"Singin' in the Rain" is a song with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown. Doris Eaton Travis introduced the song on Broadway in The Hollywood Music Box Revue in 1929. It was then widely popularized by Cliff Edwards and the Brox Sisters in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Many contemporary artists have had hit records with "Singin' in the Rain" since its release, including Edwards, Earl Burtnett and Gus Arnheim. It entered the American public domain on January 1, 2025.
The song is famously associated with the history of cinema, as it gained popularity during the transition from silent films to "talkies." Years later, Freed, the song's lyricist, conceived the idea of the film based on the back catalogs of songs written during the era by himself and Nacio Herb Brown. That resulted in the musical film of the same name, Singin' in the Rain (1952), which is a light-hearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s. The performance by Gene Kelly dancing through puddles in a rainstorm garnered the song the third spot on the American Film Institute ranking of 100 Years...100 Songs.
Contents
Lyrics
1929 version
Pitter-patter pitter-pat,
pitter-patter-pitter-pat.
Pitter-patter pitter-pat,
pitter-patter-pitter-pat.
We are not afraid of thunder.
All the time we wonder,
why is each new task a trifle to do?
Because we are living a life full of you.
I'm singing in the rain.
Yeah, singing in the rain.
What a glorious feeling,
I'm happy again.
I'm laughing at clouds,
so dark up above.
The sun's in my heart,
and I'm ready for love.
Let the stormy clouds chase
everyone from the place.
Come on with your rain,
I have a smile on my face.
I'll walk down the lane,
with a happy refrain,
and singin',
just singin' in the rain.
Why am I smiling and why do I sing?
Song form
The song has an unusual form. The 32-bar chorus opens the song and is followed by a 24-bar verse before the chorus repeats, in contrast to other songs of the period which often opened with a verse and contained an internal bridge.
Covers
B.A. Rolfe and his Lucky Strike Orchestra recorded the song possibly as early as 1928 but perhaps 1929. The song was recorded by Annette Hanshaw backed by Frank Ferera's Hawaiian Trio (reissued on the 1999 CD Annette Hanshaw, Volume 6, 1929). It is performed on film by a nightclub band as dance music and sung in a Chinese dialect in The Ship from Shanghai (1930), by Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily (1932), by Judy Garland in Little Nellie Kelly (1940), and as background music at the beginning of MGM's The Divorcee (1930) starring Norma Shearer.
Singer Nick Lucas recorded Singing in the Rain in 1929 (one week after recording what would become the biggest hit of his career, Tiptoe Through the Tulips).
British duo Bob and Alf Pearson recorded the song in 1929 at their first session.
"Singin' in the Rain" was performed in the 1930 film short Dogville Melody, presumably by Zion Myers and Jules White.
Valaida Snow recorded it in 1935 accompanied by Billy Mason And His Orchestra - London, Apr 26, 1935 (Parlophone (E)F-165 (CE-6953-1))
The song is sung by Dean Martin in a November 1950 episode of the variety show The Colgate Comedy Hour. He performs it while being drenched in water by comedy partner and co-host Jerry Lewis.
The song is best known today as the centerpiece of the musical film Singin' in the Rain (1952), in which Gene Kelly memorably danced to the song while splashing through puddles during a rainstorm. The song is also performed during the opening credits of the film, and briefly near the end of the film by Debbie Reynolds.
The song was recorded in Buenos Aires for Odeon Records twice under the title "Cantando Bajo La Lluvia," by Francisco Canaro's orchestra and with the Spanish lyrics sung by Charlo, on December 23, 1929 (Catalog Number 16243 B, matrix number 5137) and again on March 24, 1930 (Catalog Number 4631 B/LDB 78 B, matrix number 5283). It was also recorded under the same title in 1936 by the Orquesta Tipica Victor, the RCA Victor in-house orchestra in Buenos Aires.
Mint Royale version
"Singin' in the Rain" was remixed in 2005 by Mint Royale. It was released as a single in August 2005 after being featured in an advert for the VW Golf GTI, peaking at No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart.
Three years later in 2008, due to the exposure of the song via the performance of then-unknown dancer George Sampson on the reality TV series Britain's Got Talent, the track went to No. 1 on the iTunes Top 100 in the UK in 2008. It re-entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 28 on June 1, 2008, and climbed to No. 1 the next week, selling 45,987 copies, knocking Rihanna's "Take a Bow" down to the Number 2 spot.
Charts
Sheila B. Devotion version
A 1978 disco version of Singin' in the Rain by the French pop singer Sheila B. Devotion made No. 3 in the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles and the Netherlands Top 100, No. 4 on the Nationale Hitparade, No. 11 on the German and UK Singles Chart, No. 2 on the Swedish Singles Chart, and No. 30 on the Hot Dance Club Songs.
Taco version
In 1982, Dutch pop singer Taco released a version of it as his second single from After Eight, which peaked at No. 49 in Germany, No. 46 in Canada and No. 98 in the UK.
In popular culture
1959 – The song is whistled by Cary Grant as he takes a shower after the crop duster plane attack in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.
1971 – "Singin' in the Rain" is sung mockingly by Alex DeLarge, played by Malcolm McDowell, in the rape scene in Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange. The Gene Kelly version plays during the end credits.
1976 – In their 1976 Christmas special, the British comedy act Morecambe and Wise parodied the "Singin' in the Rain" sequence.
1982 – It is sung by Inspector Jacques Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers, as part of the extended version of the grocery scene from The Pink Panther Strikes Again in Blake Edwards's film Trail of the Pink Panther.
1986 – In the film Legal Eagles, Robert Redford "sings in the rain" watching the movie on TV during a sleepless night.
1989 – In the Woody Allen film Crimes and Misdemeanors, Cliff (Allen) and Halley (Mia Farrow) watch Singin' in the Rain at Cliff's apartment. Cliff claims to watch the film "every few months to keep my spirits up".
1990 – The song is referenced in the Terry Pratchett novel Moving Pictures. As people are infected with the dangerous idea of the clicks (movies), Mr. Dibbler, purveyor of sausages-inna-bun, dances down a wet and rainy road and swings off light poles, much to the bemusement of the city Watch.
1995 – The song was featured on the TV series Friends in season 2, episode 4, "The One with Phoebe's Husband", when Ross dances down the street the morning after having sex with Julie.
2001 – The song is often sung by Vadivelu's character "Steve Waugh" in the film Manadhai Thirudivittai to irritate Vivek's character. This inspired numerous memes and parodies in other Kollywood films after its release. The actor re-enacted the song scene briefly in the 2017 film Mersal.