"Rainmaker" is the 37th single by English heavy metal band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

. It was released on 24 November 2003 as the second and final single from their 13th studio album, ''

Dance of Death The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...

'' (2003). It was written by Dave Murray, Steve Harris and

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Dickinson has performed in the band across two stints, from 1981 to 1993 and from 1999 to the present d ...

, and produced by Harris and

Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley, also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer, audio mixer, and musician. He has produced music for many artists, including Silverchair, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Angels, and C ...

Synopsis

The song was largely written by long-time guitarist Dave Murray. The lyrics were inspired by vocalist

's comment that the intro riff made him think of raindrops. The song has no connection with the 1995 novel written by

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955) is an American novelist, lawyer, and former politician, known for his best-selling legal thrillers. According to the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 37 ...

of the same name. The guitar solo in "Rainmaker" is played by Dave Murray. The cover is a still taken from the

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

directed by Howard Greenhalgh. This single also contains a double-sided poster. "More Tea Vicar" is a recording of a jam session (similar to "Pass the Jam") with

trying his hand at rapping.

Track listing

CD single

# "Rainmaker" ( Dave Murray, Steve Harris,

) – 3:48 # "Dance of Death" (orchestral version) (

Janick Gers Janick Robert Gers (; born 27 January 1957) is an English musician who is best known as one of the three guitarists in Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1990. He initially joined to replace Adrian Smith (musician) , Adrian ...

, Harris) – 8:37 # "More Tea Vicar" (Dickinson, Gers, Harris,

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. He is the third-longest serving member of the band, having appeared on each Iron Maiden album sin ...

, Murray,

Adrian Smith Adrian Smith may refer to: * Adrian Smith (basketball) (born 1936), American basketball player *Adrian Smith (architect) (born 1944), American architect *Sir Adrian Smith (statistician) (born 1946), English statistician and academic *Adrian Smith (m ...

) – 4:37

Japanese CD

# "Rainmaker" (Murray, Harris, Dickinson) – 3:48 # "Dance of Death" (orchestral version) (Gers, Harris) – 8:37 # "More Tea Vicar" (Dickinson, Gers, Harris, McBrain, Murray, Smith) – 4:37 # "

The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy (film director), Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt and Christopher Lee. The screenplay is by Anthony Shaffer (writer ...

" (live at Brixton Academy, London – 19–21 March 2002) – 4:38 # "Children of the Damned" (live at Brixton Academy, London – 19–21 March 2002) – 5:02 Japanese CD extras: # "Rainmaker" (video) – 3:50 # "Wildest Dreams" (video) – 3:39

Pock iT! mini CD

# "Rainmaker" (Murray, Harris, Dickinson) – 3:48 # "Dance of Death" (orchestral version two) (Gers, Harris) – 8:37

7" vinyl

# "Rainmaker" (Murray, Harris, Dickinson) – 3:48 # "Dance of Death" (orchestral version) (Gers, Harris) – 8:37

DVD

# "Rainmaker" (video) (Murray, Harris, Dickinson) – 3:48 # "The Wicker Man" (live at Brixton Academy, London – 19–21 March 2002) (Smith, Harris, Dickinson) – 4:35 # "Children of the Damned" (live at Brixton Academy, London – 19–21 March 2002) (Harris) – 5:03 # "Rainmaker Video – The Making Of"

Personnel

Production credits are adapted from the CD, DVD, and picture disc covers. ;Iron Maiden *

– vocals * Dave Murray – guitar *

– guitar *

– guitar * Steve Harris – bass, co-producer *

– drums ;Production *

– producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, mixing (except "The Wicker Man") *Doug Hall – producer, mixing ("The Wicker Man") *Howard Greenhalgh –

music video director A music video director is the head, overseer or facilitator of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or ...

*Lawrence Watson –

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 2003 singles Iron Maiden songs Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh Song recordings produced by Kevin Shirley Songs written by Bruce Dickinson Songs written by Steve Harris (musician)