"Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" is a 1944 song performed as a duet by

The Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely a ...

, featuring Bill Kenny, and

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. Their recording was made on August 30, 1944 for Decca Records (catalog No. 23356B). The song was written by Allan Roberts (lyrics) and Doris Fisher (melody). The name of the song originates from a quotation of

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

from the poem "Rainy Day". The song has also been included in the soundtrack for several videogames.

Chart performance

The successful single went to number one on both The

Harlem Hit Parade The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

and the pop chart. The B-side of the single entitled, "

I'm Making Believe "I'm Making Believe" is a 1944 song composed by James V. Monaco with lyrics by Mack Gordon. The song first appeared in the film ''Sweet and Low-Down''; the performance by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra was nominated for the Academy Award for Be ...

" also became a popular hit on both charts.

Cover versions

Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

– her single for Coral Records charted briefly in 1953, peaking at No. 23. *

Frankie Avalon Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American actor, singer, and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including number one hits, "Venus" an ...

– included on the album ''The Young Frankie Avalon'' (1959). *

Kay Starr Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multip ...

– ''Losers, Weepers'' (1960). *

– on the album '' Ella and Basie!'' (1963) *

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

– on the soundtrack album for the 1965 film ''

Finders Keepers Finders, keepers, sometimes extended as the children's rhyme finders, keepers; losers, weepers, is an English language, English adage with the premise that when something is unowned or abandoned, whoever finds it first can claim it for themself pe ...

''. Released on Columbia Records (Columbia SCX 6079). *

Dianne Reeves Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer. Biography Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...

included her version of the song for her ''

Good Night, and Good Luck ''Good Night, and Good Luck'' (stylized as ''good night, and good luck.'') is a 2005 historical drama film about American television news directed by George Clooney, with the movie starring David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Ro ...

'' album (2005)

In pop culture

*The song is included as part of the in-game radio station Diamond City Radio in the 2015 video game ''

Fallout 4 ''Fallout 4'' is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fourth main game in the Fallout (series), ''Fallout'' series and was released worldwide on November 10, 2015, for P ...

''. *The song is included as part of the in-game radio station Galaxy News Radio's retro soundtrack in the 2008 video game ''

Fallout 3 ''Fallout 3'' is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The third major installment in the ''Fallout'' series, it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring ...

''. *The song can also be heard on the radio in the 2011 video game ''

L.A. Noire ''L.A. Noire'' is a 2011 action-adventure video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. Set in 1947 Los Angeles, the game follows detective Cole Phelps's rise among the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department as he so ...

''. *It is played in the 2005 documentary ''

Why We Fight ''Why We Fight'' is a series of seven propaganda films produced by the US Department of War from 1942 to 1945, during World War II. It was originally written for American soldiers to help them understand why the United States was involved in th ...

''. *"Into each life some rain must fall' is the opening line of the first verse to

Deeper Shade of Blue "Deeper Shade of Blue" is a song by British dance-pop group Steps, released as the fourth single from their second studio album, '' Steptacular'' (1999), on 3 April 2000. The song was originally recorded by English singer-songwriter Tina Cousi ...

by Steps. *The version by The Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald was used in the BBC series ''

The Singing Detective ''The Singing Detective'' is a BBC television serial drama, written by Dennis Potter, starring Michael Gambon and directed by Jon Amiel. Its six episodes are "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It". The ser ...

'' (1986). *The song was used in the 2001 'Transport' commercial of Dutch insurance company

Centraal Beheer Centraal Beheer is an insurance company located in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. It became part of Achmea in 2001. Centraal Beheer is usually referred to as "Apeldoorn". Its offices are known for its architecture by Herman Hertzberger Herman Hertz ...

. *The line: "Into each life a little rain must fall" is used in The Rockford Files, season 1 episode 7 at the 10 minute mark. Episode name: "Tall Woman in a Red Wagon".

References

{{authority control 1944 songs 1944 singles The Ink Spots songs Ella Fitzgerald songs Teresa Brewer songs Songs written by Doris Fisher (songwriter) Songs written by Allan Roberts (songwriter) Male–female vocal duets