The prompt from Jim:
This week the theme is songs that mention rain.
“The Rain, The Park And Other Things” was written by Artie Kornfeld and Steve Dubofin specifically for The Cowsills, an American family band.
This song is one of a few songs that does not include the title of the song in the lyrics. The song is sometimes known as “The Flower Girl” which was the original title.
According to Kornfield, the record executives were rushing to press the recording but did not want the song to be confused with Scott McKenzie’s success with “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)”. The title came to Kornfield out of mid-air but he would later say he felt it was a premonition of what was to come concerning Woodstock and the later deaths of his wife and daughter.
In 1969, after writing 75 Billboard hits, Kornfield left Capital Records to go on and co-create the Woodstock Music & Arts Festival with Michael Lang.
“The Rain, The Park And Other Things” was recorded and released in 1967. The instrumentation was provided by session musicians although the family could play their own instruments, which they would go on to do in live performances. The song reached #2 in the Billboard Charts and has sold over 3 million copies worldwide.
Interesting note – the sound of the rain in the intro was actually the sound of bacon frying. From Wikipedia:
The Cowsills did not play on their earliest recordings. Studio musicians were brought in to provide the music for this song and many of the earlier singles. For this record, the arranger was Jimmy Wisner, musicians included Gene Bianco on harp, Vinnie Bell, Charles Macy and Al Gorgoni on guitar, Joe Macho on bass, Artie Butler on organ, Paul Griffin on piano, George Devens on percussion, and Buddy Saltzman and Al Rogers on drums.
Kornfeld had planned to use the sound of a rainstorm as the song’s intro, but recordings of real rain proved to be too faint to hear on record; instead he used a stock sound of sizzling bacon to emulate rain.
The Rain, The Park And Other Things
Lyrics from songfacts.com
Raindrops falling on her
She didn’t seem to care
She sat there and smiled at meThen I knew
She could make me happy
Flowers in her hair
Flowers everywhereI love the flower girl
Oh, I don’t know just why, she simply caught my eye
I love the flower girl
She seemed so sweet and kind, she crept into my mindTo my mindI knew I had to say hello
She smiled up at me
And she took my hand
And we walked through the park aloneAnd I knew
She had made me happy
Flowers in her hair
Flowers everywhere
I love the flower girl
Oh, I don’t know just why, she simply caught my eye
I love the flower girl
She seemed so sweet and kind, she crept into my mind
To my mind
Suddenly, the sun broke through
I turned around, she was gone
All I had left
Was one little flower in my hand
But I knew
She had made me happy
Flowers in her hair
Flowers everywhere
I love the flower girl
Was she reality or just a dream to me?
I love the flower girl
Her love showed me the way to find a sunny day
Sunny day
I love the flower girl
Was she reality or just a dream to me?
I love the flower girl
Song Lyric Sunday is hosted every Sunday by Jim Adams. If you would like to join in the fun, check out his blog for the rules and to take in all the other music posted by other bloggers.
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