This is our final day of our week of rain-themed songs, and today’s classic rain-themed song of the day is Randy Newman’s “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today.” Mr. Newman wrote this back in 1963 or 1964, to the best of his recollection, and it has since been covered by a metric ton of different artists, including Judy Collins in 1966, Dusty Springfield in 1968, Nina Simone in 1969, Peggy Lee in 1969, Neil Diamond in 1971, Barbra Streisand in 1971, Joe Cocker in 1975, UB40 in 1980, Bette Midler in 1998, Norah Jones in 2005, Madeleine Peyroux in 2006, and Peter Gabriel in 2010. Mr. Newman himself recorded it for his 1968 self-titled debut album.
“I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” is a moody, vaguely impressionistic tune. Different people come away, after listening, with different feelings of what the song is about. I think it’s about loneliness and sadness; something has happened to disturb the protagonist and the lyrics reflect that. Is the rain reflective of his depressive mood or it in cleansing (as in “Human kindness is overflowing/And I think it’s going to rain today”). And as to that human kindness, that seems to be contradicted by the “broken windows and empty hallways” that the singer walks by—unless that statement about human kindness is actually sarcastic, which would be in character for a character in a Randy Newman song.
However you look at it, the lyrics are bleak and melancholy. Here they are in their entirety:
Broken windows and empty hallways
A pale dead moon in the sky streaked with gray
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today
Scarecrows dressed in the latest styles
With frozen smiles to chase love away
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today
Lonely, lonely
Tin can at my feet
Think I’ll kick it down the street
That’s the way to treat a friend
Bright before me the signs implore me
To help the needy and show them the way
Human kindness is overflowing
And I think it’s going to rain today
Here’s what fellow songwriter Suzanne Vega said about “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today:”
“I love the tone and the imagery of it, both the music and the lyrics. It seemed like a really sad and melancholy song—without being sentimental. Kind of sad but dry at the same time… All of the emotions are in the images, which I really like… All of the sadness that’s in those images is quite powerful.”
The song remains a singer’s song, a favorite of people who should know—and it’s still popular today. In fact, 81 year-old Randy Newman himself recently performed “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” on the April 16, 2025, episode of Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney. That performance is today’s daily bonus video of the day—and it’s a good one.
