The Rain, the Park & Other Things

"The Rain, The Park & Other Things"

US release
Single by The Cowsills
from the album The Cowsills
B-side "River Blue"
Released September 1967
Format 7"
Genre Psychedelic pop
Length 2:57
Label MGM
Writer(s) Artie Kornfeld, Steve Duboff
Producer(s) Artie Kornfeld
Certification Gold (RIAA)
The Cowsills singles chronology
"A Most Peculiar Man"
(1966)		 "The Rain, The Park & Other Things"
(1967)		 "We Can Fly"
(1968)

"The Rain, the Park & Other Things" is a psychedelic pop song with music and lyrics co-written by Artie Kornfeld and Steve Duboff. The song was recorded by the pop band The Cowsills, and included on their 1967 album The Cowsills (MGM E/SE-4498). Released as a single, the song reached #2 on the Billboard charts.[1] The single cemented the group's international popularity and sold some three million copies over the years. It ties with 1969's "Hair" as the group's biggest hit, as both reached No. 2 in the U.S. It reached No. 1 in Canada's RPM Magazine charts.

The song is unusual, being one of the few vocal works whose lyrics do not contain the song's title. It is known by many as "The Flower Girl".[2]

The sound of a rain storm is heard in the introduction as well as in the portions between the Chorus and the verses. In the song, a young man sees a flower girl sitting in the rain, in the park and, where they take a walk together, hand in hand, feeling happy, until when the sun breaks through, the flower girl disappears, however, the young man is still happy because of his love for the flower girl. The young man asks the question: "Was she reality, or just a dream to me?"

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 song, 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.

The song was used in the Lloyd fantasy scene in the 1994 film Dumb and Dumber.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1967-68) Peak
position
Australia KMR 4
Canada RPM 1
New Zealand [3] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [4] 2
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[5] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1967) Rank
Canada [6] 8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [7] 49
U.S. Cash Box [8] 31

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 149.
  2. ↑ "The Rain, The Park And Other Things by The Cowsills Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  3. ↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  4. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002
  5. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 11/25/67". Tropicalglen.com. 1967-11-25. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  6. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  7. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1967/Top 100 Songs of 1967". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  8. ↑ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1967". Tropicalglen.com. 1967-12-23. Retrieved 2016-10-01.

External links


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