Come In From The Rain

Album: Come In From The Rain (1977)
Charted: 61
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Melissa Manchester wrote this song with Carole Bayer Sager and was the first to record it, including it on her 1976 album "Better Days And Happy Endings." It was later recorded by other artists, including Shirley Bassey, Peggy Lee and Rosemary Clooney, but the most popular version is by Captain & Tennille, whose 1977 rendition went to #61 in the US.

    The song is written from the perspective of a couple that have been through a lot together and have spent time apart. When the man returns, the singer welcomes him home, putting aside any baggage they've accumulated to make sure he's safe and dry.
  • The song is very lush, with Toni Tennille and Daryl Dragon both playing piano and Dragon also adding keyboards. At the beginning of the song we hear the rain falling, drawing us into the story.
  • When Carole Bayer Sager and Melissa Manchester started writing this song, they came up with the first two verses in their first session. Manchester kept her songwriting mind going when she went home and came up with a bridge in the wee hours. Getting to her piano was a bit of a challenge though. In a Songfacts interview with Manchester, she told the story:

    "In my music room lived my drummer at the time, who was chronically late and the only way I could make sure he would show up on time for gigs was to have him live with me and my then-husband. So one night at around 2 in the morning I climbed over where he was sleeping so I could get to my piano and I put on the damper pedal and I wrote the bridge:

    It looks like sunny skies
    Now that I know you're all right
    Time has left us older and wiser


    I brought that to Carole the next day and I played her that bridge, and she added 'I know I am,' which completed the idea, of course.

    It was beautiful to write that. A gorgeous song. I am so grateful that so many remarkable singers have recorded it and performed it and that it endures."
  • "Come In From The Rain" was the title track from the third Captain & Tennille album. It was released as a single following the uptempo "Can't Stop Dancin'." The duo had a string of big hits from their first two albums, including "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Muskrat Love," but they didn't have another until their fifth album in 1979 with "Do That to Me One More Time."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse Pop

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse PopSong Writing

Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.

Alice Cooper

Alice CooperFact or Fiction

How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.

When Rock Belonged To Michelob

When Rock Belonged To MichelobSong Writing

Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.