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I Think It's Going to Rain Today
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Wikipedia article
"'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.
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".
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.[http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-831-randy-newman Episode 831], 'WTF with Marc Maron', July 24, 2017
Tom Northcott version
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
UB40 version
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. 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.
Charts
Other cover versions
The song was covered numerous times by a variety of artists, especially during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In popular culture
Bette Midler included the song in her film 'Beaches' (1988) and it appears in the soundtrack recording. A portion of Claudine Longet's version of the song is played in the Episode 22, Season Five of the 'Gilmore Girls', "A House is Not a Home." The song is also featured in the TV series 'Designated Survivor' in the episode, "Two Ships". Nina Simone's version of the song's first verse was the opening theme for the BBC One series 'Broken'. Simone's version also appears in the "Spies Like Us" episode from season two of the TV series 'Scandal'. A short excerpt of the song is played in the final episode of the 'Childhood's End' miniseries.
References
Category:Songs about weather
Category:1966 songs
Category:1968 singles
Category:1971 singles
Category:Randy Newman songs
Category:Songs written by Randy Newman
Category:1980 singles
Category:UB40 songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker
Category:Reprise Records singles
Category:Uni Records singles
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