Stewart Wants to Know, “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?”

^{Rod Stewart/croatiaweek.com}

Someone told me long ago
There’s a calm before the storm
I know
It’s been comin’ for some time
When it’s over, so they say
It’ll rain a sunny day
I know
Shinin’ down like water

I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?

Not a love music nor a song of happy intent, this is the singer’s take on one’s departure. Sad as it may seem, this is in dedication to his bother’s departure from the band. Still clinging on, he still believes there’s a calm before the storm and a sunny day after every rain.

^{Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR)/wikipedia.com}

Released as a single  by roots rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?“ is a song written by John Fogerty in 1971 from the album Pendulum (1970). The song charted highest in Canada, reaching number one on the RPM 100 national singles chart in March 1971. In the U.S., in the same year it peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. On Cash Box pop chart, it peaked at number three. In the UK, it reached number 36. In addition, it was the group’s eighth gold-selling single.

Behind the song…

Some have speculated that the song’s lyrics are referencing the Vietnam War, with the “rain” being a metaphor for bombs falling from the sky.

In his review of the song for Allmusic website, Mark Deming suggests that the song is about the idealism of the 1960s. Also, it is about fading in the wake of events such as the Altamont Free Concert and the Kent State shootings. Moreover, Fogerty is saying that the same issues of the 1960s still existed in the 1970s but that people were no longer fighting for them.

However, Fogerty himself has said in interviews and prior to playing the song in concert that the song is about rising tension within CCR and the imminent departure of his brother Tom from the band.

In an interview, Fogerty stated that the song was written about the fact that they were on the top of the charts, and had surpassed all of their wildest expectations of fame and fortune. They were rich and famous, but somehow all of the members of the band at the time were depressed and unhappy.

Thus the line “Have you ever seen the rain, coming down on a sunny day”. The band split in October the following year after the release of the album Mardi Gras.

The song in literal sense…

In a literal sense the song describes a sunshower such in the lyric “It’ll rain a sunny day“ and the chorus “have you ever seen the rain Comin’ down on a sunny day?”. These events are particularly common in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but less common in other parts of the country. This is due to localized atmospheric wind sheer effects. In Southern regional dialect, there is even a term for it: “the devil beating his wife”.

_{Watch Rod Stewart’s take on CCR’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?”.}

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