I Wish It Would Rain Down
| "I Wish It Would Rain Down" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Phil Collins | ||||||||||
| from the album ...But Seriously | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Homeless", "You've Been in Love (That Little Bit Too Long)" | |||||||||
| Released | 15 January 1990 (UK) | |||||||||
| Format |
7" single, 12" single CD single, CD maxi |
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| Recorded | 1989 | |||||||||
| Length | 5:27 | |||||||||
| Label | WEA | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Phil Collins | |||||||||
| Producer(s) | Phil Collins, Hugh Padgham | |||||||||
| Phil Collins singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"I Wish It Would Rain Down" is a song by Phil Collins from his 1989 album ...But Seriously, featuring lead guitar by Eric Clapton. The song was a significant chart hit in 1990, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and No. 1on the RPM Top 100 in Canada. It also reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart.
Eric Clapton provides lead guitar throughout the song. As Collins recalls, "I said 'Eric, have I never asked you to play? Come on, I've got a song right up your street.'" Collins felt that it was as close as he had ever gotten at the time to writing a blues song. Collins also felt that it was a Clapton song.
The 8:30 minute-long black-and-white music video, produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich, contains 2:30 minutes of acting prior to the start of the music. The setting is a theatre in the 1930s. Actor Jeffrey Tambor plays a hyper-critical, unhappy theatre director. He is rehearsing some dancers (who are dancing to the guitar/bass guitar riff from the song "Sunshine of Your Love" by the band Cream, in which Eric Clapton played guitar.) The director complains that the girls can neither dance nor sing, and then discovers that his star has appendicitis. Eric Clapton, seated on a stool, says that "Billy" used to be the drummer in a good band (an in-joke reference to Collins' tenure with the band Genesis, in which he played drums) and is a good singer, taking over when the original singer (Peter Gabriel) left. Members of Collins' backing band play various non-speaking parts (such as the janitor "Chester," who is played by Chester Thompson, and the bassist, played by Leland Sklar). Collins is forced to act with the play's star. The director deems Collins' acting "terrible," to which Collins replies, "I never said I could act, he said I could sing," (pointing to Clapton) and the director says, "alright, play the song." As Collins sings, his character fantasizes about becoming a famous stage actor, singer, and movie star.
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Wikipedia