biological TPMish thing into your brainstem and wire it to important things.
gollark: Quite possibly. I don't really like this.
gollark: That could have been punctuated better. Oh well.

References
  1. Fricke, David. "Randy Newman: My Life in 15 Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  2. Episode 831, WTF with Marc Maron, July 24, 2017
  3. Roberts, David (2005). British Hit Singles & Albums (18th ed.). London: Guinness World Records. p. 522. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
  4. "45cat.com". 45cat.com. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 316. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
  6. "Chart Track: Week 29, 1980". Irish Singles Chart.
  7. "Charts.nz – UB40 – I Think It's Going to Rain Today". Top 40 Singles.
  8. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  9. "Cass Elliot - Cass Elliot". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
  10. "Designated Survivor (TV Series) - Two Ships (2017)". IMDb.com.
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