Rain (Beatles song)

"Rain"
US picture sleeve (reverse)
Single by the Beatles
A-side"Paperback Writer"
Released30 May 1966 (1966-05-30)
Recorded14 & 16 April 1966
StudioEMI, London
GenrePsychedelic rock[1][2]
Length2:59
Label
Songwriter(s)Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)George Martin
The Beatles UK singles chronology
"Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out"
(1965)
"Paperback Writer" / "Rain"
(1966)
"Eleanor Rigby" / "Yellow Submarine"
(1966)
The Beatles US singles chronology
"Nowhere Man"
(1966)
"Paperback Writer" / "Rain"
(1966)
"Eleanor Rigby" / "Yellow Submarine"
(1966)
Promotional film
"Rain" on YouTube

"Rain" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 30 May 1966 as the B-side of their "Paperback Writer" single. Both songs were recorded during the sessions for Revolver, although neither appear on that album. "Rain" was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. He described it as being "about people moaning about the weather all the time".[3]

The song's recording contains a slowed-down rhythm track, a droning bass line and backwards vocals. Its release marked one of the first times that reversed sounds appeared in a pop song, although the Beatles used the same technique on the Revolver track "Tomorrow Never Knows", recorded days earlier.[4] Ringo Starr considers "Rain" his best recorded drum performance. Three promotional films were created for the song, and they are considered among the early precursors of music videos.

  1. ^ Williams, Stereo (5 August 2016). "The Beatles' 'Revolver' Turns 50: A Psychedelic Masterpiece That Rewrote the Rules of Rock". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 28 May 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  2. ^ "The 50 Best Beatles songs". Time Out London. 24 May 2018. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  3. ^ The Beatles 2000, p. 212.
  4. ^ Reising & LeBlanc 2009, pp. 94, 95.