I Think It's Going to Rain Today
"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" is a song by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It appears on Julius La Rosa's 1966 album You're Gonna Hear from Me, Eric Burdon's 1967 album Eric Is Here, on Newman's 1968 debut album Randy Newman, in The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1, and in Newman's official and bootleg live albums. It is one of his most covered songs, and cover versions charted in the UK for UB40 and in Canada for Tom Northcott.
Background
Newman told Rolling Stone that he wrote the song around 1963 or 1964. He went on to say that the "music is emotional – even beautiful – and the lyrics are not." Newman also said that the song bothered him due to the darkness and that the song felt "sophomoric" and "too maudlin".Newman stated in 2017 that he had signed away the publishing rights on his first album and as a result, does not see any money from people doing covers of those songs.
Tom Northcott version
The song was covered by Canadian folk-rock artist Tom Northcott in 1970. It was released in 1971 as the second single from his debut album, Upside Downside. The song reached number 46 in Canada and number 17 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart.UB40 version
The song was covered by British reggae band UB40 in 1980. It was released in June 1980 as the second and final single from their debut album, Signing Off. The song reached number 6 in the UK. The UB40 single was a double A-side with "My Way of Thinking", which was the first-named track and received most of the radio airplay. However, the German single had "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" as the A-side. The group covered the song for bandmembers Robin and Ali Campbell's father, folksinger Ian Campbell, who was a fan of Newman and who had recorded his own version of the song in the 1960s.Other cover versions
The song was covered numerous times by a variety of artists, especially during the late 1960s and early 1970s.| Artist | Album | Year |
| Judy Collins | In My Life | 1966 |
| Bobby Darin | Inside Out | 1967 |
| Dusty Springfield | Dusty... Definitely | 1968 |
| Claudine Longet | Colours | 1968 |
| Rick Nelson | Perspective | 1969 |
| Peggy Lee | A Natural Woman | 1969 |
| Nina Simone | Nina Simone and Piano | 1969 |
| Leonard Nimoy | The Touch of Leonard Nimoy | 1969 |
| Rick McClellan | Frozen Sunshine | 1969 |
| Neil Diamond | Stones | 1971 |
| Françoise Hardy | If You Listen | 1971 |
| Dave Van Ronk | Van Ronk | 1971 |
| Barbra Streisand | Release Me | 1971 |
| Brian Short | Anything for a Laugh | 1971 |
| Cass Elliot | Cass Elliot | 1972 |
| Bobby Doyle | Nine Songs | 1973 |
| Melanie | Madrugada | 1974 |
| Joe Cocker | Jamaica Say You Will | 1975 |
| Cleo Laine | Born on a Friday | 1976 |
| Tony Rice | Cold on the Shoulder | 1984 |
| Katie Melua | Call Off the Search | 2003 |
| Norah Jones | Higher Ground | 2005 |
| Curtis Stigers | I Think It's Going to Rain Today | 2005 |
| Audra McDonald | Build a Bridge | 2006 |
| Madeleine Peyroux | Half The Perfect World | 2006 |
| Peter Gabriel | Scratch My Back | 2010 |
| Paul Carrack | A Different Hat | 2010 |
| Tom Odell | Long Way Down | 2013 |
| Blackmore's Night | Dancer and the Moon | 2013 |