"Rain" is a song by

Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footbal ...

, released as the second single from his second studio album, '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much''. The song was produced and mixed by

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

and features violinist Owen Pallett.

Description

The song's lyrics are taken from a break-up letter that Mika wrote to an ex. In an interview with '' Q'' magazine, Mika says: Keira performed Mika's song at Australian Idol's grand finale along with "

We Are Golden "We Are Golden" is the first single from English singer Mika's second studio album, '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much''. The song was produced and mixed by Greg Wells and features the gospel choir of Andraé Crouch. Release The single made its radio ...

". On 5 February 2010 Mika performed a special operatic version of the song in a duet with opera star

Danielle de Niese Danielle de Niese (born 11 April 1979) is an Australian-American lyric soprano. After success as a young child in singing competitions in Australia, she moved to the United States where she developed an operatic career. From 2005 she came to wi ...

on the ITV1 show ' Popstar to Operastar'.

Reception

The song received very positive reviews from most critics. Nick Levene from

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

gave to the song 4 stars (out of 5) and said: "Those unconvinced that much had changed when Mika returned with '

' this summer should be pleasantly surprised by 'Rain', the second single from his second album. The shrieking has been reined in, the nursery rhyme hooks have been ditched and instead we're treated to a concoction of shimmering synths, layered vocals and throbbing, clubby beats. As it builds towards a crescendo that's both intriguingly dark and glitteringly magical, Mika proves he's perfectly capable of channelling his hyperactivity in the right direction. Here's hoping for more of this in the future". ''Heather Phares'' from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

says that "Rain" is a kissing cousin to "Relax"'s pulsing, melancholy disco-pop.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Rain" was filmed in Epping Forest in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and premiered online on 16 October 2009. It was directed by Nez Khammal. The video is set in a dark enchanted forest with Mika waking up in a colourful

tent A tent () is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over, attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using gu ...

. He is soon joined by various strangely dressed

imps IMPS or Imps may refer to: * ''Imps*'', a comedy film released in 2009 * OMA Instant Messaging and Presence Service * Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite, an April Fools' Day RFC * The Oxford Imps, an improvisational comedy troupe * Insensitive munitio ...

and creatures who dance around him at first but chase him out of the forest amid exploding fireworks.

Notable Performances

Mika sang "Rain" at the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

in 2009 before

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

Track listing

Credits

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, background vocals *Chris Nicolaides – background vocals * Owen Pallett –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

*Tim Pierce –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

*Dan Rothchild – background vocals *

– keyboards, drums,

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, programming *Martin Waugh – background vocals * Stuart Price – Programming (uncredited)

Charts and certifications

The single was released on 23 November 2009 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in both digital and physical formats. The single peaked at #72 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, making this Mika's lowest charting UK single. Casablanca Records believed this was due to low promotional airplay on UK Radio. The song was received better in continental

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, where it peaked at #4 in Italy, being certified platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry. It also peaked inside the Top 40 in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and debuted at #8 in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

. The single debuted at #5 in French Singles Chart and peaked #16 in Digital Singles Chart.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rain (Mika Song) 2009 singles Mika (singer) songs Songs written by Mika (singer) Song recordings produced by Greg Wells Songs written by Jodi Marr 2009 songs Casablanca Records singles