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 | Chords + Lyrics (original key)
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 Chords: Learn the progressions
Ann Peebles‘s I Can’t Stand The Rain is not just a blues, it’s more complicated than that.
Let’s analyze this very clever tune, we’ll stick to the key of A which I play in as that’s easier than the original key of Ab when carrying the entire tune on one guitar.
The intro is an A dom7 arpeggio. For the verse, we either continue playing the arpeggio riff or play a standard A to A6 honky-tonk part. This is then moved to the D chord as well.
You could describe I Can’t Stand The Rain’s verse chords as a 12-bar Blues, but without a turnaround, like this:
| A6 (I) | A6 | D6 (IV) | A6 |
| A6 | A6 | D6 | A6 |
| A6 | A6 | D6 | A6 |
The chorus is much more adventurous starting on a bVIIx/backdoor dominant (G) before we go back to A, then a C (bIIIx), before we resolve with a II – V, like this:
| G (bVIIx) | G | A (I) | A |
| C (bIII) | C | Bm7 (II) | E7 (V) |
You could see these chords as a modal interchange as well, borrowing the C and G chords from the key of Am.
Here’s a chord chart of I Can’t Stand The Rain. It may be easier to look at this, compared to the chords and lyrics you saw above.
I Can’t Stand The Rain Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
As nice as it is to see the complete tune in a simple chord chart, there are things it doesn’t tell you, 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 and manipulate the layout.
In the course, we look at TAB and use play-along loops to learn I Can’t Stand The Rain in extreme depth, below is a preview.
I Can’t Stand The Rain TAB | Course Preview
As helpful as the chords are, to get I Can’t Stand The Rain right, we must look into the riff and explore how it can be played and developed.
In the intermediate acoustic course, we start with playing it all over the neck.
The TAB you see below has a play-along loop above, try it to see what learning guitar with Spytunes is like.
Make sure you can see all intervals played as this is how you’ll be able to play this riff all over the neck.
In this first lesson, we look at the remaining CAGED shapes as they appear, that’s G, E D, and C.
Following this, we move the riff to a D, honky-tonk, and look at the instrumental/solo section before I play the complete song with a singer and give you all the TAB.
This takes five guitar lessons (or steps). For the next three lessons, we look at creating a 2nd guitar part so we can play I Can’t Stand The Rain together, and lastly, we play the vocal melody.
Without a doubt, playing I Can’t Stand The Rain’s vocal melody is 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.
I Can’t Stan The Rain’s has many 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 Feet) dropped his version in 1979.
Tina Turner released her version in 1984 on the album Private Dancer and then the following year as a single.
Bad Manners recorded their version in 1993 and Missy Elliot 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 decided that he should include I Can’t Stand The Rain on his album Soul.
I’ve included these cover versions of I Can’t Stand The Rain in the playlist at the top of this page.
I Can’t Stand The Rain Chords | Related Pages
I Can’t Stand The Rain | 8 Step-by-step Guitar Lessons + TAB
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.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Born Under A Bad Sign chords by Albert King
- Come Together chords by The Beatles
- I Heard It Through The Grapevine chords by Marvin Gaye
- Soul Man chords by Sam & Dave
- Take Me To The River chords by Al Green
Ann Peebles tunes
Ann Peebles is an internationally acclaimed singer and songwriter, best known for her popular Memphis soul albums of the 70s on Hi Records.
Two of her better-known tunes are I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down and I Can’t Stand The Rain.
Ann Peebles on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about I Can’t Stand The Rain chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.