I Can’t Stand The Rain | Chords + Lyrics
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 + 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: Exploring the Intricate Structure
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 stick to the key of A, as it’s easier than the original key of Ab when carrying the entire arrangement on one guitar.
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.
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 |
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.
Here’s a chord chart for I Can’t Stand the Rain. It may be easier to follow than the chord progression outlined above.
I Can’t Stand The Rain Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
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 chord chart 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 truly get I Can’t Stand the Rain right, we must dive into the riff and explore how it can be played and developed.
In the intermediate acoustic course, we start by playing it all over the neck.
The TAB you see below has a play-along loop above—try it to experience what learning guitar with Spytunes is like.
Make sure you can visualise all the intervals being played, as this will help you play the riff in different positions on the neck.
In this first lesson, we explore the remaining CAGED shapes as they appear—G, E, D, and C.
Following this, we move the riff to D (honky-tonk style) and break down the instrumental/solo section before I play the complete song with a singer and provide you with all the TAB.
This takes five guitar lessons (or steps). 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.
I Can’t Stan The Rain 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 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.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: