Rain (Madonna song)

"Rain"
Single by Madonna
from the album Erotica
B-side	"Open Your Heart" (UK) "Up Down Suite" (Previously unreleased) "Waiting" (Remix)
Released	July 17, 1993 (1993-07-17)
Format	7" single, 12" single, cassette, CD single
Recorded	November 13 – December 6, 1991 (Manhattan, New York) Summer 1992 at Soundworks Recording Studio (Astoria, New York)
Genre	Pop
Length	5:25
Label	Maverick, Sire, Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Madonna, Shep Pettibone
Producer	Madonna, Shep Pettibone
Madonna singles chronology
"Fever" (1993) "Rain" (1993) "Bye Bye Baby" (1993)

"Rain" is a single by American singer-songwriter Madonna and was released on July 17, 1993 by Maverick Records. It was the fifth single release (fourth in US) from her fifth studio album Erotica. The US maxi-single included a previously unreleased track, "Up Down Suite", which is a 12-minute dub version of "Goodbye to Innocence", an omitted track recorded during the Erotica sessions. This version of the single also included a Danny Saber remix of the album track "Waiting" which features a rap by Everlast. In the UK, the single included the 1986 track "Open Your Heart" which was being used in a Peugeot car commercial at the time.

Song information

Released in the summer of 1993, "Rain" received considerable airplay in the US and peaked at #14 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. This was a noticeable jump from the preceding single "Bad Girl", which had peaked at #36. In Australia it was a big success, peaking within the top five, and is one of five Madonna songs that have spent twenty-five weeks or more on the charts, her last to do so.

For the UK release, "Open Your Heart" was included as the B-side due to it being used in a Peugeot car commercial at the time. It peaked at number 7 on the charts, selling 130,771 copies.^{[citation needed]} With "Rain", Madonna achieved the accolade of most top 10 singles released by a female artist from one album, a feat she also accomplished with the release of True Blue in 1986 and again in 1998 with Ray of Light. "Rain" is also featured on Something to Remember, Madonna's ballads collection, but was omitted from both 2001's GHV2 and 2009's Celebration. According to The Official Charts Company, "Rain" has sold 130,771 copies in the United Kingdom, as of August 2008.

Music video

Madonna in the "Rain" video.

The video, directed by Mark Romanek, was filmed from May 16–19, 1993 at a Santa Monica Airport hangar in Santa Monica, California. Romanek and Madonna set the video to look like Ryuichi Sakamoto was directing it, giving it a backstage feel. It was entirely shot in black and white and then digitally colored with the blue tones. The video begins with Madonna in a studio, lying on a sofa with headphones on her ears composing a song, following a sequence in which she sings in front of a microphone, which is alternated with those of her receiving instructions from the director (played by Ryuichi Sakamoto). She then appears in front of a different background and different sets of lights representing the sky. The video ends with an air view of open umbrellas covering the entire floor. The video won two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. On Slant Magazine's "100 Greatest Music Videos" list, it was ranked #70. This was also the second consecutive video in which Madonna wore a wig (the first one being "Fever"). The video was first made commercially available when it was included on Madonna's 1999 The Video Collection 93:99 and most recently when it was included on the 2009 Celebration DVD.

• Producer: Krista Montagna
• Director of Photography: Harris Savides
• Editors: John Murray, Jim Haygood
• Production Company: Satellite Films
• Props shown:
  • Lockheed Lounge by Marc Newson
  • Arriflex 535 camera
  • NeXTstation computers

Live performances

Madonna first performed the song during the Girlie Show Tour in 1993, and 15 years later it was used as a video interlude remixed with The Eurythmics' "Here Comes the Rain Again" on her 2008-2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Track listings and formats

• US 7" / Cassette Single

1. "Rain" (Radio remix) – 4:35
2. "Waiting" (Album version) – 5:45

• US 12" / CD Maxi-single / Canadian CD Maxi-single

1. "Rain" (Radio remix) – 4:35
2. "Waiting" (Remix) (featuring Everlast) – 4:41
3. "Up Down Suite" (Previously unreleased) – 12:13
4. "Rain" (album version) – 5:24

• US / Australian / Canadian Cassette Maxi-single

1. "Rain" (Radio remix) – 4:33
2. "Rain" (Album version) – 5:24
3. "Up Down Suite" (Previously unreleased) – 12:13
4. "Waiting" (Remix) (featuring Everlast) – 4:41

• UK 12" / 12" Picture Disc / CD single

1. "Rain" (Radio remix) – 4:35
2. "Open Your Heart" (Album version) – 4:13
3. "Up Down Suite" (Previously unreleased) – 12:13

• UK 7" / Cassette single

1. "Rain" (Remix edit) – 4:17
2. "Open Your Heart" (Album version) – 4:13

• German CD Single

1. "Rain" (Remix edit) – 4:17
2. "Fever" (Edit One) – 4:03
3. "Rain" (Radio remix) – 4:33
4. "Up Down Suite" (Previously unreleased) – 12:13

• German 12" Maxi-single / French CD Maxi-single

1. "Rain" (Album edit) – 4:17
2. "Rain" (Remix edit) – 4:33
3. "Fever" (Edit One) – 4:03
4. "Fever" (Edit Two) – 4:27

• German 7" Single

1. "Rain" (Remix edit) – 4:17
2. "Rain" (Album version) – 5:24

• French Cassette Single

1. "Rain" (Remix edit) – 4:17
2. "Fever" (Edit Two) – 4:27

• Japanese / Australian EP

1. "Rain" (Radio remix) – 4:35
2. "Waiting" (Remix) (featuring Everlast) – 4:41
3. "Up Down Suite" (Previously unreleased) – 12:13
4. "Rain" (Album version) – 5:24
5. "Bad Girl" (Extended mix) – 6:29
6. "Fever" (Extended 12") – 6:08
7. "Fever" (Shep's Remedy Club) – 4:29
8. "Fever" (Murk Boys Miami Dub) – 7:10
9. "Fever" (Oscar G's Dope Mix) – 4:53
10. "Rain" (Video edit) – 4:23

Official versions

1. "Rain" (Album version) – 5:25
2. "Rain" (Video edit) – 4:31
3. "Rain" (Radio remix) – 4:33
4. "Rain" (Remix edit) – 4:17

Personnel

• Writers and producers – Madonna, Shep Pettibone ("Rain", "Up Down Suite")
• Remix and additional production – Daniel Abraham ("Rain" Radio remix, Remix edit)
• Writers and producers – Madonna, André Betts ("Waiting", "Waiting" Remix)
• Remix and additional production – Danny Saber ("Waiting" Remix)
• Rap and additional vocals – Everlast ("Waiting" Remix)
• Post-production and mix – Shep Pettibone ("Up Down Suite")

Release history

Country	Date
United States	July 17, 1993 (1993-07-17)
United Kingdom	July 25, 1993 (1993-07-25)

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1993)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	5
Austrian Singles Chart	24
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)	13
Canadian Singles Chart	2
Dutch Top 40	36
German Singles Chart	26
Irish Singles Chart	7
Italian Singles Chart	9
Japanese Oricon International Singles	2
Swedish Singles Chart	16
Swiss Singles Chart	11
UK Singles Chart	7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	14
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	7

End of year charts

End of year chart (1993)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	67
Australia ARIA Singles Chart	39

Preceded by "What Is Love" by Haddaway

Italian Singles Chart number-one single September 19, 1993

Succeeded by "Gli Spari Sopra (Remix) / Delusa" by Vasco Rossi

Cover versions

• The 2000 compilation Virgin Voices: A Tribute to Madonna, Vol. 2. contains a cover of the song by British gothic rock band Rosetta Stone.
• A hi-NRG/eurodance cover by Who's That Girl was released during the 2000s through Almighty Records. An audio sample can be heard on the official Almighty Records website.

Footnotes

• Mad-eyes.net - "Rain" Single Page - last accessed on October 24, 2005

External links

• Music Video