Song Lyric Sunday/Song of the Day: Elvis Presley, “Kentucky Rain”

Song Lyric Sunday, Song of the Day 2 Minutes

Today’s prompt is “air, earth, fire, water,” and since rain is water, the song I chose is Elvis Presley’s “Kentucky Rain.”

This might be my favorite Elvis Presley song. It was written by Eddie Rabbitt and Dick Heard, and the backing musicians included Ronnie Milsap on piano. It was released in January 1970, and only went as high as #18 on the Hot 100, but went to #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #31 on the Country chart in the US. It did much better in Canada, where it reached #10 overall, #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and went all the way to #1 on the Country chart. The great thing about this song, to me, is the the anxiety and desperation in Elvis’s voice as he sings the story of a man looking for the love of his life.

The lyrics, from AZLyrics.com:

Seven lonely days
And a dozen towns ago
I reached out one night
And you were gone
Don’t know why you’d run,
What you’re running to or from
All I know is I want to bring you home

So I’m walking in the rain,
Thumbing for a ride
On this lonely Kentucky backroad
I’ve loved you much too long
And my love’s too strong
To let you go, never knowing
What went wrong

Kentucky rain keeps pouring down
And up ahead’s another town
That I’ll go walking thru
With the rain in my shoes,
Searchin’ for you
In the cold Kentucky rain,
In the cold Kentucky rain

Showed your photograph
To some old gray bearded men
Sitting on a bench
Outside a gen’ral store
They said “Yes, she’s been here”
But their memory wasn’t clear
Was it yesterday,
No, wait the day before

So I fin’ly got a ride
With a preacher man who asked
“Where you bound on such a cold dark afternoon?”
As we drove on thru the rain
As he listened I explained
And he left me with a prayer
That I’d find you

Kentucky rain keeps pouring down
And up ahead’s another town
That I’ll go walking thru
With the rain in my shoes,
Searchin for you
In the cold Kentucky rain,
In the cold Kentucky rain…

And that’s Song Lyric Sunday and Song of the Day for July 12, 2020.

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

Published

28 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday/Song of the Day: Elvis Presley, “Kentucky Rain””

  1. Pingback: The Dog Days of Summer 2020 Week That Was – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  3. I agree, The King does a great job of pouring emotion into his voice for this song. It’s a poignant song and easy to visualize.

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    1. He deid some incredible stuff in the late ’60’s: this, “Suspicious Minds,” “In the Ghetto,” and “If I Can Dream” were all masterpieces. Those songs and his gospel album gave people a much different image of him.

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  5. I wasn’t in the Elvis fan club, but this, Suspicious Minds, and In the Ghetto are favs of mine. 🙂

    Didn’t know Eddie Rabbit co-wrote this! I learned something today! 😀

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    1. As I’ve said, I think he kind of grew up in the late ’60’s and early ’70’s and started picking better material. All three of those, and “If I Can Dream,” showed where he was headed.

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      1. I held on for years that he was alive on his own private island. Frank & I were married by an Elvis Tribute performer in Las Vegas. The funnest day of my life! The 69′ comeback concerts is one of my favorites things of all time. 🙂

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  7. Elvis could sing anything but some fit him better than others…this one fit well.

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  11. Great song. Wonder if the estate had to pay royalties to Kentucky for the use of the name when the state decided to copyright it.

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