Here Comes the Rain Again

"Here Comes the Rain Again"
Single by Eurythmics
from the album Touch
B-side"Paint a Rumour"
Released13 January 1984 (1984-01-13)
Recorded1983
Genre
Length4:54 (album version)
5:05 (single version)
4:43 (video version)
3:50 (7" promo version)
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)David A. Stewart
Eurythmics singles chronology
"Right by Your Side"
(1983) 		"Here Comes the Rain Again"
(1984) 		"Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)"
(1984)
Music video
"Here Comes the Rain Again" on YouTube

"Here Comes the Rain Again" is a 1983 song by British duo Eurythmics and the opening track from their third studio album Touch. It was written by group members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart and produced by Stewart. The song was released on 13 January 1984[3] as the album's third single in the UK and in the United States as the first single.

It became Eurythmics' second top 10 U.S. hit, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. "Here Comes the Rain Again" hit number eight in the UK Singles Chart, becoming their fifth consecutive top 10 single in their home country.

Song information

Stewart explained to Songfacts that creating a melancholy mood in his songs is something at which he excels. He said: "'Here Comes the Rain Again' is kind of a perfect one where it has a mixture of things, because I'm playing a b-minor, but then I change it to put a b-natural (sic – the song is in A minor) in, and so it kind of feels like that minor is suspended, or major. So it's kind of a weird course. And of course that starts the whole song, and the whole song was about that undecided thing, like here comes depression, or here comes that downward spiral. But then it goes, 'so talk to me like lovers do.' It's the wandering in and out of melancholy, a dark beauty that sort of is like the rose that's when it's darkest unfolding and bloodred just before the garden, dies. And capturing that in kind of oblique statements and sentiments."[4]

Stewart also said he and Lennox wrote the song while staying at the Mayflower Hotel in New York City. It was an overcast day, and Stewart was playing "melancholy A minor-ish chords with the B note in it" on his Casio keyboard. Lennox came over, looked out the window at the gray skies and the New York skyline, and spontaneously sang, "Here comes the rain again". The duo worked out the rest of the song based on that mood.[4][5]

The string arrangements by Michael Kamen were performed by members of the British Philharmonic Orchestra. However, due to the limited space in the studio, the Church, the players had to improvise by recording their parts in other parts of the studio. The song was then mixed by blending the orchestral tracks on top of the original synthesized backing track.[4]

The running time for "Here Comes the Rain Again" is in actuality about five minutes long and was edited on the Touch album (fading out at approximately four-and-a-half minutes). Although it was edited even further for its single and video release, many U.S. radio stations played the full-length version of it.[citation needed] The entire five-minute version did not appear on any Eurythmics album until the U.S. edition of Greatest Hits in 1991.

Cash Box said that "Lennox sounds familiarly sultry and wispy, while Dave Stewart’s minor-key composition is laced with pizzicato strings and chiming, open chord guitar work."[6]

In the UK, the single became Eurythmics' fifth Top 10 hit, peaking at number eight. It was the duo's second top ten hit in the United States, peaking at number four in March 1984.

Music video

The music video, featuring both Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, was directed by Stewart, Jonathan Gershfield and Jon Roseman,[7] and filmed in December 1983, a month before the single came out. The video opens with a passing aerial shot of the Old Man of Hoy on the Island of Hoy in the Orkney Islands before transitioning to Lennox walking along the rocky shore and cliff top. She later explores a derelict cottage while wearing a nightgown and holding a lantern. Stewart stalks her with a video camera. In many scenes the two are filmed separately, then superimposed into the same frame.[8]

Track listings

7" single

  • A: "Here Comes the Rain Again" (7" edit) – 3:53
  • B: "Paint a Rumour" (Long Version) – 8:00

12" single

  • A: "Here Comes the Rain Again" (Full Version)* – 5:05
  • B1: "This City Never Sleeps" (Live Version, San Francisco '83) – 5:30
  • B2: "Paint a Rumour" (Long Version)* – 8:00

* both (Versions) are longer than the ones found on the Touch album

Other versions

  • "Here Comes the Rain Again" (Freemasons Vocal Mix) – 7:17 / (2009)
  • "Here Comes the Rain Again" (Freemasons Radio Edit) – 4:41 / (2009)
  • "Here Comes the Rain Again" (Disconet Extended Version) – 6:57 / (1984)
  • "Here Comes The Rain Again" (Honey Cone) - 4:02 / 2024

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "Here Comes the Rain Again"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[33] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Silver 250,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

Eurythmics

Additional personnel

  • Michael Kamen – conductor
  • British Philharmonic Orchestra – strings

Sampling

  • The song's opening was used in the Belgium Dance act Oxy's 1992 single "The Feeling."[35]
  • George Nozuka sings the same note when he says "Talk to me" with a slight stutter on his hit single, "Talk to Me". Another hit by Nozuka, "Last Night", features a riff that is inspired by "Sweet Dreams".[35]
  • The line "Talk to me" is interpolated in Alice DeeJay's song "Better Off Alone".[35]
  • The lyrics of the chorus were interpolated in the 1995 song "Tragedy" by RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan.[35]
  • The lyrics "Walk with me, like lovers do/Talk to me, like lovers do" were used in Platinum Weird's song "Taking Chances" which incidentally, was co-written by Stewart. "Taking Chances" was later covered by Celine Dion and released as the title track of her 2007 album.[36]
  • The lyrics of the chorus were sampled in Jamaican singer's Nadirah X song "Here It Comes" in 2010 on her debut album Ink.[35]
  • Madonna sampled the song on her Sticky & Sweet Tour in 2008–2009 with her own song Rain as a video interlude.[35]

References

  1. ^ a b Molanphy, Chris (16 June 2023). "Yes We Can Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. > Eurythmics - Greatest Hits (1991) Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Music Week" (PDF).
  4. ^ a b c "Here Comes The Rain Again". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
  5. ^ Newman, Melinda (7 December 2002). "Annie Lennox: A Portrait of the Artist". Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 49. p. 25. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 28 January 1984. p. 17. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Eurythmics: Here Comes the Rain Again". IMDb. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  8. ^ EurythmicsVEVO (25 October 2009), Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again (Remastered), retrieved 7 June 2017
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 105. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ "Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  11. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6277." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 6709." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  13. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  14. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Here Comes the Rain Again". Irish Singles Chart.
  15. ^ "Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  17. ^ "Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again". Top 40 Singles.
  18. ^ "Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again". VG-lista.
  19. ^ "Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again". Singles Top 100.
  20. ^ "Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again". Swiss Singles Chart.
  21. ^ "Eurythmics: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  22. ^ "Eurythmics Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  23. ^ "Eurythmics Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  24. ^ "Eurythmics Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
  25. ^ "Eurythmics Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  26. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending April 14, 1984". Cash Box. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  27. ^ "Las canciones más populares en América Latina". La Opinión (Los Angeles) (in Spanish). 9 April 1984. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  28. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  29. ^ "Top 100 Singles of 1984". RPM. Vol. 41, no. 17. 5 January 1985. p. 7. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  30. ^ "Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 1984". Billboard. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  31. ^ "Dance Club Songs – Year-End 1984". Billboard. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  32. ^ "The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1984 – Top 100 Pop Singles". Cash Box. 29 December 1984. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  33. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again". Music Canada. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  34. ^ "British single certifications – Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  35. ^ a b c d e f "Here Comes the Rain Again by Eurythmics on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  36. ^ Wiser, Carl (20 November 2008). "Dave Stewart of Eurythmics : Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts. Retrieved 5 March 2022.