“Bring On the Rain”
Jo Dee Messina featuring Tim McGraw
Written by Helen Darling and Billy Montana
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
March 9, 2002
The cool historical fact about this record is that Tim McGraw replaced himself at No. 1, both as a singer and as a co-producer.
That was the first time that ever happened on the country singles chart, though beyond that chart feat, McGraw’s not too important to “Bring On the Rain.” He provides a competent harmony vocal, but this is Jo Dee Messina’s show, and she gets to shine in a quiet and gentle way that is so different from most of her hit records.
It’s a beautiful statement of resistance deferred, with a promise to get back into the fight after a good night’s sleep. Radio didn’t like Messina in ballad mode most of time, so this really is a special gem among her catalog of hits.
“Bring On the Rain” gets an A.
Every No. 1 Single of the 2000s
Previous: Tim McGraw, “The Cowboy in Me” |
You touched upon one of my issues with this song when you said radio didn’t have much time for Jo Dee Messina’s ballads. She had quite a few good ones over the years and they either weren’t released as singles or underperformed. The only Jo Dee ballad to hit the top of the pyramid, or even get particularly close, was this one, which I considered pretty weak sauce for a song that’s supposed to be inspirational. The entire lyrical output might not fit on a fortune cookie but it could fit on a decent-sized bumper sticker, stretched out in recorded form over three minutes with overwrought vocal gymnastics.
Criticisms aside, I’ll admit “Bring on the Rain” sounded better listening to it here today than I recall 23 years ago, when I was annoyed to my last nerve with it. At least for the first 90 seconds or so of the song before it becomes an exercise in exhaustive repetition, Jo Dee manages to make a decent souffle out of a stack of dough. As for Tim McGraw’s presence on the record, I’d say it’s incredibly generous for him to have gotten any credit for a #1 here and I wonder how that would break down in terms of the metric of “chart points” accumulation. It reminds me of Billy Dean’s inclusion on “Buy Me a Rose”. Did Billboard really credit McGraw and Dean for #1’s here or add points to their career totals? Doesn’t seem fair if they did.
Grade: B-
Just curious if you would consider “Stand Beside Me” to be a ballad. I guess I do and it was quite successful on the charts.
I don’t consider “Stand Beside Me” a ballad because the tempo picks up with the chorus. But I could see how it could be considered one and it would definitely be one of her biggest (and best) ballad hits!
Love “Stand Beside Me” so much!
I’ve said it before, I was never much of a Jo Dee fan. Her stuff just seems very plastic and one note to me.
This is as far from plastic as you can get. Her voice is haunting and warm on this, and the lyric is brilliant. It gives me chills knowing that the line “tomorrow’s another day, and I’m thirsty anyway, so bring on the rain” was released on September 10, 2001.
Hands down her best work. Inspirational, clever, but also packing a punch
Issued today we would be raving about this recording. At the time I regarded it as a B-
I love noth the resilience and the resonator guitar of this song.
I agree the economy of the lyrics are brilliant. The defiant line “I’m thirsty anyway” in the face of the inevitable rain, is as gritty and gutsy as it is gorgeous.
Welp, it’s time to give my past 2001/2002 self a nice little swift kickin’ once again, because for some reason I just didn’t get into this one back then and thought it was boring for the most part. But now? I think it’s absolutely gorgeous.
I’m actually surprised this one didn’t do as much for me when it was new, especially since I’ve generally always loved quiet ballads like this during the Fall and Winter months. Perhaps at the time maybe I was feeling a bit burned out by both Messina and McGraw’s seemingly constant exposure during that time, but boy is that a problem I wish I could have now compared to who’s on the charts these days. Admittedly, I was also beginning to listen to and enjoy more older country from the 90s than what was currently on the radio due to my ever expanding CD collection at the time. Whatever the reason, that’s all in the past, and I’m now here to show my appreciation for “Bring On The Rain.” I just really love how pretty the melody is, along with the song’s stripped down arrangement where the haunting sound of the dobro really shines, especially. I also love Jo Dee’s vulnerable performance that also shows slight signs of positivity that supports the “I’m not giving up” message. I especially really like how both her and McGraw sound when they sing part of the second verse together, and how they come together on the bridge. She sounds tired and defeated and also determined to keep on keeping on as she sings “I’m not gonna let it get me down. I’m not gonna cry. And I’m not gonna lose any sleep tonight,” and McGraw’s harmony vocal during that bridge brings a nice warm feel and tone to it. Another thing I’ve come to love about Messina, in general, is whenever she does that falsetto “ooooooh” in her songs, and here she does it right off the bat.
And as you might guess, this is especially a song I love to hear during the Fall and Winter months, and for me it’s a perfect song to hear on a rainy Fall night while staying warm and cozy indoors at home. The sound of the song, from the haunting melody, the beautiful dobro licks, and the low tuned strings in the background (is there a cello in the mix I hear, too?) also makes it a nice song to hear while watching the rain come down on a dreary day and seeing the wet fallen leaves flow with the water on the ground.
I actually remember being surprised to learn it was Tim McGraw doing the backup vocals the first couple of times I heard it on the radio, since to me he sounded quite different during much of the parts you could hear him. Especially when he goes “Bring on!…Bring onnnn the raaaaiiin” near the end. Even now that almost sounds like a completely different guy to me. But then when he starts going “aaay-aaay-aaaaain!” I can definitely tell it’s him. I discovered later that Tim also has a similar harmony vocal style on Jo Dee’s “Even God Must Get The Blues” from her I’m Alright album (Another great song, btw).
Watching the music video again was also very enjoyable, and I love how Jo Dee looks here in her black outfit and then new stylish straight, shorter haircut, which was quite a departure from her previously signature curls. I also love how once again they seemed to make a conscious decision to go with a very contemporary look and design since we were now in the 21st century, making nearly everything look sleek and modern except for the parts where she is around nature. I especially love the shots of brown and orange leaves floating on the water, as well.
As much as I love “Bring On The Rain,” though, my personal all time favorite Jo Dee Messina ballad is still “Because You Love Me.” I’m instantly flooded with late 1999/early 2000 nostalgia whenever I hear it, and I love its beautiful melody, along with the heartfelt lyrics and Jo Dee’s emotional performance. It’s one that honestly still gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes, especially since I feel like I can relate to it more now. I remember it being EVERYWHERE on the radio during that Y2K Fall/Winter period during my 8th grade year, and my parents and I hearing it numerous times in the car together during nights out on the town. Even just that piano and keyboard intro takes me back to when we spent a lot of time in York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania back then. I was shocked to find out it only peaked at #8 on Billboard, since our two stations played it as if it was a number one hit. My mom even started getting tired of hearing it later on, lol (though, I never did).
I also really love 2003’s “I Wish,” which also should’ve done a lot better, imho. Unfortunately by then, such classy early 2000s pop country ballads were on the way out, especially ones sung by female artists.
I really liked “I Wish” as well. Didn’t even go top-10.
I’ll take “Jo Dee Messina Songs I Don’t Remember at All” for $600, Ken.
I had forgotten how beautiful this song was.
I’m a huge Tim McGraw fan but I don’t really think his harmony was necessary on this. Messina more than carries this song with her incredible vocals.
I haven’t heard this song in a long time and I like it much more than I remember liking it before. I actually think McGraw’s addition is good. But I really love the use of the dobro in the instrumentation.
Very good, maybe a “B+”. It’s kinda sad that Jo Dee was not able to maintain the momentum she had.