Singin’In The Rain

“Singin’ in the Rain” is a song with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown. Doris Eaton Travis introduced the song on Broadway in The Hollywood Music Box Revue in 1929. It was then widely popularized by Cliff Edwards and the Brox Sisters in The Hollywood Revue of 1929.^[2] Many contemporary artists have had hit records with “Singin’ in the Rain” since its release, including Edwards, Earl Burtnett and Gus Arnheim. It entered the American public domain on January 1, 2025.^[3]

Gene Kelly performing the song in the 1952 film Singin’ in the Rain

The song is famously associated with the history of cinema, as it gained popularity during the transition from silent films to “talkies.” Years later, Freed, the song’s lyricist, conceived the idea of the film based on the back catalogs of songs written during the era by himself and Nacio Herb Brown. That resulted in the musical film of the same name, Singin’ in the Rain (1952), which is a light-hearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s. The performance by Gene Kelly dancing through puddles in a rainstorm garnered the song the third spot on the American Film Institute ranking of 100 Years…100 Songs.

Lyrics