Red Rain (song)

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"Red Rain"
Single by Peter Gabriel
from the album So
Released29 June 1987[1]
Recorded1985
GenreRock[2]
Length
  • 5:39 (album version)
  • 4:02 (US promo edit)
LabelGeffen
SongwriterPeter Gabriel
Producers
  • Peter Gabriel
  • Daniel Lanois
Peter Gabriel singles chronology
"Big Time"
(1987)		 "Red Rain"
(1987)		 "Biko Live/No More Apartheid"
(1987)
Music video
"Red Rain" on YouTube

"Red Rain" is the first track on English rock musician Peter Gabriel's fifth solo studio album So (1986). The song was released as a promotional single in 1986 and received a commercial release the following year, during which it charted in various countries throughout Europe.

Since its release, "Red Rain" has appeared on some of Gabriel's compilation albums, including Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats. Gabriel has also performed the song on several of his live tours, beginning with the This Way Up Tour.

"Red Rain" was included on a Greenpeace benefit album released by Geffen Records titled Rainbow Warriors, which contained over 25 tracks from artists including INXS, Sting, and Grateful Dead.[3]

Background

"Red Rain" is a combination of several inspirations. The lyrics directly reference a recurring dream Gabriel was having where he swam in his backyard pool drinking cold red wine. Another version of the dream had bottles in the shape of people falling from a cliff. In it, a stream of red liquid would seep out of the people-shaped bottles as they smashed with impact onto the ground, and was usually followed by a torrential downpour of the same red liquid.[4]

Earlier in his solo career, Gabriel had an idea for a movie he referred to as Mozo. In it, villagers were punished for their sins with a blood-red rain. "Red Rain" was to be the theme song. This idea was eventually scrapped, although there was a mention of Mozo in the song "On the Air" in Peter Gabriel (1978). "Down the Dolce Vita", "Here Comes the Flood", and "Exposure" reference the Mozo story, as well.[5]

Strongly percussive in nature, the song features two notable American drummers: Stewart Copeland from the Police played the hi-hat for the rain-like background sound and was requested by Gabriel due to his mastery of the instrument.[6] The rest of the drumming was provided by Gabriel's regular drummer Jerry Marotta, who recorded eight different drum takes for producer Daniel Lanois to choose from.[7] According to Copeland, he recorded his parts at Gabriel's Ashcombe House studio along to a series of riffs that lacked any lyrics or solidified chord progressions. He had conducted the sessions with Tony Levin on bass along with some other session musicians, after which Gabriel took some of Copeland's parts and incorporated them into So. He mentioned that he did not hear any of his parts within the context of So until the album was released.

He had Tony Levin in there on bass and a couple of other musicians, and we were just kind of screwing around...All I heard was just us doing riffs and grooves, which he cut up and later added lyrics to and wrote songs around... Which tracks did I play on that album? I'm not even sure! Am I even in there? Peter says so. Ok, I'll take the credit. I've got a platinum album from it, so I guess it was my hi-hat.

— Stewart Copeland[8]

Release

In the United States, "Red Rain" was initially only released as a promotional single. By June 1986, the song had been added to 60 percent of album oriented rock radio stations in the United States according to Radio & Records.[9] The song reached number three on Billboard magazine's Mainstream Rock chart, where it stayed for three weeks between July and August.[10]

A year later, in June 1987, the song was released as a commercial single in parts of Europe, Australia and the United States. Virgin Records handled the distribution of the single in the UK, where all variants were appended with a track titled "Ga Ga", an alternate instrumental recording of a Gabriel track titled "I Go Swimming". The twelve-inch single also included "Walk Through the Fire".[1][11] The song peaked at 46 in the UK Singles Chart after entering the chart in July of that year.[12]

A live version taken from Gabriel's Secret World Live album also charted in the UK and North America in 1994. An orchestral rendition of the song was also included on Gabriel's 2011 album New Blood.[13]

Critical reception

Gabriel's biographer Daryl Easlea wrote that the song was "a brooding opening to the album" which reflected "two very current Eighties obsessions: AIDS and nuclear fallout".[14] Jon Parles of The New York Times identified "Red Rain" as one of the bleakest songs on the album.[15] In his review of So, Tim Holmes of Rolling Stone thought that the song's descending melody acted as a soothing metaphor for an apocalyptic image."[16] Stephen Thomas Erlewine has described it as "a stately anthem popular on album rock radio".[17] Wyndham Wallace of The Quietus characterised the song as a "stirring opener" that "echo[ed] the sound of a downpour" with "intense" instrumental accompaniment.[18]

Live performances

"Red Rain" main its live debut during the This Way Up Tour, a 1986–1987 concert tour promoting Gabriel's So album.[13] During these performances, the stage lights were calibrated to create the illusion of rain.[19] Discussing Manu Katché's drumming on these renditions, Connie Fisher of Modern Drummer characterised his playing as "profoundly passionate - a majestic march that builds with symphonic intensity", adding that he "swoop[ed]" between the components of his drum kit "like a jungle bird."[20] For the keyboards, Gabriel played a piano part with a chorus and delay while David Sancious played string pads and what he described as a "special little synthy sound".[21] One of the recordings from this tour was included on the Live in Athens 1987 disc, which was originally found on Gabriel's 2012 deluxe edition of So.[13] Gabriel also included the song in the setlist of his Secret World Tour, Growing Up Tour, and Back to Front Tour.[13]

Track listing

  1. "Red Rain"
  2. "In Your Eyes" (special mix) [only on 12"]
  3. "Ga-Ga"

"Ga-Ga" is an instrumental version of the song "I Go Swimming", first included on Gabriel's 1983 Plays Live album.

US 12" single (20749-0)

  1. "Red Rain" – 5:35
  2. "Ga-Ga" (instrumental) – 4:31
  3. "Walk Through the Fire" – 3:31

Personnel

Charts

Studio version

Chart performance for "Red Rain" studio version
Chart (1986–1987) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[22]27
Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg)[23] 28
UK Singles (OCC)[24]46
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[10]3

Live version

Chart performance for "Red Rain" live version
Chart (1994) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[25]63
UK Singles (OCC)[26]39
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[27]33

References

  1. "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 27 June 1987. p. 27. Retrieved 3 April 2026 – via World Radio History.
  2. Hill, Sarah (2017). "Peter Gabriel, From Genesis to Growing Up". Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781351554282. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  3. "All-Star Album For Greenpeace". San Francisco Chronicle. 15 June 1989. p. E3. Retrieved 12 October 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Scott 2012, 4:05.
  5. Scarfe, Graeme (2021). Peter Gabriel: Every Album, Every Song. United Kingdom: SonicBond. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-78952-138-2.
  6. Burke, Chris (17 April 2015). "Classic Albums featuring Stewart Copeland". MusicRadar. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  7. Scott 2012, 5:45.
  8. Mettler, Mike (18 April 2014). "The Rhythmatist's Method: Stewart Copeland on Restoring the 1925 Silent Film Ben-Hur, That Snare Drum Sound & a Few Police Matters". The Sound Bard. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  9. "AOR Tracks" (PDF). Radio & Records. 20 June 1986. p. 85. Retrieved 3 April 2026 – via World Radio History.
  10. "Peter Gabriel Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  11. Marziano, Alfredo; Perasi, Luca (2024). Peter Gabriel: The Rhythm Has My Soul. Milan, Italy: L.I.L.Y Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 978-88-909122-5-2.
  12. David Roberts British Hit Singles & Albums, Guinness World Records Limited
  13. Marziano, Alfredo; Perasi, Luca (2024). Peter Gabriel: The Rhythm Has My Soul. Milan, Italy: L.I.L.Y Publishing. p. 117–118. ISBN 978-88-909122-5-2.
  14. Easlea, Daryl (2013). Without Frontiers: The Life & Music of Peter Gabriel. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1780383156.
  15. Pareles, Jon (15 June 1986). "Peter Gabriel Sings of Lost Egos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  16. Holmes, Tim (14 August 1986). "So". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  17. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Peter Gabriel - So". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  18. Wallace, Wyndham (30 October 2012). "Reviews: Peter Gabriel: So (Reissue)". The Quietus. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  19. Smith, Andy (10 November 1986). "Peter Gabriel starts his U.S. tour in Rochester". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved 5 July 2025 – via The Genesis Archive.
  20. Fisher, Connie (December 1987). "Manu Katché". Modern Drummer. No. 98. p. 18.
  21. Wiser, Carl (15 February 2021). "David Sancious : Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  22. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Red Rain". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  23. "Radio Luxembourg Singles". umdmusic.com. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  24. "Official Singles Chart on 12/7/1987 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  25. "Top RPM Singles: Image 1838". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  26. "Official Singles Chart on 28/8/1994 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  27. "Peter Gabriel Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 April 2024.

Bibliography