| I Think It's Going to Rain Today | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Randy Newman |
| Album: | Randy Newman |
| A-Side: | The Beehive State |
| Released: | 1968 |
| Length: | 2:55 |
| Label: | Reprise |
| Producer: | Lenny Waronker Van Dyke Parks |
| Prev Title: | Last Night I Had A Dream / I Think He's Hiding |
| Prev Year: | 1968 |
| Next Title: | Love Story |
| Next Year: | 1968 |
"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's 1966 album You're Gonna Hear from Me, Eric Burdon's 1967 album Eric Is Here, 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.Also covered by Jazz/ Adult Contemporary singer Curtis Stigers in 2005 on his album "I Think It's Going to Rain Today". Stigers has covered other Newman songs in his career and credits him respectfully as an influence to his own song writing.
Newman told Rolling Stone 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".[1]
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.[2]
| I Think It's Going to Rain Today | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Tom Northcott |
| Album: | Upside Downside |
| B-Side: | It's True |
| Released: | 1971 |
| Length: | 2:37 |
| Label: | UNI |
| Producer: | Barry DeVorzon Tom Northcott |
| Prev Title: | Crazy Jane |
| Prev Year: | 1970 |
| Next Title: | Spaceship Races |
| Next Year: | 1971 |
The song was covered by Canadian folk-rock artist Tom Northcott 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.
| Chart (1971) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM) | 17 | |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM) | 46 |
| I Think It's Going to Rain Today | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | UB40 |
| Album: | Signing Off |
| A-Side: | My Way of Thinking |
| Released: | 6 June 1980 |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 3:41 |
| Label: | Graduate |
| Producer: | Bob Lamb UB40 |
| Prev Title: | King" / "Food for Thought |
| Prev Year: | 1980 |
| My Way of Thinking | |
| Title2: | I Think It's Going to Rain Today |
| Next Title: | The Earth Dies Screaming" / "Dream a Lie |
| Next Year: | 1980 |
The song was covered by British reggae band UB40 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.[4] 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.[5] The group covered the song for bandmembers Robin and Ali Campbell's father, folksinger Ian Campbell, who was a fan of Newman and who had recorded his own version of the song in the 1960s.[6]
The song was covered numerous times by a variety of artists, especially during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
| Artist | Album | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In My Life | 1966 | ||
| Inside Out | 1967 | ||
| Dusty... Definitely | 1968 (UK) | ||
| Colours | 1968 (US) | ||
| A Natural Woman | 1969 | ||
| Nina Simone and Piano | 1969 | ||
| The Touch of Leonard Nimoy | 1969 | ||
| Rick McClellan | Frozen Sunshine | 1969 | |
| Stones | 1971 | ||
| If You Listen | 1971 | ||
| Van Ronk | 1971 | ||
| Release Me (2012 release of 'Stoney End' session; Newman on piano) | 1971 | ||
| Brian Short[8] | Anything for a Laugh | 1971 | |
| Cass Elliot[9] | Cass Elliot | 1972 | |
| Madrugada | 1974 | ||
| Jamaica Say You Will | 1975 | ||
| Cold on the Shoulder | 1984 | ||
| Call Off the Search | 2003 | ||
| Norah JonesCurtis Stigers | Higher GroundI Think It's Going to Rain Today | 2005 | |
| Build a Bridge | 2006 | ||
| Half The Perfect World | 2006 | ||
| Scratch My Back | 2010 | ||
| A Different Hat (with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) | 2010 | ||
| Long Way Down | 2013 | ||
| Blackmore's Night | Dancer and the Moon | 2013 | |
| Scham und Schande | 2015 |
Bette Midler included the song in her film Beaches (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, "A House is Not a Home." The song is also featured in the TV series Designated Survivor in the episode, "Two Ships".[10] Nina Simone's version of the song's first verse was the opening theme for the BBC One series Broken. Simone's version also appears in the "Spies Like Us" episode from season two and “The Decision” from season six of the TV series Scandal. A short excerpt of the song is played in the final episode of the Childhood's End miniseries. The song is also played in the movie "Mr. Monk's Last Case: The Monk Movie" released in 2023 sung by Randy Newman.