"Raindrops (An Angel Cried)" (stylized in all lowercase) is the opening track from Ariana Grande's fourth studio album, Sweetener. It was released through Republic Records on August 17, 2018. A live version of the song is featured on K Bye For Now (SWT Live), which was released on December 23, 2019.
Background[]
Grande confirmed the song on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon on May 1, 2018, saying that it was one of the last tracks she had recorded for Sweetener as it serves as an intro to the album.[1]
Grande revealed that this song is a cover of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons' "An Angel Cried". Savan Kotecha tweeted: "The 'raindrops' story is unreal. I'll never forget that afternoon. Goosebumps".[2]
On June 26, 2018, Grande shared the song on her birthday alongside the music video that was directed, filmed, and shot by Dave Meyers.[3]
The full sessions leaked on September 2, 2023, alongside the sessions of "Only When It Matters", "Best Friends", and an edited version of "Italliano".
The song's session contained a scrapped instrumental of the song that wasn’t used in the finalized track. There is also an unused vocoded track of the vocals near the end that was made and bounced from the song’s pro tool sessions.
Audios[]
- Pro Tools Demo (With Instrumental) - (
listen)
Critical reception[]
"Raindrops (An Angel Cried)" was praised by critics for completely showing Grande's vocals with no distracting background instruments.
The Irish Time' s Louis Bruton, said: "Grande presents grief and recovery in a very open and honest way."[4] In TheRed&Black, Abby McGill wrote about the song: "a short 38-second intro showcasing Grande's effortlessly beautiful vocals and her range, leaving fans wishing the intro was longer. Grande uses the first song on some of her albums as an introduction to the theme of the album. However, with this release, each song gives the listener something different."[5]
Live performances[]
Grande debuted "Raindrops (An Angel Cried)" live on August 20, 2018 at The Sweetener Sessions. The song was a regular part of the setlist of Grande's Sweetener World Tour, which began on March 18, 2019.
Trivia[]
- The song is an acapella and serves as the introduction to Ariana Grande’s fourth studio album, Sweetener. The song is also a cover of The Four Seasons' “An Angel Cried.”[6]
- It was originally going to have an instrumental underneath it, but Max Martin decided that it was better without it.
- With a duration of 37 seconds, this is Grande's second shortest song to date.
- This song was originally composed by Charles Calello, Grande's late grandfather's best friend, but she was not aware of this until after she recorded it.
- Bob Gaudio, one of the original Four Seasons, wrote the lyrics.
- The song acts as the opening song to both the Sweetener World Tour and the Rift Tour.
- This is the only song off of Sweetener that Grande didn't write.
- This is because the song is a cover of the last verse of The Four Season’s "An Angel Cried".
- Despite not containing any profanity, the song is marked as Explicit on streaming services. This is also the case for "Pete Davidson".
Videos[]
Gallery[]
“deep breaths, tight chest, life, death” To view the Raindrops (An Angel Cried) gallery, click here.
|
Lyrics[]
[Intro]
When raindrops fell down from the sky
The day you left me, an angel cried
Oh, she cried, an angel cried
She cried
References[]
- ↑ JustJared - Ariana Grande Reveals Title of Fourth Album: 'Sweetener'
- ↑ Twitter - Savan Kotecha about "Raindrops"
- ↑ Twitter - Snippet of 'Raindrops'
- ↑ Ariana Grande: Sweetener – celebrating the art of being okay
- ↑ Review: Ariana Grande’s ‘Sweetener’ brings angelic vocals with most personal album to date
- ↑ “raindrops (an angel cried)” lyrics on genius.com