"Sometimes It Snows in April" is a song by American musician

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. It was included on his eighth studio album ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'', which was also the soundtrack to his film ''

Under the Cherry Moon ''Under the Cherry Moon'' is a 1986 romantic musical comedy-drama film starring Prince and marking his directorial debut. The film also stars former The Time member Jerome Benton, Steven Berkoff, Kristin Scott Thomas (in her feature film debut) ...

'' (1986). Prince wrote, performed, and produced the song alongside

Wendy & Lisa Wendy & Lisa (briefly known as Girl Bros.) are a music duo consisting of Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman. They began working with Prince in the early 1980s and were part of his band the Revolution, before branching out on their own and releasin ...

, who co-wrote the music. The song's narrator recounts memories of Christopher Tracy, Prince's character from ''Under the Cherry Moon'', and how Tracy's death affected the narrator; it also expresses their desire to hopefully rejoin Tracy in heaven. Prince performed the song live fairly often over the years, sometimes using it as a final encore to wind down the show. "Sometimes It Snows in April" received significant attention after Prince's death on April 21, 2016, exactly 31 years after its recording date, and it went on to re-enter several

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...

s worldwide.

Commercial performance

After the initial release of ''Parade'', "Sometimes It Snows in April" was not released as a single, which made it ineligible to chart. However, after Prince's death on April 21, 2016, sales of the song increased heavily, allowing it to peak on several charts. The song was most successful in Europe; in France, it peaked at number 14, lasting a total of three weeks on the chart. It fared well in the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland, where it peaked at numbers 63, 69, and 64, respectively. It charted the lowest in the United Kingdom, where it lasted for one week on the chart, peaking at number 193.

Personnel

– lead vocals and various instruments * Lisa Coleman – keyboards and vocals *

Wendy Melvoin Wendy Ann Melvoin (born January 26, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band The Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy ...

– guitar and vocals

Charts

Prince & the Revolution version

Amar version

British Indian singer

Amar Amar may refer to: People Given name * Amar (British singer) (born 1982), British Indian singer born Amar Dhanjal * Amar (Lebanese singer) (born 1986), born Amar Mahmoud Al Tahech * Amar Bose (1929–2013), Founder of Bose Corporation * Amar Gup ...

recorded a cover version of the song for her album ''

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: General * Wilderness * Outside (Alaska), any non-Alaska location, as referred to by Alaskans Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, th ...

''. It was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on 12 June 2000, and peaked at No. 48 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It also reached No. 6 on the

UK Dance Singles Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record s ...

, due to the popular

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop, R&B, and jungle. It ...

remix by Dreem House. ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'' included the Dreem House remix of "Sometimes It Snows in April" in their list of "40 of the best UK garage tracks released from 1995 to 2005". ''Gemtracks'' included the Dreem House remix of the song in their list of the "top UK garage songs between 1995–2005".

Other cover versions

French R&B duo

Native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

recorded a cover version of the song for their self-titled debut album, released in 1995. Australian musician

Gotye Wouter André "Wally" De Backer (born 21 May 1980), better known by his stage name Gotye ( ), is a Belgian-Australian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. The name "Gotye" is a pronunciation respelling of "Gauthier", the French cognat ...

recorded an acapella cover version of the song that was uploaded to his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel on April 21, 2016, the same day that Prince died. American musician

D'Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

performed the song as a tribute to Prince, accompanied by

Maya Rudolph Maya Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''), and later played supporting roles in the films '' 50 First Dates'' ...

and

Gretchen Lieberum Gretchen Lieberum is a singer and songwriter. Career Lieberum was raised in Berkeley, California and educated at University of California, Santa Cruz. After leading a funk band for several years, she released her first solo album, ''Three A.M. ...

of the Prince cover band Princess, on April 26, 2016 on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

''. British band

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

performed a live cover of the song, accompanied by fellow British singer-songwriter

Lianne La Havas Lianne Charlotte Barnes (born 23 August 1989), known professionally as Lianne La Havas ( ), is a British singer-songwriter and record producer. Her career began after being introduced to various musicians, including singer Paloma Faith, for who ...

, on July 6, 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark while on tour for their album ''

A Head Full of Dreams ''A Head Full of Dreams'' is the seventh studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 4 December 2015, by Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and by Atlantic Records in the United States. Coldplay recorded the album from early to mid 20 ...

''. Barry Hyde, the former frontman of

the Futureheads The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, formed in 2000. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), David "Jaff" Craig (vocals and bass guitar) and brothers Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar) and Dave Hyde (drums). ...

, recorded a cover version of the song for his solo album ''Malody'', released in June 2016. American musician

Meshell Ndegeocello Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...

recorded a cover version of the song for her album ''

Ventriloquism Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...

'', released on March 16, 2018. In 2019,

Sandra Bernhard Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, singer, comedian and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy, where she often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures. She is perhaps b ...

performed the song in character as Judy in the episode "Love's in Need of Love Today" on the FX series ''

Pose Human positions refer to the different physical configurations that the human body can take. There are several synonyms that refer to human positioning, often used interchangeably, but having specific nuances of meaning. *''Position'' is a gen ...

''. This version was released as a single on the episode's airdate of July 23, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sometimes It Snows in April 1986 songs 1980s ballads Pop ballads Prince (musician) songs 2000 singles Amar (British singer) songs Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) Songs written by Prince (musician) Songs written by Wendy Melvoin Songs written by Lisa Coleman (musician) Soul ballads Songs about weather