Chords + Lyrics | I Can’t Stand The Rain
Intro
| Ab7 | Ab7 |
Verse 1
| Ab7 | Ab7 | Ab7 | Ab7 |
I can’t stand the rain, against my window, bringing back sweet memories.
| Ab7 | Ab7 | Db7 | Ab7 |
Hey window pane, do you remember, how sweet it used to be.
Chorus 1
| Gb | Gb | Ab | Ab |
When we were together, yeah, everything was so grand.
| B | B | Bbm7 | Eb7 |
Now that we’ve parted, there’s just one sound that I just can’t stand.
Verse 2
I can’t stand the rain, against my window, bringing back sweet memories.
I can’t stand the rain, against my window, ’cause he not here with me.
Chorus 2
Oh, where the pillow, where his head used to lay, yeah.
I know you’ve got some sweet memories, but like the window, you ain’t got nothing to say. Yeah.
Instrumental
| Ab Ab6 Abadd9 | Gb Gbadd9 | Ab Ab6 Abadd9 | B |
Verse 3
| Ab7 | Ab7 | Db7 | Ab7 |
Well, I can’t stand the rain, against my window, bringing back sweet memories.
| Ab7 | Ab7 | Db7 | Ab7 |
I can’t stand the rain, against my window, yeah, ’cause you’re not here with me.
| Ab7 | Ab7 | Db7 | Ab7 |
I can’t stand the rain. Yeah. I can’t stand the rain. Mm-hm.
I Can’t Stand The Rain Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning I Can’t Stand The Rain. I’ve used stem-seperation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Should you want to play along with the original recording instead, you need to tune your guitar to 438Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
Ann Peebles’s I Can’t Stand the Rain isn’t just a blues—it’s more intricate than that.
Let’s analyse this clever tune. We’ll use to the key of A, as it’s easier than the original key of Ab, especially when carrying the entire arrangement on one guitar (more on this later).
Intro
The intro features an A7 arpeggio. For the verse, we can either continue playing the arpeggio riff or opt for a standard A to A6 honky-tonk part, which is also applied to the D chord.
Verse
While the verse follows a 12-bar blues structure, it omits the usual turnaround:
| A6 (I) | A6 | D6 (IV) | A6 |
| A6 | A6 | D6 | A6 |
| A6 | A6 | D6 | A6 |
Chorus
The chorus, however, is much more adventurous. It begins on a backdoor dominant (G), moves back to A, then introduces a C (bIIIx) before resolving with a II – V progression:
| G (bVIIx) | G | A (I) | A |
| C (bIII) | C | Bm7 (II) | E7 (V) |
These chords can also be viewed as a modal interchange, borrowing C and G from the key of Am.
In the TAB you find further own this guitar lesson, you get exact ideas for how to play I Can’t Stand The Rain‘s chords.
With the TAB absorbed, all you need is this chord chart:
I Can’t Stand The Rain Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
As nice as it is to have the complete tune in a simple chord chart, there are things it doesn’t convey—like the riff, for example, or the instrumental section, which is only indicated with 6 and add9 extensions.
To get the most out of this, first learn I Can’t Stand the Rain using TAB, explore the fretboard, and then use the chord chart as a reminder.
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: I Can’t Stand the Rain chord chart PDF.
This chart was created using iRealPro—here’s a link to that file: I Can’t Stand the Rain iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key (to Ab) and manipulate the layout.
Next, here’s a one acoustic guitar arrangement of I Can’t Stand The Rain, this is what we explore in the step-by-step course.
I Can’t Stand The Rain | Chords + Lyrics (key of A)
Intro
| A7 | A7 |
Verse 1
| A7 | A7 | A7 | A7 |
I can’t stand the rain, against my window, bringing back sweet memories.
| A6 | A6 | D6 | A6 |
Hey window pane, do you remember, how sweet it used to be.
Chorus 1
| G | G | A | A |
When we were together, yeah, everything was so grand.
| C | C | Bm7 | E7 |
Now that we’ve parted, there’s just one sound that I just can’t stand.
Verse 2
I can’t stand the rain, against my window, bringing back sweet memories.
I can’t stand the rain, against my window, ’cause he not here with me.
Chorus 2
Oh, where the pillow, where his head used to lay, yeah.
I know you’ve got some sweet memories, but like the window, you ain’t got nothing to say. Yeah.
Instrumental
| A A6 Aadd9 | G Gadd9 | A A6 Aadd9 | C |
Verse 3
| A6 | A6 | D7 | A7 |
Well, I can’t stand the rain, against my window, bringing back sweet memories.
| A6 | A6 | D7 | A7 |
I can’t stand the rain, against my window, yeah, ’cause you’re not here with me.
| A7 | A7 | D7 | A7 |
I can’t stand the rain. Yeah. I can’t stand the rain. Mm-hm.
I Can’t Stand The Rain | TAB
Below are some examples from the step-by-step course you can use to get going. Playing with the Backing Tracks, you need to detune a half step, or use the version I’ve tuned up to the key of A (second in the playlist above).
Verse
Here’s one way to play the main riff in A:
Here’s how this could be played for the D chord, going back to the A, with some variation for the final chord:
Make sure you can visualise all the intervals being played in the main riff as this will help you play the riff in different positions on the neck.
In this first lesson in the course, we explore the remaining CAGED shapes as they appear.
Honky-Tonk
Here’s one way to honky-tonk:
Chorus
And finally, here’s a way to play the chorus:
To explore more ideas for each section takes five guitar lessons (or steps) in the course. In the next three lessons, we create a second guitar part, so two players can perform I Can’t Stand the Rain together.
Finally, we tackle the vocal melody—without a doubt, the most challenging part of the entire intermediate acoustic course.
Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessons: I Can’t Stand the Rain – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Famous covers
I Can’t Stand the Rain has been recorded by many artists. Humble Pie recorded their version in 1974, and so did Ronnie Wood in 1975.
Eruption had their biggest hit with the song in 1978, and Lowell George (of Little Feat) released his version in 1979.
Tina Turner included her version on Private Dancer in 1984 and released it as a single the following year.
Bad Manners recorded their version in 1993, and Missy Elliott decided that it was enough to just sample the chorus for her track The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) in 1997.
Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave) recorded his version in 2006, and as recently as 2008, Seal included I Can’t Stand the Rain on his album Soul.
I’ve put these cover versions in the playlist at the top of this page.
I Can’t Stand The Rain Chords: Continue Learning
The final song in the intermediate acoustic course, I Can’t Stand The Rain, is learned in just five steps by practising loops for each section.
Following this, we create a 2nd guitar part and play the vocal melody for both the verse and the chorus.
Start learning with the full lesson series: I Can’t Stand The Rain – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
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