It has:

Great Basswork
Great Drumming
Great Riff
Great Vocals
Great Chords
Great Song

and it has a little backwards message at the end too..If it had a awesome Guitar solo, it would be the Perrrrfect song, its still one of thier best though

Yes yes yes.
And the song has an excellent feel-all the components fit so well together.
and I love simple lyrics that can be so evocative.
Sounds years and years ahead of its time.
when people ask what is "cutting edge" - this is it.

Such a masterpiece.

And all these accolades for a bloody B Side.
Only The Beatles could do this.
God I love them

Harmonies are superb. Agree with everything here...Only really got into it end of last year I'm ashamed to say. Hopefully we will have it in our next Beatle show. Along with I'm So Tired as another fresh toon in the set.

Quoted from An_Apple_Beatle

. Hopefully we will have it in our next Beatle show. I'm So .

Do you guys get anywhere near London?

We're hoping to...We jus play here on the Isle of Wight about twice a year at the Theatre. Few but quality gigs...Wanna travel with the gig though....Possibly attempting to get up to Liverpool for The BEatles week and try n vibe out.

When's your next gig?

18th July

Few pics of first gig we did. We just keep on improving on the previous shows...Amp, instrument wise etc. I might go clean shaven for the next one...Beard takes ages to grow. lol...We run a projection show of loads and loads of Beatle pics..On a huge cinema screen, not seen on these pics for some reason.

Cool.
I'll try and be there

Nice....I'll put you on the guest list. ;) Ryde Theatre, Ryde Isle of Wight...about 8.30pm. Remind me nearer the time.

RickenBacker Bass!

heheh lol .. shame we didnt have the latest show's pics as they were much better.. could of had some pics of my Ricky from the last show :(

oh yeah and the suits lol .. oh well, next time !

I think it was definatley a head of its time! There was nothing around to compare it to and I think most people missed the signifigance of this song at the time! No Where Man seems to be more straight ahead and easier to identify with!

Brilliant song. If anyone still does this--its a great song to listen to on headphones-very cool when the backing vocals come in. I also love the effect of the guitars being recorded just a little faster so the playback makes them a a little lower/slower and gives it that effect. Have I mentioned lately that the Fabs were the best band to ever roam the planet? Good God.

i LOVE rain. :)

Rain is definitely one of my favorites.

But I must ask, just WHO is it that run and hide their heads?!

good point Mendips.....thats something I should look up

and sip thier le-mo-nade

When the rain comes .... when the raaaa -iiin comesss .... *little pause* ... sneeeerfsneeaiiirrrrrrr! semoc niar eht nehw ...~~~~ ;D 8)


I love the promo video :)

Rain? I don't mind.

It's one of my favorite Beatles song. The video is brilliant

Amen^ 8)

I always thought We Can Work It Out was the perfect tune. They had so many of them..but I think it really stands out.

Will I get slapped if I say "Rain" isnt one of my favorites and I feel its a little overrated? I like it, but I like other Beatle tunes (including "We Can Work It Out" Ed) a lot more. I give the kudos for its creative aspect, but the song itself as a whole just doesnt grab me that much. It was also one of the easier songs to learn on the drums. I suppose Ringo liked it because he created it, but he has done many better.

the bass is awesome on it too ^

Gotta love the backwards part of it! ;D

One of their most outstanding songs.

Just found this 'study' on Rain and Paperback Writer. A long shot, but some interesting points of view.

General Points of Interest
  Style and Form
   For all of its musical and technical innovation, it's a bit ironic to note how standard is the form and harmonic content of this song.
   Though no sitars or other ethnic "world music" instruments are used here, the style of the song very much connotes the style of classical Indian music by virtue of the droning harmony and the, at times florid tune.
  Melody and Harmony
   As far back as "Love Me Do" (amazingly), John and Paul had stumbled onto a novel use of spicy little trills and languorously stretched out melismas that, along with sung open and parallel fifths, is truly one of the more subtle trademarks of their early "sound". Here, what is essentially the identical technique is pushed beyond the routine envelope to create an entirely new and exotically "foreign" effect.
   Aside from ornamentation, the tune is structurally organized in a very "Indian" manner; with the approximate two halves of the melodic octave each isolated to its own respective section of the song; the verse stays carefully within low G up to E, while the refrain deals with the upper end of the octave, from the high G down to middle C.
   The harmonic budget is frugal to the extreme of creating, what I can only assume is, an intentionally static effect. You'd expect the use of I -» IV -» V throughout this song to create a much more non-modally inflected sense of G Major as the home key than was the case in "Paperback Writer". It's intriguing, though, to contemplate how the even more widespread use in "Rain" of superimposed chords and the ornamentalized melody manage to over-ride the sense of clear Major mode and suggest something Modally tangy in flavor, even though the "letter" of the musical text does not support this notion!
  Arrangement
   Both vocal and instrumental tracks on this song were subjected to speed changes in between original recording and mixdown for mastering, and this detail accounts for, as much as any other factor, the psychedelic, surreal quality that surrounds the whole of it.
   Lewisohn (ibid.) tells us that the backing track was performed in fast tempo (and, implicitly, in a higher key than G), so that it could be slowed down on playback to what we have on the final recording; thus altering not only the pitch but the 'textural' sound of the ensemble. The vocals (at least John's lead) were manipulated in the opposite direction (though Lewisohn inadvertently tries to confuse us on this point); in other words, John sang for the recording in a slower tempo and lower key, so that on faster playback his "Mickey Mouse" vocal not only presents him uncharacteristically beyond his normal upper range, but also with an eerily hyperactive vibrato in his throat.
   John's double-tracked lead vocal is accompanied by George and Paul in the verses, and by John Himself in the refrains. The backers starts in the second verse, where they either echo and comment on what the lead sings or else they "emboss" what he sings by harmonizing right along with him.
   Ringo has a veritable field day on the drums and cymbals throughout. Also, even on this relatively "progressive" track, they take the time to bother with one of their so typically fussy tambourine parts; on all four beats in the intro, on alternate even-numbered beats in the first pair of verses and the refrains, and shaken on every eighth note of the measure in verses three and four.
5 Section-by-Section Walkthrough
  Intro
   We have here as attention-grabbing an opening in its own way as is the "a capella" vocal opening of "Paperback Writer"; a ra-ta-tat half-measure's fanfare of solo snare drums, followed by four measures of the drone-like guitar vamping on the I chord (equally reminiscent of both tamboura and pipes) that pervades the piece.
   The lower reaches of the arrangement definitely sounds as though there are some kind of open fifths at play; whether they are sounded entirely by the bass guitar, or are a composite of bass and lead guitar is not easy to ascertain given the level of distortion applied to the finished track.
  Verse
   The verse is an asymmetrically phrased nine measures in length; parsed as 5 (actually 3 + 2) + 4:
        |G           |C     D     |G           |
   G:  I            IV    V      I

      |C     D     |G           |
       IV    V      I

      |C           |-           |G           |-           |
       IV                        I

   [Figure 91.3]

   Uneven phrase lengths are another good example of an off-beat compositional technique that had been a manifest part of the Beatles' arsenal from the very beginning, and yet, it is used here in the (shall we call it) Late-Middle-Period to very different effect than it had been back in the days of "Love Me Do", "P.S. I Love You", and the like.
   Toward the end of the second verse there's quite a blooper. It's hard to unravel what was the respective cause and effect of it, but it sounds like between John's behind-the-beat delivery of the words and a hesitating screw up of the bass part by Paul right where the chord is supposed to change back to G in measure 8, they manage to add a dizzying excess pair of beats or so and still keep going. I suspect that this was unplanned but kept in the final version anyway because of its serendipitously appropriate off-kilter effect in context.
   Measures 6 - 7 feature an implied superimposition of G over the C chord similar to that seen in "Paperback Writer".
   Near the beginning of the third verse (around 1:20 into the track) there is what sounds like a faintly sounded "cueing beep". Was this supposed to be a half-hearted anticipation of the similar effect near the mid-point of "Tomorrow Never Knows" (you know, the thing that sounds like 'at the tone the time is ..."), or is this some kind of subtle clue that this song actually dates from the Twickenham "Get Back" sessions of January 1969? (just kidding!)
  Refrain
   The refrain is twelve measures, and is built out of a repetition of the same (again, non four-square) six-measure phrase:
      --------------------- 2X ----------------------
   |G      |-      |C      |-      |G      |-      |
    I               IV6/4           I

   [Figure 91.4]

   This section conveys a sense of ecstatic slowing down even though the tempo here is the same as it was for the verses. This effect is created by the change of beat for the first four measures from its erstwhile bounce to something more plodding and regular, combined with the suddenly with the slower harmonic rhythm of the section and the yawningly stretched out vocals. At the end of this section, the illusion of speed change is spun in the opposite direction by the way in which you feel an acceleration when the bouncier beat resumes in the final two measures.
   The time warp effect is pushed still one step further in the second refrain by the addition of slow triplets to the bassline in the first four measures. Yet again one more example of a technique we've seen in so many earlier Beatles' songs, that is recycled here to a different, more strange effect than usual. Looked at from the opposite perspective, you might say that while a song like "Rain" makes you "know" we're not in Kansas any longer, it still does seem like the Boys sure wanted to take along a lot of their same old clothing for the big trip.
   We have the same "elusive" kind of C6/4 chord in this refrain as we saw in "Paperback Writer". This time, also it is superimposed over open fifth G-Major drone in the lower parts.
  Outro
   The outro commences with what seems at first like an ad-libitum "general pause" and a short passage for drums and bass guitar. If you count along carefully you discover though that the entire thing is quite in tempo, and exactly three measures long.
   What follows at this point is the unprecedented (and in retrospect, historically significant) trailing vocal of John's, dubbed over the backing track by playing a tape of his earlier vocal in reverse. The actual splicing and mixing in of this special effect was done very smoothly, especially by the standards of 1966 technology. No pops, no clicks, no sudden change of ambiance, etc.
   If you have any doubt about the technique used here, you can either spin your turntable backwards, or transcribe the trailing vocal part and sing it yourself in reverse. The only suspicious thought I have concerns the sustained sung note C which occurs fairly well into the fade-out, and which, for the life of me, I cannot find the counterpart of in the original "forward" vocal.
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6 Some Final Thoughts
   As ground-breaking as this single was, it somehow didn't turn out to be so record-breaking on the charts. Don't get me wrong; by the standards of mere mortals, the single did just fine in terms of chart position and copies sold. But by the standards of Beatlemania, it didn't come close to some of the really big hits. Wha' happened!? Were these two songs, at the time, perhaps a bit too original, or could it have been the opposite — were we all becoming a bit blasé where the Beatles were concerned?
   I can only speak for myself, and indeed, I'll be the first one to admit my own experiences may not be typical; ... but I know they're mine :-) A warning though — unbridled soppy nostalgia runs rampant in the next couple paragraphs. You may want to turn back now.
   The first time I heard "Paperback Writer" was from a jukebox in the Seagull Coffee Shop, on Brighton Beach Avenue (under the El, and not far from the boardwalk), sitting with a group of extended friends at a couple of tables pushed together, all of us wallowing in the euphoria of a terminal case of High School Senior-itis; and this new song by the Beatles was our soundtrack that late spring afternoon . It's strange how after all these years I can still remember pausing for a moment to acknowledge it with a head nodding "oh well, will you listen to that!", but then also quickly diving back into the conversation that had been interrupted. Funny how I can't remember a thing about the contents of that conversation, yet I do remember the music; vividly!
   Within two months, things changed radically. I remember coming home from my stint as music counselor at a "sleep away" camp, flipping on the newfangled "stereo" receiver I had been given as a graduation present by my parents, tuning in the radically new upscale FM rock station (Scott Muni on WNEW, no fooling) and hearing for the first time the Boys' really new double-A side; "Yellow Submarine" / "Eleanor Rigby". By this time, no one was blasé about it any more, or in the least.
   But at this, all excess reminiscence aside, I'm getting way ahead of our story :-)
  Regards,

1966 must have been the year that Paulie got some hot pickups and/or the Rickenbacker because on most of the earlier stuff, you really have to listen for the bass, but this single was the end of that.

Quoted from SallyG

1966 must have been the year that Paulie got some hot pickups and/or the Rickenbacker because on most of the earlier stuff, you really have to listen for the bass, but this single was the end of that.

Like your point. :)

The Word on Rubber Soul (1965) also has a strong bass. I think Paul became more and more selfconfident on the instrument and began to develop great melodies on the bass.

Quoted from tkitna

Will I get slapped if I say "Rain" isnt one of my favorites and I feel its a little overrated? I like it, but I like other Beatle tunes (including "We Can Work It Out" Ed) a lot more. I give the kudos for its creative aspect, but the song itself as a whole just doesnt grab me that much. It was also one of the easier songs to learn on the drums. I suppose Ringo liked it because he created it, but he has done many better.

Of course you wont get, everyone has his own taste! :)
Overrated - by Beatles fans yes, but no wonder! This song (as many other Beates songs) deserves to be overrated!!
Overrated - by media, no. I've never heard it on the radio, it's not a popular one, and it's not the song people usually think of at first when they think of the Beatles.

Me personally love this song a lot!!!! :K)

Quoted from Bobber

The Word on Rubber Soul (1965) also has a strong bass. I think Paul became more and more selfconfident on the instrument and began to develop great melodies on the bass.

I'm really falling in love with The Word. It certainly is the Tomorrow Never Knows of Rubber Soul. My only regret is that the organ at the end would have sounded even better with a bit of withering guitar over it. But it was only 1965 I suppose.

How do you pick a favorite Fab's song?  Mine was always a toss up between 'Rain' and 'And Your Bird Can Sing'. 'Rain' is just brilliant. As someone posted earlier, the Stereo part is great. I used to play it through a Walkman/headphones for my friends in high school in the '80s, and it was great to watch them jump 1/2'' when the background vocals came in ("When the Sunshine Down') 'cos they'd never heard it before. The sped up/slowed down guitars are also ingenious. Love that song mucho. My favorite song, by the way, is "And Your Bird Can Sing".

I always think Rain is the most underrated song ever.
because I never heard it on the radio, until I had to download it.
I just love the bass line, harmony, lyrics..love love love!

I thought the song fit the times with it's pop sound and vocal layering.

Quoted from TurnMeOnDeadman

Great Basswork
Great Drumming
Great Riff
Great Vocals
Great Chords

Agree with all of the above. However, you forgot "great melody". Which it doesn't have. Which is why it is only on my second-tier of Beatles songs. No disrespect meant.

Come to think of it, "great chords"? Subdominant-Dominant-Tonic. Hardly great. So, although the song has fantastic "texture", melodically speaking it doesn't do enough for me.

Well, to hear the great melody, you actually have to listen to the vocals during the verses. But I suppose this takes a more attuned ear; all those slowed-down drums can get distracting.  :P

Here's a great Ringo quote:

"My favorite piece of me is what I did on 'Rain.' I think I just played amazing. I was into the snare and high-hat. I think it was the first time I used this trick of starting a break [i.e. fill] by hitting the high-hat first, instead of going directly to a drum ["Wait" was earlier]...I think it's the best out of all the records I've ever made. 'Rain' blows me away. It's out of left field. I know me, and I know my playing -- and then there's 'Rain.'"

i think its a nice enough song but the lyrics arn't that special. Ringo's drumming is
pretty cool though & Macca's bass playing isn't half bad either, ha!  :)

i think macca's bassline in it is fantastic and ringo's drum work, but i still think they got it right making paperback writer the a-side ;) better song for me

Quoted from fendertele

i still think they got it right making paperback writer the a-side ;) better song for me

me too, great vocal work!  :)

I wonder how Paul developed that bass line.  I mean to go that far down on the neck is pretty radical for his style since for the most part he stayed in the middle to the upper part of the bass.  On Alternate Revolver you can tell that they played at a faster speed than the play back because I think on the 7" version it's at a higher pitch and all.  I don't know if that's significant, but I thought I'd mention that.

"Rain" is my all-time favorite Beatles' song.  It's perfect in every way.  And it has one of the best, if not THE BEST bass lines ever by Macca.  Killer song..............and video too................

Quoted Text

i think macca's bassline in it is fantastic and ringo's drum work, but i still think they got it right making paperback writer the a-side  better song for me

I think "Paperback Writer" is more commercial than "Rain".  I still love "Paperback Writer" but I think "Rain" is a little better, but targets a narrower segment of the listening public.

^^^^^^^Very true.  "Paperback Writer" was more "mainstream"........"Rain", a little more kinda psychedelic.

Quoted from dcowboys107

I think "Paperback Writer" is more commercial than "Rain".  I still love "Paperback Writer" but I think "Rain" is a little better, but targets a narrower segment of the listening public.

Exactly: commercial considerations aside, "Rain" is the better song, I think.  :)

There are so many Beatle songs you can call perfect  8)

Quoted from dcowboys107

I think "Paperback Writer" is more commercial than "Rain".  I still love "Paperback Writer" but I think "Rain" is a little better, but targets a narrower segment of the listening public.

i think they are both commercial, the guitar Phrasing and sound in rain was being used in a lot songs around that time like The Byrds, The vocals on Paperback Writer i would say were more out there than on Rain and both have great basslines

Typical me is always a sucker for the pop song , and i will always go for Paperback Writer!
i've never been that keen on Rain. good song, but i don't think it's that good!  :-/

Whilst I love Paperback Writer, Rain holds a very special place in my heart. It's partly when and where you first hear something like that, but also, it's the kind of track you can play to someone and say, "Hey, that's the Beatles, mate, what do you think of that??" Gets them every time.

The beginning of Rain is a bit cacaphonic for my tastes but the rest of it is great.

Rain is my fave, then Paperback Writer and Nowhere Man.  They all sound alike, to me, but I just love the "trangy" guitar and the "bass that HITS" in the songs.  Good grooving music.
But......................"A Hard Day's Night" holds the number one place in my heart because it was that song I heard on the big stereo at our house that weekend morning that changed my life forever........

Great great song!!! I love all the ones with the I IV V chord progression, like the bluesy inspired Elvis ones. This one isnt really blues sounding, but it has the chords for it.

thats a great song.

I wouldn't say perfect but it's good

defo in the top 30

defo right

Ringo said once in an interview, that "Rain" was one of his favorites, because he got to do a lot of drumming in the song. Which I might add, was amazing drumming I think. You could probably found the interview on Youtube. It seems to have everything these days.

^ he said that on Larry King too didnt he?  :-/

Rain is a good song, not my favourite though... dont think I'll call it the Perfect Beatle Song... Octie loves it though!

Quoted from Kaleidoscope_Eyes

^ he said that on Larry King too didnt he?  :-/

Rain is a good song, not my favourite though... dont think I'll call it the Perfect Beatle Song... Octie loves it though!

YES! your correct! Larry King it is!!

500 points goes to the lucky ladie Lucy Diamond!??!?? ;D

Lucky Lucy

woohoo!!!!! Party at my mailbox! (dance)

Quoted from Kaleidoscope_Eyes

woohoo!!!!! Party at my mailbox! (dance)

Am I invited :)
I like parties too.
haha
And I'm not a complete idiot ya know.
Just a semi-third one....

that did not make sense -____-

nope but you are!

Quoted from PaulieBear

Lucky Lucy

Oh your Lucky too!
Were all lucky, were BEATLES fans for crying out loud :)

;D

Quoted from PaulieBear

nope but you are!

I'm a idiot  :'(
hahaha
thanks for pulling me down PaulieBear.
Its okay to call urself an idiot, but when others utter that phrase, its like dropping the vase on the cat.

I meant invited

classic!!!! haha! Samsung electronic - everyone's invited!

whenever I think of rain though, it reminds me of Paul's chipped tooth

^ haha! it reminds of... er... rain!

but it is a nice video clip!

Quoted from PaulieBear

whenever I think of rain though, it reminds me of Paul's chipped tooth

bahahha
im gonna call him chip now.

Quoted from PaulieBear

I wouldn't say perfect but it's good

agree.

It is very lovely though.

I was wondering, can "Rain" be studio reproduced?  I mean I think the drumming would be hard to do and all the slowing of the tape speed. I've seen tributes play it but it isn't really the same.