CCR is one band that crosses genres. I haven’t met many people that don’t like them. I can’t say the same for my band The Beatles, or The Stones, The Who, and others. Country fans, Metal fans, Rock fans, and bluegrass fans. It’s something about John Fogerty’s deceptively simple songs that says something to everyone.
John Fogerty did almost all the overdubs for the band until the Pendulum album when other members contributed. Pendulum is the album this song is on. Time was running out on this great band. John said this song was about the impending breakup of the band…Tom Fogerty had told the band he was quitting after the album was finished.
John’s brother Tom Fogerty quit the band after this album and CCR was then a trio. Tom’s voice was close to John’s and he felt restricted in CCR. If you want to hear what Tom sounded like…check out this post by Christian on the forgotten Forgerty brother. Creedence did release one more album after this called Mardi Gras without Tom and it has a few good songs but it’s not up to their standard.
I could tell you my feelings on this song but just listen to it today and it will make your Friday even better.
The song peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #3 in New Zealand and #36 in the UK in 1971.
John Fogerty: “That song is really about the impending breakup of Creedence. The imagery is, you can have a bright, beautiful, sunny day and it can be raining at the same time. The band was breaking up. I was reacting: ‘Geez, this is all getting serious right at the time when we should be having a sunny day.’”
From Songfacts
This song is John Fogerty’s take on the imminent departure of his brother Tom from the band, and the overall tension in the group at a time when they should have been enjoying their success. The line, “I want to know – have you ever seen the rain comin’ down on a sunny day?” refers to Tom leaving while CCR was at its commercial zenith. The flip side of this single, “Hey Tonight,” is John reassuring the band that all would go well despite the adversity.
Tom Fogerty left the group in early 1971, after this album was released. He released three solo albums before dying of tuberculosis in 1990. A fourth album, completed in 1988, was released posthumously.
According to John Fogerty, this song’s meaning changed for him over time. Introducing the song at a 2012 show in Arizona, he said: “This song was originally written about a very sad thing that was going on in my life. But I refuse to be sad now. Because now this song reminds me of my little girl, Kelsy, and every time I sing it, I think about Kelsy and rainbows.”
Fogerty added that this is his all-time favorite song, even though it’s one he wrote himself.
Musically, this song was inspired by the group Booker T. & the MG’s, whose most famous song is “Green Onions.” They opened for Creedence Clearwater Revival before CCR recorded the Pendulum album. John Fogerty loved the sound of Booker T. Jones’ Hammond organ, so he used it on some tracks for the album, including this one.
According to Stu Cook, this song and another track on the album, “Pagan Baby,” were written and rehearsed from scratch during one recording session. “Pagan Baby” was done in one take.”
This was used in the TV show Tour Of Duty, which was set in Vietnam during the war. >>
Bonnie Tyler covered this song for her 1983 blockbuster album Faster Than the Speed of Night. Her version reached #47 in the UK. >>
In 2006, Rod Stewart covered this song on his album Still the Same… Great Rock Classics of Our Time. >>
Allison Moorer covered this for her 2015 Down To Believing album. She explained why to Billboard magazine: “The record label wanted me to do a cover. I said ‘I don’t really think the record needs a cover on it,’ and we certainly have enough songs, but in the spirit of being cooperative, I said ‘OK, if you really want one, I’ll come up with something.'”
“If I was going to do a cover, it was going to be something that I had always wanted to do,” she continued. “I’m a huge Creedence fan, and that song might be my very favorite song of theirs. I’ve always thought it was the perfect country / rock song, and this record to me is a country / rock record, so I thought ‘If I’m ever going to this, this is the perfect time. I think what you hear on the record is actually the second take.”
As part of the CCR50 campaign to honor the 50th anniversary of Creedence Clearwater Revival, a video was commissioned for this song starring Jack Quaid, Sasha Frolova and Erin Moriarty as childhood friends in Montana. Directed by Laurence Jacobs, it takes a nostalgic turn when one of the friends moves away.
Willie Nelson recorded this with his daughter Paula Nelson for his duets album To All the Girls… The veteran country singer’s cover was included in the closing moments of the HBO miniseries Big Little Lies’ season 2 finale on July 21, 2019. The interest generated drove Nelson’s cover to a #36 debut on the Country chart dated August 3, 2019.
Have You Ever Seen The Rain
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
Comin’ down on a sunny day?
Yesterday and days before
Sun is cold and rain is hard
I know been that way for all my time
‘Til forever, on it goes
Through the circle, fast and slow,
I know it can’t stop, I wonder
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin’ down on a sunny day?
Yeah
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin’ down on a sunny day?
Thanks for the shoutout, and I love that song! I think I first heard it from my sister who had it as a 45 on vinyl. The B-side was “Hey Tonight,” another great CCR tune. Man, now I feel like listening to these guys! 🙂
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My pleasure… Last night I had them in my headphones and they sounded so good. Most of their B sides were great. CCR and the Beatles had some great B sides.
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That’s true no one ever disses CCR. Simple yet effective catchy ditties these fellas’ cranked out
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They sure made the most out of four or five years together. Another excellent single by them. I didn’t know the lyrics had any real meaning – that’s quite interesting.
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I didn’t know it was about the coming breakup. I can’t blame Tom from wanting to do more though.
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Love CCR, and this song in particular 😀
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I heard it somewhere last night and it sounded so good…so I had to post it.
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“I could tell you my feelings on this song but just listen to it today and it will make your Friday even better.”
Nice.
–Pam
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That first video is fun to watch.
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Yes it was…that video inspired me to do this song.
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I didn’t know the song was about Tom’s leaving. Egos are funny things. Break apart bands, break apart families…
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And it did bad…when Tom died they still were distanced.
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Shame.
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Just found this site. Gonna be spending some time hear. Read both John’;s book and Bad Moon Rising and they are one of the saddest stories in rock. John (and Robbie Robertson) were both geniuses and both thought it came at the expense of their respective teammates bristled with contempt for them sad
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I was starting to write- Yes! I know of no one who has ever said they didn’t like CCR– than I remembered my wife doesn’t like them- for some reason??
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I have met a few that didn’t like them but not many…almost like a rare blood type.
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I worked with a guy who hated CCR. He was into Rush, Triumph, YES, and other “dude rock” bands (by that I mean bands that only dudes seem to be into – check out live concert footage of one of those bands and measure the male-to-female ratio, it’s usually about 1,000 to 1 if not worse). He also hated The Band, so that tells you where his mind was. He was a strange bird, everyone at work agreed on that.
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Thanks for commenting… yea that is strange to dislike The Band and CCR…that really makes it rare. I know exactly what you are talking about with those type of bands…if you are a guy you better bring a date cause you are not finding one there.
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