Ranking The 21 Best Songs Ever Written About Rain

Consider this collection of the best songs about rain my unofficial rain dance. This morning I woke up thinking about the rain, or lack thereof, because over 44% of the continental United States are currently under drought conditions. I was informed that there are water restrictions now in place, potentially until July, so I am looking to the Rock Gods for divine intervention.

And while I recently learned about the power of writing affirmations down in cursive, and considered doing that to fill the heavens with rain, I instead thought it more prudent to arbitrarily rank the all time best songs about rain.

The 21 Best Songs About Rain Of All Time

These are not entirely in order. But rest-assured, if the song is about rain and it is not on this list then it is not one of the best songs ever written about rain. I didn’t want to get caught up in the minutiae here and litigate which was better, ‘have you seen the rain?’ or ‘who’ll stop the rain?’ and things of that nature. So instead, I threw together this list of absolute bangers for you all to enjoy.

1. ‘Africa’ by Toto

Released in 1982 it has one of the most iconic musical arrangements of all time. The use of a Yamaha CS-80, a polyphonic analog synthesizer, was a game changer. It was ranking by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 gratest songs in history.

2. ‘Have You Ever Seen The Rain?’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival

We can’t rank the greatest songs ever written about rain without Creedence Clearwater Revival right out of the gates because they have multiple iconic hits about rain. This track was released in 1971 as a single and it was written as a critque of declining countercultural political idealism in the 60s due to Richard Nixon’s administration. Relevant these days? You be the judge.

3. ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince

If we had a Mt. Rushmore of the ‘Coolest Musicians’ in the past 50 years Prince is 100% on it, right next to David Bowie. I’ll let y’all pick the other two but those are my two submissions for now. This eponymous track from Prince’s sixth studio album was released in 1984 and the rest was history.

4. ‘November Rain’ by Guns N’ Roses

If we were ranking the greatest music videos of all time then ‘November Rain’ might very well be #1. I remember seeing it for the first time, knowing I was too young to fully understand what was happening, but it still feeling like it had the full production value of a Hollywood film. ‘November Rain’ is right up there with any 5 songs on a list of the best songs ever written about rain.

5. ‘Fool in the Rain’ by Led Zeppelin

Release in 1979 as the third track on Led Zeppelin’s In Through the Out Door album, ‘Fool in the Rain’ is as classic of a rock song as there ever was. Robert Plant and John Paul Jones would later say they were inspired by the samba music they encountered during the 1979 World Cup in Argentina and that ultimately led to the creation of this amazing song.

6. ‘Who’ll Stop The Rain’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Why would we want to stop the rain, John Fogerty? Explain that to me. Rain makes the plants grow. It feeds the crops. Rain is essential to all life on earth. That said, this song was written as a not-so-thinly veiled protest song against the Vietnam War.

7. ‘No Rain’ by Blind Melon

Released in 1993, somehow 33 years later this song still winds up on my Spotify Wrapped among my ‘Most Played’ songs every single year. I might’ve been too young to own the CD when it first came out but I wear this song out streaming. This song alone helped Blind Melon reach multi-platinum status.

8. ‘Fire and Rain’ by James Taylor

Not every song about rain has to go hard. Some are meant to be melodic tunes you can listen to as rain batters a tin roof, or as you drive around a soggy winding mountain road. James Taylor’s ‘Fire and Rain’ won’t get your heartbeat racing but man, it is one of the all time greats. It was also James Taylor’s first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

9. ‘The Rain Song’ by Led Zeppelin

We can’t talk about the best songs about rain without ‘The Rain Song’ by Led Zeppelin. Released in 1973, this 7-minute ballad lasts longer than most rain storms here in Southwest Florida.

When asked about ‘The Rain Song,’ iconic record producer Rick Rubin said “I don’t even know what kind of music this is. It defies classification. There’s such tasteful, beautiful detail in the guitar, and a triumphant feel when the drums come in – it’s sad and moody and strong, all at the same time. I could listen to this song all day. That would be a good day.”

10. ‘Here Comes The Rain Again’ by Eurythmics

Eurythmics (Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart) must’ve known they were cooking up fire in the studio when they dropped ‘Here Comes The Rain Again’ back in 1983 because this song was played nonstop for pretty much all of the 80s, as far as I can recall. It was the second top-10 hit for Eurythmics but most certainly has the most enduring legacy of any music they released.

11. ‘Umbrella’ by Jay-Z and Rihanna

Released back in 2007, ‘Umbrella’ by Jay-Z and Rihanna is an anthem. It hit #1 in 19 different countries. This song helped solidify Jay-Z and Rihanna into the global stars they are today. ‘Umbrella’ was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 7 straight weeks and won the Grammy for ‘Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.’

12. ‘Cold Rain and Snow’ by the Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead often latched onto iconic songs and made them their own. Such was true with ‘Cold Rain and Snow’ which they discovered through Obray Ramsey. This song was played hundreds of times throughout the Dead’s years with Jerry on lead vocals when he was still alive.

13. ‘Walking In The Rain’ by The Ronettes

This 1964 track from The Ronettes was originally written by Barry Mann, Phil Spector, and Cynthia Weil and then when it was sang by The Ronettes it became iconic. Rolling Stone has it ranked as the #266 song of all time, in any genre. Jay and the Americans would later cover it but The Ronettes’ version is the one I’ll always love.

14. ‘Rain’ by The Beatles

I can’t believe we’ve made it this far without a song from The Beatles but here we are at #14 with ‘Rain.’ It was released on 30 May 1966 on the B-Side of Paperback Writer. This is a John Lennon-written song that, according to John Lennon, was about people complaining about the weather but according to anyone else you ask it was about the sensory experience of the sun and rain on LSD.

15. ‘Only Happy When It Rains’ by Garbage

This 1995 Alt-Rock hit by Garbage is emblematic of all the angst felt in that era of music. It peaked at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 which makes no sense to me. More appropriately, it reached #6 in Iceland where they are much more familiar with drab weather.

16. ‘Petrichor’ by Phish

While this song wouldn’t crack the top 15 best Phish songs of all time it is certainly one of the best rain songs ever written. Primarily because it is the only song that honors the scent after it rains, petrichor. It is the scent after rain falls on soil. We all know this. We all love that smell. But few know the name.

17. ‘Let It Rain’ by Eric Clapton

This 1970 track co-written by Eric Clapton and Bonnie Bramlett appeared on Clapton’s debut album. It’s an interesting track to be sure, with a focus on Clapton’s solos. If it’s raining, add this to the playlist.

18. ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’ by Ann Peebles

This 1973 song written by Ann Peebles, Don Bryant, and Bernard “Bernie” Miller has been covered by countless artists and ranks at #197 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the greatest songs ever written. Here’s the thing though, I can stand the rain. I want rain. Zeus, send me some rain, please.

19. ‘Rain On Me’ by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande

While this song isn’t strictly about rain it’s not not about rain. And the music video is rain heavy as they are singing about rain so in my mind it’s as much of a rain song as any rain song ever written. It also brought together Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, two icons of their craft, and won the Grammy Award for ‘Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.’

20. ‘I Wish It Would Rain’ by The Temptations

This 1967 song by The Temptations is both a perfect breakup song and song about rain. It was later covered by Gladys Knight & the Pips who reached #41 on the charts with it and later by Bruce Springsteen who put it on his 2022 album Only the Strong Survive.

21. ‘Kiss the Rain’ by Billie Myers

We had to end with some 90s rain song magic here. Released in 1997 by Billie Myers and appearing on her debut album, this song hit #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. The name of the song came about from producer Desmond Child mishearing the lyrics in ‘Glycerine’ by Bush.

Honorable Mention: ‘Ironic’ by Alanis Morissette

Released in February 1996, this song took over every radio station in the country and was one of the most popular songs worldwide. The irony, of course, is that nothing in the song that she sings about is ironic. But Alanis Morissette singing “it’s like raaaaaaaaain’ warranted a spot on this list of the all-time best rain songs, in my humble opinion, just due to the enduring legacy of this track.