Rain Rain Go Away
| ""Rain Rain Go Away"" Roud #19096 |
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 William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for a variant of Rain Rain Go Away, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose |
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| Written by | Traditional |
|---|---|
| Published | 17th C or earlier |
| Written | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Form | Nursery rhyme |
"Rain Rain Go Away" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19096.
Contents |
[edit] Lyrics
There are many versions and variations of this rhyming couplet. The most common modern version of is:
- Rain rain go away,
- Come again another day.[1]
[edit] Origins
Similar rhymes can be found in many societies, including ancient Greece. The modern English language rhyme can be dated to at least to the seventeenth century when James Howell in his collection of proverbs noted:
- Raine raine goe to Spain: faire weather come againe.[1]
A version very similar to the modern version was noted by John Aubrey in 1687 as used by "little children" to "charme away the Raine...":
- Rain raine goe away,
- Come again a Saturday.[1]
A wide variety of alternative have been recorded including: "Midsummer day", "washing day", "Christmas Day" and "Martha's wedding day".[1]
In the mid-nineteenth century James Orchard Halliwell collected and published the version:
- Rain, rain, go away
- Come again another day
- Little Arthur wants to play.[2]
In a book from the late 19th century, the lyrics are as follows:
- Rain, Rain,
- Go away;
- Come again,
- April day;
- Little Johnny wants to play.[3]
[edit] In popular culture
- A song, based on the rhyme, was co-written by Gloria Shayne Baker and Noël Regney.[4] "Rain Rain Go Away" was initially recorded by Bobby Vinton.
- The folk group Peter, Paul & Mary recorded a version of "It's Raining" on their first LP in 1962.
- Asian American rapper Jin sampled Rain Rain Go Away, Come again some other day" in the song called "Rain, Rain Go Away" he made dedicated to the victims of Virginia Tech Shooting.[5]
- It is used in the theme tune for the Australian children's television programme Round the Twist.
- The Foo Fighters song "Arlandria" uses the rhyme, changing it to "Fame, fame go away".[6]
- American Songwriter Allen Toussaint uses the rhyme as the basis for his song "Rain Rain Go Away," as performed by Lee Dorsey on the 1966 album "The New Lee Dorsey."
- American rock band Breaking Benjamin made a song called "Rain" which features the lyrics "Rain rain go away, come again another day, all the world is waiting for the sun." (adding their own spinoff to the rhyme)
- The Song "down in it" by Nine Inch Nails, finish with this rhyme
- This song was covered by Singaporean female artist Zhuang Xue Fang (莊雪芳), in edited Standard Chinese lyrics written by Suyin (舒雲/雨牛) under title name of 雨水不要下, with Ruby Records in 1967.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 360.
- ^ J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps. The Nursery Rhymes of England: Obtained Principally from Oral Tradition (London: J.R.Smith, 1843), p. 214.
- ^ A. Beljame, "First English Reader" (Paris, France: Librairie Hachhete, 1882), p.109.
- ^ Fox, Margalit (2008-03-11). "Gloria Shayne Baker, Composer and Lyricist, Dies at 84". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/arts/11baker.html?ref=arts. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ http://theemcee.com/media/music/rainraingoaway.mp3
- ^ http://music-mix.ew.com/2011/04/15/foo-fighters-dave-grohl-interview-nirvana/
