"Rainmaker" is the 37th single by English heavy metal band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

. It was released on 24 November 2003 as the second and final single from their 13th studio album, '' Dance of Death'' (2003). It was written by Dave Murray, Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson, and produced by Harris and

Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...

Synopsis

The song was largely written by long-time guitarist Dave Murray. The lyrics were inspired by vocalist Bruce Dickinson's comment that the intro riff made him think of raindrops. The song has no connection with the 1995 novel written by

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the Ame ...

of the same name. The guitar solo in "Rainmaker" is played by Dave Murray. The cover is a still taken from the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

directed by Howard Greenhalgh. This single also contains a double-sided poster. "More Tea Vicar" is a recording of a jam session (similar to "Pass the Jam") with Bruce Dickinson trying his hand at rapping.

Track listing

CD single

# "Rainmaker" ( Dave Murray, Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson) – 3:48 # "Dance of Death (orchestral version)" ( Janick Gers, Harris) – 8:37 # "More Tea Vicar" (Dickinson, Gers, Harris,

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...

, Murray,

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

) – 4:37

Japanese CD

# "Rainmaker" (Murray, Harris, Dickinson) – 3:48 # "Dance of Death (orchestral version)" (Gers, Harris) – 8:37 # "More Tea Vicar" (Dickinson, Gers, Harris, McBrain, Murray, Smith) – 4:37 # "

The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 ...

(Live at Brixton Academy, London - 19–21 March 2002)" - 4:38 # "Children of the Damned (Live at Brixton Academy, London - 19–21 March 2002)" - 5:02 Japanese CD Extras: # "Rainmaker" (Video) - 3:50 # "Wildest Dreams" (Video) - 3:39

Pock iT! Mini CD

# "Rainmaker" (Murray, Harris, Dickinson) – 3:48 # "Dance of Death (orchestral version)" (Gers, Harris) – 8:37

7" Vinyl

# "Rainmaker" (Murray, Harris, Dickinson) – 3:48 # "Dance of Death (orchestral version)" (Gers, Harris) – 8:37

DVD

# "Rainmaker" (video) (Murray, Harris, Dickinson) – 3:48 # "The Wicker Man (Live at Brixton Academy, London - 19–21 March 2002)" (Smith, Harris, Dickinson) - 4:35 # "Children of the Damned (Live at Brixton Academy, London - 19–21 March 2002)" (Harris) - 5:03 # "Rainmaker Video – The Making Of"

Personnel

Production credits are adapted from the CD, DVD, and picture disc covers. ;Iron Maiden * Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals * Dave Murray –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Janick Gers – guitar *

– guitar * Steve Harris –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, co-producer *

– drums ;Production *

– producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, mixing (except "The Wicker Man") *Doug Hall – producer, mixing ("The Wicker Man") *Howard Greenhalgh – music video director *Lawrence Watson –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 2003 singles Iron Maiden songs Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh Song recordings produced by Kevin Shirley Songs written by Bruce Dickinson Songs written by Steve Harris (musician)