"Red Rain" is the first track on English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

musician Peter Gabriel's 1986 solo studio album '' So''. In the United States, it was the second single from the album and reached number three on '' Billboard'' magazine's

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart in 1986, where it stayed for three weeks between July and August. In the rest of the world it was not released until 1987 and received less airplay and fewer sales, peaking at 46 in the UK singles chart after entering the chart in July of that year.David Roberts ''

British Hit Singles & Albums ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of ...

'', Guinness World Records Limited A live version also charted in the US and the UK in 1994.

Background and reception

The song is a combination of several inspirations. The lyrics directly reference a recurring dream Gabriel was having where he swam in his backyard pool drinking cold red wine. Another version of the dream had bottles in the shape of people falling from a cliff. In it, a stream of red liquid would seep out of the people-shaped bottles as they smashed with impact onto the ground, and was usually followed by a torrential downpour of the same red liquid. Earlier in his solo career, Gabriel had an idea for a movie he referred to as ''Mozo''. In it, villagers were punished for their sins with a blood-red rain. "Red Rain" was to be the theme song. This idea was eventually scrapped, although there was a mention of ''Mozo'' in the song "On the Air" in '' Peter Gabriel (II)''. "Down The Dolce Vita", "Here Comes The Flood", and "Exposure" reference the Mozo story, as well. Strongly percussive in nature, the song features two notable American drummers:

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

from

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

played the hi-hat for the rain-like background sound and was requested by Gabriel due to his mastery of the instrument, while the rest of the drumming was provided by Gabriel's regular drummer

Jerry Marotta Jerome David Marotta (born February 6, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American drummer who resides in Woodstock, New York. He is the younger brother of Rick Marotta, who is also a drummer and composer. Career Marotta was a member of the bands ...

. Gabriel's biographer Daryl Easlea wrote that the song was "a brooding opening to the album" which reflected "two very current Eighties obsessions: AIDS and

nuclear fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

". Stephen Thomas Erlewine has described it as "a stately anthem popular on

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orient ...

radio".

"Red Rain" album appearances

*'' So'' (1986) *'' Shaking the Tree'' (1990) *'' Secret World Live'' (Live, 1994) *''

Hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

'' (2003) *'' Live Blood'' (2012)

Track listing

# "Red Rain" # "In Your Eyes" (special mix) nly on 12"# "Ga-Ga" "Ga-Ga" is an instrumental version of the song "I Go Swimming", which was only released on the '' Plays Live'' album.

Track listing (US 12" Single (20749-0))

# "Red Rain" – 5:35 # "Ga-Ga (I Go Swimming instrumental)" – 4:31 # "Walk Through the Fire" – 3:31

Personnel

– drums *

Chris Hughes Chris Hughes (born November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and author who co-founded and served as spokesman for the online social directory and networking site Facebook until 2007. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of ''The New R ...

–

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Places Germany * Linn (Gangkofen), a part ...

programming *

– hi-hat *

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 1 ...

– bass guitar * David Rhodes – guitar, backing vocals *

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie ...

– guitar * Peter Gabriel – vocals, piano, CMI, Prophet-5 *

Kevin Killen Kevin Killen (born October 22, 1959) is a music producer, engineer, and mixer. His work has been recognized by multiple awards and nominations, and he has worked with a range of recording artists including Shakira, Peter Gabriel, U2, David Bowie, ...

– mixer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Rain 1986 songs 1987 singles Geffen Records singles Peter Gabriel songs Song recordings produced by Chris Hughes (record producer) Song recordings produced by Daniel Lanois Songs written by Peter Gabriel Songs about HIV/AIDS Songs about nuclear war and weapons