Everytime That It Rains

Album: Garth Brooks (1989)
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Songfacts®:

  • In this sentimental country ballad from Garth Brooks' debut album, the singer reminisces about the rainy-day romance he shared with an old flame in Oklahoma. Brooks has a penchant for writing about past relationships. He explained in his 2017 book, The Anthology Part 1: The First Five Years: "You can draw from them. It can be one night with somebody where you just walk in the park. Never kiss them, never have sex or anything, but something that is a seed that grows into a great story."
  • Brooks wrote this with up-and-coming songwriter Charley Stefl ("The Fool") and Ty England ("Should've Asked Her Faster"), his former college roommate at Oklahoma State University who was also an aspiring musician. When Brooks was performing at The Bluebird Café in Nashville, he was approached by Stefl, who offered to write with him. Brooks and England made a pact that whoever landed a songwriting session first would call the other, so he invited England to join in.
  • Stuck for inspiration, the songwriting trio borrowed a tactic from Larry Bastian, a fellow songwriter who lived on a mountain in California. "The Larry Bastian thing was to get out and walk," Brooks explained in The Anthology Part 1. "Here we took off around the block in the middle of the night, out in a neighborhood that wasn't that great. Me and Charley and Ty, and I told them they weren't allowed to bring a paper or anything. We just walked. It's one of the greatest memories of my life, with these two sweet guys, three of us didn't have a year of experience between us in the business, just dreaming, singing, walking, not a fear in the world. By the time we got around the block, well, around several blocks and back to the driveway, 'Everytime That It Rains' was born."

    Larry Bastian also co-wrote a few songs on the album: "I've Got A Good Thing Going," "Cowboy Bill," and "Nobody Gets Off In This Town."
  • After Brooks landed a record deal with Capitol Nashville, his producer Allen Reynolds hand-picked a few of Brooks' co-writes to include on the first album, including this tune. "It's a good story," Reynolds said. "And, yeah, it is sexual."
  • Bad grammar alert: "Everytime" is not a compound word, so the song title should be written as "Every Time That It Rains."
  • Some better-known ballads from Brooks' debut are the #1 Country hits " If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "The Dance."
  • The album peaked at #13 in America (#2 on the Country chart).
  • In the song, Brooks and his love interest dance to "Please Come To Boston," which was a big hit for Dave Loggins in 1974.
  • Brooks tipped his hat to Stefl in "Learning To Live Again," a single from his fifth album, The Chase, where Charley and his wife, Debbie, set Brooks up on a blind date.

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