Rain_(Madonna_song)

Rain (Madonna song)

Rain (Madonna song)

1993 single by Madonna

"Rain" is a song by American singer Madonna from her fifth studio album, Erotica (1992), released by Maverick, Sire and Warner. Written and produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone, in Australia and most European countries, the song was released as the album's fifth single on July 17, 1993; in the United States, a release was issued on August 5. A pop ballad that mixes elements of R&B, trip-hop, and new-age music, its lyrics liken water and rainfall to the power of love.

Quick Facts Single by Madonna, from the album Erotica ...

Upon release, "Rain" was positively received by critics, who deemed it a highlight in Erotica and one of the best ballads Madonna had released up to that point. Commercially, the single saw moderate success. In the United States, it reached the 14th spot of the Billboard Hot 100. It fared better in Canada and the United Kingdom, where it reached the chart's second spot and top-ten, respectively.

The accompanying music video was directed by Mark Romanek and finds Madonna singing in front of a Japanese film crew; critics applauded the visual for its cinematography. "Rain" has been included on three of Madonna's concert tours, the most recent being the Celebration Tour of 2023–2024. It has been covered by multiple artists ―particularly for tribute albums―, including Madonna's former back-up singers Donna De Lory and Niki Haris.

Background and release

In early 1992, Madonna founded her own multi-media entertainment company Maverick, consisting of a record company (Maverick Records), a film production company (Maverick Films), and associated music publishing, television broadcasting, book publishing, and merchandising divisions.[1] The first two projects from the venture were her fifth studio album Erotica and a coffee table book of photographs featuring Madonna, entitled Sex.[1][2] For Erotica, Madonna primarily collaborated with American producer Shep Pettibone; Pettibone first began working with the singer during the 1980s, providing remixes for several of her singles.[3] According to author Mark Bego, the first batch of songs they worked on were the album's title track, "Deeper and Deeper", "Bad Girl", "Thief of Hearts", and "Rain".[4] Petibone would create the music and Madonna the lyrics.[5] They came up with "Rain" the night before Madonna was scheduled to come in to the studio; "it was a Sunday, it was raining - ha! - and she wrote the words, and sang the song and harmonies all in that day. ['Rain'] came together very quickly", recalled the producer.[6] According to author Matthew Rettenmund, "Rain" was intended to be part of a planned musical adaptation of the 1939 film Wuthering Heights, set to be directed by Madonna's collaborator Alek Keshishian.[7]

Recording took place at Astoria's Sound Work Studios on June 8, 1992;[8] personnel working on the song included Pettibone on the sequencing, keyboard arrangement, and programming; Anthony Shimkin was in charge of drum programming, Dennis Mitchell and Robin Hancock worked as recording engineers, and Goh Hotoda was the mixing engineer.[8] In Australia and most European countries, "Rain" was released on July 17, 1993, as the fifth single from Erotica;[9][10][11][12] in the United States, it was issued as the album's fourth and final single on August 5, due to "Fever" not being commercially released there.[13][14] In 1995, "Rain" was added to Madonna's compilation Something to Remember.[15]

Composition

"Rain"
A 30-second sample of "Rain" featuring the chorus with the lyrics wash away my sorrow/take away my pain, referencing water as a metaphor for love.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Rain" is a pop ballad with influence of R&B, trip-hop, and New age, comparable to the work of Peter Gabriel and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.[16][17][18][19] Its lyrics use water and rainfall as a metaphor for being in love: Both are cleansing elements that “wash away” past heartache and pain.[20][19] Joe Lynch from Billboard noted that the song talks of love in the age of AIDS, while for Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani, due to Erotica's overtly sexual themes, it can also be interpreted as an "extended metaphor" for ejaculation.[21][3] The song's instrumentation seeks to evoke a "purifying effect" and the "turbulent elements associated with rain", such as raindrops and lightning bolts; this is achieved through rhythmic patterns and orchestra hits.[19]

According to the sheet music published by Alfred Publishing Inc., "Rain" is written in the key note of B♭ major, set in the time signature of common time with a moderate pace tempo of 92 beats per minute. It follows a chord progression of B♭sus2–E♭6/9–F in the refrain, and later switches to E♭–F–B♭ in the verses.[22] Madonna sings with "heartfelt intensity" the lines When you looked into my eyes/And you said goodbye/Could you see my tears/When I turned the other way.[23] The song's bridge refers the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" (1969), and marks, according to John Myers from Yahoo! Voices, an "escape from the deluge of the rain with the breaking of the sun".[24] After the bridge, there is a key change from B♭ major to C major, followed by two spoken parts and a harmony alongside it;[20] Madonna recites out of the left and right channels, Waiting is the hardest thing/I tell myself that if I could believe in you/In the dream of you/With all my heart and all my soul/That by sheer force of will/I can raise you from the ground/And without a sound, you’ll appear and surrender to me, to love and It's strange/I feel like I've known you before/I wanna understand you more and more and more/When I'm with you I feel like a magical child/Everything strange/Everything wild, respectively. .[25]

Critical reception

"The softest and sweetest moment on the highly charged Erotica, ['Rain'] is a gorgeous, subtle ballad, pitched halfway between an R&B slow jam and shimmering new age healing [...] The subdued pulse suggests something seductive, yet the washes of keyboards and vocal harmonies are comforting and consoling, a duality that gives 'Rain' depth and complexity.

—Stephen Thomas Erlewine commenting on "Rain" for The A.V. Club.[17]

Upon release, "Rain" was generally well received by most music critics. In his 2000 book Madonna: Blonde Ambition, Bego said it was one of Madonna's best and most beautiful ballads.[26] On his review of Erotica, Billboard's Paul Verna referred to "Rain" as a "lovely pop ballad".[16] From the same magazine, Larry Flick called it "gorgeous [...] though not as lyrically daring as [previous single] 'Bad Girl', ['Rain'] is a wonderfully constructed tune".[27] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine considered it among Madonna's "best and most accomplished music";[28] Jose F. Promis from the same portal said it was a more "friendly" song than the album's previous singles, and that it paved the way for the "softer" image and sound the singer would adopt later on in the decade.[29] Anthony Violanti from The Buffalo News gave a particularly positive review, naming it one of the album's best moments, and one of the best ballads Madonna had done up to that point.[30] Writing for The Independent, Giles Smith said the song is "as close to the Madonna of Like a Prayer as [Erotica] comes, a big and solemn ballad".[31] For Rolling Stone, Arion Berger highlighted the track as one of Erotica's "yearning ballads" that help it sustain its "icy tone".[32]

At Blender, Tony Powers considered it one of the album's standout tracks.[33] Sal Cinquemani pointed out that, "Madonna’s rarely acknowledged harmonies glide atop the frosty beats, thunder-claps of percussion, and skyward drone of the sonorous 'Rain'".[3] Cash Box's Troy J. Augusto opined it was a "simple yet effective" song, and noted that, "at times, [Madonna] almost sounds like Karen Carpenter, all tender and shy. (My God, there's no limit to this artist's depth!)".[34] Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club stated that "Rain" turned the singer into a "sensual New age goddess".[19] Idolator's Stephen Sears considered it Erotica's "sole expression of pure love [...] a swooningly romantic" track that "revisits the oceanic sonic landscape" of 1986's "Live to Tell".[25]

Matthew Jacobs from HuffPost opined it wasn't "terribly distinctive" from other ballads Madonna had released at the time.[35] Barbara Walker, writing in the Sun-Sentinel, named "Rain" a highlight in Erotica, but said that it didn't add anything new to Madonna's catalogue.[36] Rikky Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, was also critical; he complimented the "radio friendly" sound of the song, but felt that the lyrical theme "had been used in countless [songs]".[20] In less favorable reviews, Albumism's Justin Chadwick said it is the album's "only banal and skippable offering".[37] Chris Willman for the Los Angeles Times wrote that, "despite having crafted some of the best singles of the '80s, and despite being a genuine wit, Madonna can tend toward terribly banal rhymes", citing "Rain" as an example.[38] Alfred Soto from Stylus Magazine referred to it as a "slushy rewrite of that year's 'This Used to Be My Playground', itself a slushy rewrite of Like a Prayer's 'Promise to Try'".[39] Brian Boone from Popdose dismissed it as mediocre.[40]

Retrospective reviews have been positive. Rocco Papa from The Odyssey deemed it "one of the most beautiful songs on one of her most underrated albums".[41] On The Guardian's ranking of Madonna's singles, "Rain" came in at number 18; Jude Rogers called it "Erotica's most properly erogenous moment".[42] Nayer Missim from PinkNews considered it the singer's ninth best, and said it was the "softest, most atmospheric (and least overtly sexual) bit of Erotica, but no less sensual and seductive for it".[43] For Billboard's Andrew Unterberger, it is the singer's 73th best: An "easily understood, highly accessible ballad [...] of perfectly polished R&B".[44] Louis Virtel, writing for The Backlot, named "Rain" Madonna's 47th best song and highlighted its warmth, an opinion that was shared by Parade's Samuel R. Murrian.[45][18] The National's Saeed Saeed named it an "ethereal beauty", and one of Madonna's "most criminally underrated" singles.[46] Finally, for Sal Cinquemani it is the album's "least pugnacious moment" that "launched the great post-Sex rebuilding phase of [Madonna's] career".[47]

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Rain" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 75, in the issue dated July 24, 1993.[48] As the weeks went by, the song climbed places and finally peaked at number 14 on the week of September 11, spending a total of 20 weeks on the chart.[49] Additionally, it reached the 30th and eleventh position on the Hot 100 Airplay and Hot Singles Sales charts, respectively.[50][51] On Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, "Rain" peaked at number seven.[52] By the end of 1993, it ranked 38th on the Adult Contemporary chart, and 67 on the Hot 100.[53] "Rain" is Madonna's 40th biggest hit in the United States, according to Billboard magazine.[54] In Canada, the single debuted in the 95th position of RPM's Top Singles chart on the week of July 17, 1993;[55] two months later, it peaked at number two behind Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover".[56] "Rain" reached the seventh spot on RPM's Adult Contemporary chart, and was the 15th best-selling single of 1993 in Canada.[57][58]

In the United Kingdom, "Rain" debuted at the 10th position of the UK Singles Chart on July 31, 1993, and, one week later, peaked at number seven; it spent 8 weeks on the chart overall.[59] According to Music Week magazine, over 130,000 copies of the single have been sold in the United Kingdom as of 2008.[60] In Australia, the song debuted at number 21 on the charts before rising and peaking at number five; it was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 35,000 copies.[9] It was less successful in New Zealand, where it barely cracked the top 20.[61] Reception towards the single in Europe was moderate: It reached the top 10 in Ireland and Italy, and the top 20 in Sweden and Switzerland.[62][63][11][12] "Rain" reached the top 30 in Germany and Austria, but was less successful in The Netherlands, where it barely managed to enter the top 40.[10][9][64][65] It came in at number 15 of the European Hot 100 Singles chart.[66]

Music video

Background and development

Madonna became interested in working with Mark Romanek (picture) after seeing his work in En Vogue's "Free Your Mind", and Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way".[67]

The music video for "Rain" was directed by American filmmaker and photographer Mark Romanek, and filmed at a Santa Monica Airport hangar in Santa Monica, California from May 16–19, 1993.[68] Madonna had previously expressed interest in working with Romanek due to his collaborations with Lenny Kravitz and En Vogue.[69] However, the director turned down the offer as he felt "intimidated" by the idea of shooting a music video that "would mark a departure from [Madonna's] ostentatious antics";[70] he also explained that, "['Rain'] was really romantic and I didn't really know what to do with something romantic at that point in my life".[69] Romanek finally accepted and took as his main inspiration an Yves Saint Laurent commercial directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino and starring actress Catherine Deneuve.[7] Crew members included Krista Montagna in production, Harris Savides in direction of photography, Jon Peter Flack in production design; Robert Duffy was an editor, and David Bradshaw was in charge of wardrobe.[71]

Comparing the song to Wuthering Heights, Madonna came up with the idea of shooting in black and white, but Romanek thought that would be "a little too kind of on the nose"; he instead decided on a futuristic theme of a video-within-a-video, showing the singer as a "doe-eyed ingenue" performing for a film crew.[69][70] For the role of the director, Madonna approached Jean-Luc Godard and Federico Fellini, but both declined. At the end, Ryuichi Sakamoto was selected for the role, thanks to him being what Romanek called "the most iconic and famous and attractive Japanese icon".[69] Argentine model Daniel Rossi, whom Madonna was allegedly romantically involved with at the time, also participated.[72]

Described as "very zen, very stripped away", the music video takes place in Tokyo and shows Madonna as an "accessible, vulnerable creature surrounded by the high-tech and the global".[73] As Romanek didn't want the clip to be too "clichéd" or literal, he decided to use water, contained in two large walls that were placed on either sides of the singer.[70] To further capture the track's "crystalline" essence, Romanek and Savides did colored closeups of the singer's face and features, for which she underwent half a day of camera tests.[70] Then, a German lighting fixture was used to achieve a "thoroughly modern, yet classic" effect.[70] Madonna's appearance was inspired by 1940s Paris and singer Edith Piaf: she wore a "waif-like cap of short black hair with spiky bangs", and "porcelain-doll perfect" make-up. The director also asked her to grow back her eyebrows, which had been "virtually invisible in her recent videos".[73] Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons and Vivienne Westwood provided the clothes.[73]

Synopsis and reception

The final screenshot of the music video, depicting an air view of Madonna surrounded by black umbrellas.

The video begins with Madonna in a studio, lying on a riveted aluminium chaise longue –designed by then unknown Marc Newson– with headphones on her ears composing a song.[7] This alternates with scenes of her singing in front of a microphone, and receiving instructions from the director (Sakamoto). Next, she appears in front of a background of bright lights, and kissing a man (Rossi) behind glass on which water falls. The video ends with an air view of open umbrellas covering the entire floor.[74]

"Rain" premiered on MTV, on June 21, 1993;[7] upon release, it was positively received by critics. Billboard's Deborah Russell said it showed a "chic yet vulnerable, glamorous yet sweet" Madonna, and named it the year's ninth best music video.[70][75] While Maureen Sajbel singled out the singer's "striking" appearance, Bryant Frazer from Studio Daily applauded it for pushing "the boundaries of telecine work at the time".[73][76] At the MTV Video Music Awards, Jan Peter Flack and Savides won for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography, respectively;[77] it was nominated for clip of the year, and Romanek awarded director of the year at the Billboard Music Video Awards.[78][79]

Both Rocco Papa and the staff of Rolling Stone deemed "Rain" Madonna's sixth best video, with the latter highlighting its "high-contrast look and meta-narrative concept".[41][69] Idolator's Mike Neid wrote that, with its "gorgeous set pieces and stunning cinematography, ['Rain'] is sheer class"; he placed it on the 24th position on his ranking of Madonna's 25 best music videos.[80] Slant Magazine considered "Rain" the 70th greatest music video of all time; Sal Cinquemani and Ed Gonzalez opined it was one of Madonna's "most beautiful", as well as a "simple and refreshing break from [her] sex-drenched Erotica period".[81] For VH1's Christopher Rosa, it is one of the singer's most underrated music videos, describing it as "simple, [and] electric", and comparing her short hair look to that of Mia Farrow.[82]

Jef Rouner from the Houston Press named it the ninth best music video directed by Romanek: "One of [his] more light-hearted and definitely the most... purple of his work, 'Rain' is a fascinating treatise on the act of creating a music video itself".[83] Finally, Rettenmund called it a "masterpiece about art and artifice", concluding that, although Romanek intended to make a video "devoid of nostalgia", "['Rain'] created a modern enigma [out of Madonna] who herself was no stranger to overexposure".[7] Dave Marsh and James Bernard wrote in New Book of Rock Lists (1994) that, "the video confronts the issues of Japanese influences on contemporary art and style".[84] "Rain" can be found on Madonna's compilations The Video Collection 93:99 (1999) and Celebration: The Video Collection (2009), as well as on the DVD The Work Of Director Mark Romanek (2005).[85][86][87]

Live performances

Madonna singing "Rain" during one of the concerts of the Celebration Tour (2023―2024)

On the Girlie Show of 1993, Madonna sang "Rain" interspersed with lyrics of the Temptations' "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" (1971).[88] Former back-up singer Niki Haris recalled that it was the "first time [on stage] we sat down together and felt our harmonies. Madonna's voice was starting to get strong and she was into trying new things".[89] The number was praised by The Baltimore Sun 's J. D. Considine, who opined that, even though the artist "just sat and sang, that hardly took away from ['Rain''s] gorgeous harmonies".[90] The performance recorded on November 19, 1993, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, was included on The Girlie Show: Live Down Under video release (1994).[91]

A mashup of "Rain" and Eurythmics' "Here Comes the Rain Again" (1984) was used as a video interlude on 2008―2009's Sticky & Sweet Tour.[92][93] The number featured a cylindrical screen that dropped from the ceiling, with projections of rain and water tumbling down its sides, while the video showed "an alien woman chasing fish".[94][95] Also present were dancers doing an Asian-inspired choreography.[93] On her review of the Barcelona concert, Lourdes López from La Vanguardia was critical of the number, as she felt it "bordered on boring".[93] The performance was included on the Sticky & Sweet Tour live album release (2010), recorded during the four concerts in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[96]

The performance of "Rain" on the Celebration Tour (2023―2024) sees a "shadowy reaper" embrace Madonna —who's decked out in a long robe— and "pull[ing] her into the darkness".[97][98] Reviewing the tour's opening concert in London, the staff of OutInPerth criticized the "anti-climactic" number.[97] By contrast, Metro Weekly's André Hereford deemed it a "powerful vocal [performance] in a night where her lungs and body worked prodigiously".[99]

Covers and usage

See also: List of cover versions of Madonna songs and List of Madonna tribute albums

In 2000, British gothic rock band Rosetta Stone covered "Rain" for the tribute album Virgin Voices: A Tribute to Madonna, Vol. 2; AllMusic's Heather Phares considered it one of the album's finest moment.[100] The following year, a hi-NRG/Eurodance cover by Who's That Girl! was included on the album Exposed, released through Almighty Records.[101] The Vitamin String Quartet included a cover of "Rain" on The String Quartet Tribute to Madonna (2002), while Los Angeles based band Motor Industries did it for The Dancefloor Tribute to Madonna (2003).[102][103] A cover by Da Capo Players and the Vitamin String Quartet was included on Strung out on Madonna: The String Quartet Tribute (2008);[104] that same year, Madonna impersonator Melissa Totten included the song as part of the "Klubkidz House Party Mix", from her album Forever Madonna.[105]

In May 2016, Niki Haris and Donna De Lory recorded an acoustic version of "Rain" and released it as a digital single; this release also included a remix created by Willie Ray Lewis.[106] An EP containing four additional remixes was released on October.[107] In the 2019 film Uncut Gems, "Rain" was used in a scene in which Adam Sandler's character walks into his apartment and finds it empty and dark.[108]

Track listings and formats

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[8]

  • Madonna – songwriter, producer, vocals
  • Shep Pettibone – songwriter, producer, sequencing, programming, keyboard
  • Robin Hancock – recording engineer
  • P. Dennis Mitchell – recording engineer
  • Tony Shimkin – drum programming
  • Goh Hotoda – mixing engineer

Charts and certifications

More information Chart (1993), Peak position ...

Certifications and sales

More information Region, Certification ...

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