"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 Julius La Rosa (January 2, 1930 – May 12, 2016) was an American traditional popular music singer, who worked in both radio and television beginning in the 1950s. Early years La Rosa was born of Italian-immigrant parents in the Brooklyn borough ...

's 1966 album ''You're Gonna Hear from Me'',

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, pow ...

's 1967 album ''

Eric Is Here The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

'', 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 ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' 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.

Tom Northcott version

The song was covered by Canadian folk-rock artist

Tom Northcott Tom Northcott (born August 29, 1943 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian folk-rock singer with hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Musical career He became known to a Canadian audience by his regular appearances on CBC Televi ...

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 Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

band

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...

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 A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

'' (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 ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American Comedy drama, comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and beca ...

'', "A House is Not a Home." The song is also featured in the TV series ''

Designated Survivor In the United States, a designated survivor (or designated successor) is a named individual in the presidential line of succession, chosen to stay at an undisclosed secure location, away from events such as State of the Union addresses and pre ...

'' in the episode, "Two Ships". Nina Simone's version of the song's first verse was the opening theme for the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

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 ''Childhood's End'' is a 1953 science fiction novel by the British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasionBooker & Thomas 2009, pp. 31–32. of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival begins decade ...

'' miniseries.

References

{{authority control Songs about weather 1966 songs 1968 singles 1971 singles Randy Newman songs Songs written by Randy Newman 1980 singles UB40 songs Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker Reprise Records singles Uni Records singles