"Let It Rain" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

David Nail David Brent Nail (born May 18, 1979) is an American singer/songwriter and country music artist. In 2002, he debuted the single "Memphis" from an unreleased album for Mercury Records Nashville. Five years later, he signed with MCA Nashville, fo ...

Sarah Buxton Sarah Jane Buxton (born July 3, 1980) is an American country music singer formerly signed to the independent Lyric Street Records. Between 2006 and 2008, she issued three singles from an extended play titled '' Almost My Record'', in addition t ...

sings backing vocals on the song. It was released in February 2011 as the first single from his album '' The Sound of a Million Dreams'', which was released in November 2011. It is his third Top 20, second Top 10 and first Top 5 hit on

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

. On the chart week of January 21, 2012, it became both Nail's and Buxton's first Number One hit.

Content

Co-writer Jonathan Singleton, who also co-wrote Nail's 2009 single " Red Light", told the website Taste of Country that they came up with the idea for the song while talking about movies that they enjoyed. They recalled the film '' The Last Kiss'' where "this guy cheats on his girlfriend, and he goes to her house and decides he’s going to sit on her porch until she lets him in." They said that they did not find the situation plausible and Singleton added, "If it was a southern girl or avid's wifeor my wife, the first thing they’d do is throw all our stuff on the porch with us." Instead of having the male narrator say "I deserve whatever I get, if she never talks to me again", Nail decided to have the character say "that I’m human just like everyone else and you mess up". In May 2011,

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

posted on

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that she liked the song.

Critical reception

Sam Gazdziak of Engine 145 gave the song a "thumbs up". He did not think that the song had "anything here to distinguish it as a country song" and thought that the song "does fall victim to the bombast", but praised Nail's voice and the details in the lyrics. Bobby Peacock of ''Roughstock'' rated it three-and-a-half stars out of five, also saying that the lyrics had "interesting details" and describing Nail as "strong ndsoulful", although he thought that the song's

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

did not work because "there's no other 'rain' motif anywhere else".

Music video

It debuted in April 2011; Stephen Shepherd directed. It features David singing while the woman he was with the night before showers and changes. He looks around and it appears he feels guilty.

Chart performance

"Let It Rain" reached number one on its forty-ninth week on the

chart, setting a new record for the slowest uninterrupted climb to the top in the chart's history.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2011 singles Country ballads 2010s ballads David Nail songs Sarah Buxton songs Songs written by Jonathan Singleton MCA Nashville Records singles Song recordings produced by Frank Liddell 2011 songs Song recordings produced by Chuck Ainlay