Rain shows up in music the way it shows up in life: sometimes romantic, sometimes devastating, sometimes just there in the background while everything else falls apart. These songs about rain span every genre and decade, from nursery rhymes to heavy metal, and they use it for everything from heartbreak to celebration to straight-up weather reports.
Be sure to check out the Songs About Rain Playlist at the bottom of this page.
Best Songs About Rain
1. “Purple Rain” – Prince
Lyric Sample: “I never meant to cause you any sorrow, I never meant to cause you any pain.”
Prince’s classic rock ballad is about the end of a relationship, using rain as a symbol for the grief and heartache left behind.
Related: “Purple Rain” Song Meaning
2. “Here Comes the Rain Again” – Eurythmics
Lyric Sample: “Here comes the rain again, falling on my head like a memory.”
The Eurythmics’ synth-pop hit uses rain as a metaphor for falling back into sadness, like an old companion that keeps returning.
3. “Set Fire to the Rain” – Adele
Lyric Sample: “But I set fire to the rain, watched it pour as I touched your face.”
This 2011 ballad is about loving someone whose hold on you made you feel like you could do the impossible, even as it was destroying you.
Related: “Set Fire to the Rain” Song Meaning
4. “The Rain Song” – Led Zeppelin
Lyric Sample: “These are the seasons of emotion and like the winds they rise and fall.”
“The Rain Song” moves through the seasons as a metaphor for the stages of a relationship, from the warmth of summer to the cold of winter.
Related: Best Springtime Songs
5. “Rain Rain Go Away” – Nursery Rhyme
Lyric Sample: “Rain, rain, go away, come again another day.”
This classic children’s song about rain is simple and endlessly singable. It’s about wanting the rain to stop so the kids can go outside and play.
6. “Singin’ in the Rain” – Gene Kelly
Lyric Sample: “I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain, what a glorious feeling, I’m happy again.”
Kelly’s iconic 1952 song is about being so happy in love that even a downpour can’t dampen the mood.
7. “November Rain” – Guns N’ Roses
Lyric Sample: “‘Cause nothing lasts forever, and we both know hearts can change.”
“November Rain” is a nine-minute rock epic about the fear of being alone and the desperation to hold onto love before it slips away.
Related: “November Rain” Song Meaning
8. “No Rain” – Blind Melon
Lyric Sample: “I just want someone to say to me, I’ll always be there when you wake.”
Blind Melon’s signature hit is about feeling completely out of place in the world and just wanting to find somewhere you belong.
9. “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Lyric Sample: “Someone told me long ago, there’s a calm before the storm.”
CCR’s 1970s rock classic is about good things coming to an end, asking whether you’ve ever experienced calm being followed by a storm.
Related: “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” Lyrics Meaning
10. “I Love a Rainy Night” – Eddie Rabbitt
Lyric Sample: “I love a rainy night, I love to hear the thunder, watch the lightning when it lights up the sky.”
Rabbitt’s 1980 country song is all about celebrating the joy of nighttime storms.
11. “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” – B.J. Thomas
Lyric Sample: “Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head, but that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red.”
Written for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, this classic is about refusing to let life’s small frustrations get you down.
12. “Who’ll Stop the Rain” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Lyric Sample: “Long as I remember, the rain’s been coming down.”
This 1970 rock track uses rain as a symbol for confusion and disillusionment, particularly around the Vietnam War era and the failure of political promises to deliver anything real.
13. “I Can’t Stand the Rain” – Ann Peebles
Lyric Sample: “I can’t stand the rain against my window, bringing back sweet memories.”
Peebles’ 1973 soul track is about how rain on the window is unbearable after a breakup because it used to mean something between two people.
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14. “Rain” – The Beatles
Lyric Sample: “If the rain comes, they run and hide their heads.”
The Beatles’ 1966 B-side flips the usual meaning of rain, treating it as something to embrace rather than escape. Lennon uses people who complain about the weather as a stand-in for those who can’t handle reality.
15. “Make It Rain” – Foy Vance
Lyric Sample: “When the sins of my father weigh down in my soul, and the pain of my mother will not let me go.”
In “Make It Rain,” Vance prays for relief and change, asking God to send rain the way the earth needs water before anything can grow.
16. “It’s Raining Men” – The Weather Girls
Lyric Sample: “It’s raining men, hallelujah, it’s raining men, amen!”
“It’s Raining Men” is an ’80s disco classic about two women praying for a literal downpour of eligible men.
Related: Best Karaoke Songs for Women
17. “Umbrella” – Rihanna
Lyric Sample: “Now that it’s raining more than ever, know that we’ll still have each other.”
Rihanna’s 2007 track is a promise of loyalty and protection, telling someone that no matter what storms come, she’ll be their shelter.
Related: “Umbrella” Song Meaning
18. “Kentucky Rain” – Elvis Presley
Lyric Sample: “Kentucky rain keeps pouring down, and up ahead’s another town that I’ll go walking through.”
Elvis’s country-pop track follows a man walking through a cold Kentucky rain, searching for the woman who left him and asking strangers if they’ve seen her.
19. “Rainy Days and Mondays” – The Carpenters
Lyric Sample: “Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”
The Carpenters sing about the specific kind of low-grade sadness that rainy days and Mondays both seem to bring on, for no particular reason.
Related: Best Songs About Monday
20. “Rhythm of the Rain” – The Cascades
Lyric Sample: “Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain, telling me just what a fool I’ve been.”
“Rhythm of the Rain” is a 1960s pop hit about asking the rain to carry a message to the woman who left, since he has no other way to reach her.
21. “Fool in the Rain” – Led Zeppelin
Lyric Sample: “Well there’s a light in your eye that keeps shining, like a star that can’t wait for night.”
Led Zeppelin’s 1979 track is about a man waiting in the rain for a woman who never shows up, eventually realizing he was standing on the wrong street the whole time.
22. “Red Rain” – Peter Gabriel
Lyric Sample: “Red rain is coming down, red rain.”
Gabriel’s 1986 art rock song uses red rain as a recurring image from a dream, something ominous falling that he can’t stop or explain.
Related: Best Songs with “Red” in the Title
23. “Rain On Me” – Ashanti
Lyric Sample: “I’m looking in the mirror at this woman down and out.”
Ashanti’s 2003 R&B track is about being trapped in an abusive relationship and begging God to take the pain away.
24. “Rain” – Madonna
Lyric Sample: Rain, wash away my sorrow, take away my pain.”
Madonna’s pop ballad is about finding peace and emotional release in rain, using it as a cleansing force after pain.
25. “Rainy Night in Georgia” – Brook Benton
Lyric Sample: “Hoverin’ by my suitcase, tryin’ to find a warm place to spend the night.”
This classic soul song is about being far from home on a rainy night and feeling utterly alone.
Related: Best Songs About Georgia
26. “The Rain” – Oran “Juice” Jones
Lyric Sample: “I saw you (and him) walking in the rain.”
Jones opens this 1980s R&B track with a man spotting his girlfriend walking in the rain with someone else, and it ends with one of the most legendary breakup monologues in music history.
27. “Stormy Weather” – Billie Holiday
Lyric Sample: “Don’t know why there’s no sun up in the sky, stormy weather.”
Holiday’s version of this 1933 jazz standard is about a woman falling apart after her man leaves, with the stormy weather outside matching everything she feels inside.
28. “Rain” – The Cult
Lyric Sample: “Hot sticky scenes, you know what I mean.”
The Cult treat rain like something to be welcomed, a force of nature that cleanses and opens things up rather than something to run from.
29. “Walking in the Rain” – The Ronettes
Lyric Sample: “I want him, and I need him, and someday, someway I’ll meet him.”
This Phil Spector-produced track is about daydreaming about the perfect boy while walking in the rain, hoping he’ll show up someday.
30. “It’s Raining Again” – Supertramp
Lyric Sample: “It’s raining again, oh no, my love’s at an end.”
The rain in this 1982 track is a metaphor for the hard lessons ahead, delivered with the resigned acceptance that they’re coming whether you want them to or not.
31. “Prayers for Rain” – The Cure
Lyric Sample: “You shatter me, your grip on me, a hold on me so dull it kills.”
The Cure’s 1989 track is about being so deep in depression that you’re begging for something, anything, to wash you clean and make you feel alive again.
32. “It’s Raining, It’s Pouring” – Nursery Rhyme
Lyric Sample: “It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring.”
Children have sung this traditional nursery rhyme for generations. It’s actually one of the darker nursery rhymes when you pay attention to the words.
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33. “I Wish It Would Rain” – The Temptations
Lyric Sample: “Sunshine, blue skies, please go away.”
“I Wish It Would Rain” is a late ’60s Motown classic about a man so heartbroken after a breakup that he’s praying for rain so no one can tell he’s been crying.
34. “Rain When I Die” – Alice in Chains
Lyric Sample: “Is she ready to know my frustration?”
This ’90s grunge track is about a toxic relationship where both people are destroying each other and neither can walk away.
35. “Raindrops” – Dee Clark
Lyric Sample: “Raindrops, so many raindrops.”
In this 1961 pop song, Dee Clark uses falling raindrops as cover for his tears after a breakup, hoping no one notices he’s been crying in the street.
36. “Like the Rain” – Clint Black
Lyric Sample: “I never liked the rain until I walked through it with you.”
Clint Black compares falling in love to getting caught in the rain: sudden, unavoidable, and completely welcome once you stop fighting it.
37. “Rain” – SWV
Lyric Sample: “Sometimes as soft as a misty rain, that gently touches my soul.”
In this R&B track, SWV uses rain as a metaphor for the love she wants to pour over her partner, promising to be there through everything.
38. “Can You Stand the Rain” – New Edition
Lyric Sample: “Sunny days, everybody loves them. Tell me, baby, can you stand the rain?”
New Edition’s late ’80s ballad asks a simple but serious question: When things get hard and the good times fade, will you still be there?
39. “Rain On Your Parade” – Duffy
Lyric Sample: “I’m gonna rain on you.”
Duffy’s 2008 track is all about cutting someone out of your life who keeps trying to bring you down.
40. “I Can’t Stop the Rain” – Immature
Lyric Sample: “I can’t stop the rain, here it comes again.”
“I Can’t Stop the Rain” is a mid-’90s song about a guy who knows he acted like a fool and lost a good woman, comparing the pain of her absence to rain he has no power to stop.
41. “Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall” – Simon & Garfunkel
Lyric Sample: “So I’ll continue to continue to pretend my life will never end.”
Simon & Garfunkel sing about hiding behind illusions to get through life, pretending things are fine because the alternative is too hard to face.
Related: Best Songs About Flowers
42. “Raindrops + Sunshowers” – The Smashing Pumpkins
Lyric Sample: “Rain falls on everyone, the same old rain.”
“Raindrops + Sunshowers” is about wanting to be close to someone but feeling like your love isn’t getting through to them.
43. “I Wish It Would Rain Down” – Phil Collins
Lyric Sample: “You know I never meant to see you again.”
Collins’ 1990 pop-rock song is about a man who knows he caused a breakup and is desperate for some sign of forgiveness, wishing the rain would come and wash away the guilt.
44. “It Can’t Rain All the Time” – Jane Siberry
Lyric Sample: “It won’t rain all the time, the sky won’t fall forever.”
Siberry’s ballad from The Crow soundtrack is a reminder that even the darkest periods eventually end.
45. “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” – Bob Dylan
Lyric Sample: “Everybody must get stoned.”
Dylan’s 1966 track is built around the repeated refrain (shown above), and the “rainy day women” of the title is widely understood as slang for something that gets you high.
46. “Rain In The Rearview” – Anne Wilson
Lyric Sample: “Drive, baby, drive ’til it shines on you, and leave the rain in the rearview.”
Wilson’s 2024 country song is about driving away from grief and hardship, trusting that the sun is shining somewhere ahead.
47. “When the Rain Comes” – Third Day
Lyric Sample: “I can’t stop the rain from falling down on you again.”
“When the Rain Comes” is a Christian rock song about being there for someone when life falls apart, promising to hold them through the storm even when you can’t make it stop.
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48. “Rain” – Guano Apes
Lyric Sample: “I still believe in your warm rain.”
Guano Apes’ ’90s alt-rock track is about being alone and desperate for someone to love you.
49. “Summer Rain” – Belinda Carlisle
Lyric Sample: “Somewhere in my heart I’m always dancing with you in the summer rain.”
Belinda Carlisle’s nostalgic ballad is about a summer romance that felt perfect while it lasted, tied to the memory of warm rain.
Related: Best Songs About Summer
50. “Only Happy When It Rains” – Garbage
Lyric Sample: “I’m only happy when it rains, I’m only happy when it’s complicated.”
Garbage’s iconic alt-rock hit is a cynical self-portrait of someone who thrives on misery and bad news.
51. “Fire and Rain” – James Taylor
Lyric Sample: “I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.”
Taylor’s folk classic covers three distinct types of loss: the death of a friend, the collapse of a musical project, and a struggle with addiction. “Fire and rain” refers to the good times and the hard ones.
Related: “Fire and Rain” Song Meaning
52. “Raining Blood” – Slayer
Lyric Sample: “Raining blood, from a lacerated sky.”
This legendary thrash metal track is about a fallen angel cast out of heaven, descending into a rain of blood.
53. “It Will Rain” – Bruno Mars
Lyric Sample: “If you ever leave me, baby, leave some morphine at my door.”
This 2010 pop ballad is about being so terrified of losing someone that you’d fall apart completely if they left.
54. “Summer’s Rain” – Savatage
Lyric Sample: “And do I stand alone like a fool out in the rain?”
“Summer’s Rain” is a ’90s track about holding onto hope after a loss, standing alone in the rain and still believing you’ll find your way back to something worth having.
55. “Crying in the Rain” – Culture Beat
Lyric Sample: “Who said that crying in the rain could ever wash away a lover’s pain?”
This dance track is about being done with someone who keeps lying, telling them their tears in the rain aren’t going to fix anything.
56. “Rain Over Me” – Pitbull ft. Marc Anthony
Lyric Sample: “Girl, my body don’t lie, I’m outta my mind.”
“Rain Over Me” is a 2011 dance-pop track about letting go of pain and opening yourself up to something new.
57. “The Sunshine After the Rain” – Berri
Lyric Sample: “I want to see the sunshine after the rain.”
Berri’s dance song is about waiting for life to feel good again after a breakup, holding onto the belief that something brighter is coming.
58. “Let It Rain” – East 17
Lyric Sample: “Let it rain, rain down on me.”
This 1995 R&B song is about a relationship falling apart and hoping for something, anything, to bring them back together.
59. “Come In Out of the Rain” – Wendy Moten
Lyric Sample: “Come in out of the rain, let me dry your tears.”
“Come In Out of the Rain” is an invitation to someone who’s been hurt and left out in the cold, telling them warmth and love is waiting if they’ll just come back.
60. “Queen of Rain” – Roxette
Lyric Sample: “Dream about the sun, you Queen of Rain.”
This 1992 indie track is about someone trapped in fear, with the other person begging them to stop playing it safe and let some light in.
61. “Georgia Rain” – Trisha Yearwood
Lyric Sample: “The Georgia Rain on the Jasper County clay.”
Yearwood’s 1994 country track is about a summer romance tied to the memory of warm Georgia rain.
Related: Songs About Georgia
62. “Laughter in the Rain” – Neil Sedaka
Lyric Sample: “I hear laughter in the rain, walking hand in hand with the one I love.”
“Laughter in the Rain” is a 1970s pop song about walking in the rain with someone you love and not caring about getting wet.
63. “Rain On Me” – Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
Lyric Sample: “I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive.”
Gaga and Grande sing about surviving trauma and choosing to dance in whatever storm life throws at you rather than running from it.
64. “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” – Bob Dylan
Lyric Sample: “I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans, I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard.”
Dylan’s 1962 folk song uses rain as a symbol for impending catastrophe, built from a series of surreal images of a world on the edge of collapse.
65. “Flowers in the Rain” – The Move
Lyric Sample: “Woke up one morning half asleep, with all my blankets in a heap.”
The Move’s 1967 track, the first ever played on BBC Radio 1, is about rain bringing flowers to life.
66. “Tell It to the Rain” – The Four Seasons
Lyric Sample: “Tell it to the rain and the stars that shine above.”
“Tell It to the Rain” is a 1960s pop song about a man too embarrassed to tell anyone that his relationship is falling apart, so he tells the rain instead since it won’t judge him.
67. “What Have They Done to the Rain” – The Searchers
Lyric Sample: “And rain keeps falling like helpless tears, what have they done to the rain.”
This 1964 protest song is about nuclear contamination slowly poisoning the natural world, told through the image of a boy vanishing in a rain that used to be harmless.
Conclusion
Rain has meant a hundred different things to a hundred different songwriters. It’s been heartbreak and joy, shelter and threat, metaphor and just plain weather. Whether you want something to cry to or dance in, this list has you covered.
Be sure to check out more of our themed music lists, including the Best Songs About Sunshine and the Best Songs About Storms!
