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I Love A Rainy Night
performed by Eddie Rabbitt
written by Eddie Rabbitt, Even Stevens, and David Malloy
released in November 1980
Well, I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightning
When it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel good
Well, I love a rainy night
It’s such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain on my face
Taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadow
Showers wash all my cares away
I wake up to a sunny day
‘Cause I love a rainy night
Yeah, I love a rainy night
Well, I love a rainy night
Well, I love a rainy night, ooh ooh
I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightning
When it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel good
Well, I love a rainy night
It’s such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain on my face
Taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadow
Puts a song in this heart of mine
Puts a smile on my face every time
‘Cause I love a rainy night
Yeah, I love a rainy night
Ooh, I love a rainy night
Yeah, I love a rainy night, ooh ooh
Showers wash all my cares away
I wake up to a sunny day
‘Cause I love a rainy night
Yeah, I love a rainy night
Well, I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
Well, I love a rainy night
You can see it in my eyes
Yeah, I love a rainy night
‘Cause it makes me high
Ooh, I love a rainy night
You know I do
Yeah yeah, I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
You can see it in my eyes
I love a rainy night
It makes me high
Well, I love a rainy night
And I love you, too
Yeah, I love a rainy night
Well, I love a rainy night
Well, I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
______________________
If I was counting correctly, the song mentions twenty-nine times that the singer loves a rainy night. Given the lyrics, one might assume that the song was more quickly made than most – but not so! From wiki:
According to music historian Fred Bronson, “I Love a Rainy Night” was 12 years in the making. Rabbitt had a collection of old tapes he kept in the basement of his home. While rummaging through the tapes one day in 1980, he heard a fragment of a song he had recorded one rainy night in the late 1960s.
“It brought back the memory of sitting in a small apartment, staring out the window at one o’clock in the morning, watching the rain come down,” wrote Bronson in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. “He sang into his tape recorder, ‘I love a rainy night, I love a rainy night.'”
Upon rediscovery of the old lyrics, Rabbitt completed the song (with help from frequent songwriting partners Even Stevens and David Malloy) and recorded it.
The result included vivid descriptions of a man’s fondness for thunderstorms and the peace it brings him (“I love to hear the thunder/watch the lightnin’ when it lights up the sky/you know it makes me feel good”) and a renewed sense of hope the storms bring (“Showers wash all my cares away/I wake up to a sunny day”).
The song’s other distinctive feature is its rhythmic pattern of alternating finger snaps and hand claps, which was included with the help of percussionist Farrell Morris, who, according to The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits, mixed two tracks of each to complete the record.
On February 28, the song succeeded Dolly Parton‘s hit film theme song “9 to 5” in the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. On March 14, Parton’s song returned to the top spot—the last time, to date, that the pop chart featured back-to-back “country” singles in the top position.
“I Love a Rainy Night” came during Rabbitt’s peak popularity as a crossover artist. The follow-up to “Drivin’ My Life Away” (number one country, number five Hot 100), the song was Rabbitt’s only Hot 100 number one. But his crossover success continued with the follow-ups “Step by Step” and “You and I” (the latter a duet with Crystal Gayle).
On Billboard‘s Hot Country Singles chart, it was his eighth out of 17 career chart-toppers, spanning from 1976 to 1990.
“I Love a Rainy Night” was certified gold for sales of a half-million units by the Recording Industry Association of America.
For those who bemoan the loss of the “country” in the country music genre, as I do, it is sometimes helpful to remember that the problem is not only not new, it’s always been present. That said, I do prefer the country pop of the 1980s to the “bro country” pop of the present day.
I Love a Rainy Night did well on the charts:
| Chart (1980–1981) | Peak position |
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | 6 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 4 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 11 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 8 |
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard) | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 53 |
This simple and somewhat silly song has always been one of my favorites.
I sleep very well on rainy nights. Thanks for sharing and be safe.
Me too! I even sometimes play rain sounds on my phone to help me sleep.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
You are welcome
I love that it was 12 years in the making and so successful- good things take time!
Yeah i thought that was really cool. Who knows if the song would even have caught on 12 years sooner?
I don’t listen to the rain at night when I’m asleep. But u should’ve seen how magnificent rain is, in Japanese animation. Two masterpieces by Makoto Shinkai. “The Garden of Words” & “Weathering With You”.