Vladan Zivancevic -
Guitar
"
Have You Ever Seen the
Rain?" is a song written by
John Fogerty and released as a single in
1971 from the
album Pendulum (
1970) by roots rock group
Creedence Clearwater Revival. 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 (where it was listed as "Have You Ever Seen the Rain? /
Hey Tonight", together with the
B-side). On
Cash Box pop chart, it peaked at number three. In the UK, it reached number 36. It was the group's eighth gold-selling single.
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 and about it fading in the wake of events such as the
Altamont Free Concert and the
Kent State shootings and that 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 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.
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Section 107 of the
Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
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- published: 04 Jun 2016
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