Mandolin Rain

"Mandolin Rain"
Single by Bruce Hornsby and the Range
from the album The Way It Is
B-side	"The Red Plains"
Released	January 1987
Genre	Soft rock, Adult contemporary
Length	5:19
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Bruce Hornsby John Hornsby
Producer(s)	Bruce Hornsby Elliot Scheiner
Bruce Hornsby and the Range singles chronology
"On the Western Skyline" (1986) "Mandolin Rain" (1987) "Every Little Kiss" (1987)

"Mandolin Rain" is the third track from The Way It Is, the debut album and commercial zenith for Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The song, released in late 1986, was a #4 hit single for the band in March 1987, following on the success of their previous single, the #1 hit and title track of their debut album, "The Way It Is". It also reached #1 on the adult contemporary chart for three weeks, and #2 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for two weeks, also in early 1987. The song even reached the Top 40 on the Country chart, hitting number 38.

The song was co-written by Bruce Hornsby and his brother John and featured Range member David Mansfield on the title instrument. It appears to be partly inspired by the song "You Don't Miss Your Water" by William Bell due to it employing the same hook (heard at the beginning of both songs), and by a remarkably similar swing feel (albeit with different chords).

In popular culture

• The song was used in the 2009 movie, World's Greatest Dad, with Robin Williams. Hornsby made a cameo appearance in the film and played an alternate acoustic version of the song, which had been previously arranged but never released until the film's soundtrack.

Charts

Chart (1987)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Top Singles	14
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Singles	1
Canadian RPM Country Singles	49
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	4
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	2
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	38
UK Singles Chart	70

Sources

• Bruce Hornsby Artist Biography

References

Preceded by "You Got It All" by The Jets

Billboard Adult Contemporary (chart) number-one single March 21, 1987 (3 weeks)

Succeeded by "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics