"Laughter in the Rain" is a song composed and recorded by Neil Sedaka, with lyrics by Phil Cody. It includes a 20-second saxophone solo by Jim Horn. The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1975.

Background

The song was released on Elton John's Rocket label in the US and on the Polydor label in the UK and elsewhere. After hearing a version of "Laughter in the Rain" by singer Lea Roberts on the radio several weeks before the planned release of his single, Sedaka phoned Elton John to have MCA Records rush the Sedaka version to release within five days. The opening chord of the chorus was based on that used by John in "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", which Sedaka has described as a "drop-dead chord." He combined that with a pentatonic melody inspired by Aaron Copland. Cody recalled experiencing writer's block when initially attempting to write the lyrics at first, but after a two-hour outdoor nap aided by a small amount of marijuana, the lyrics came to him, allowing him to finish the song in about five minutes: "Neil and I started writing the song early in the day and I just wasn't getting it. So, I went for a walk, smoked a very small amount of weed and sat under a tree and took a short nap. It was a bright sunny day, not a cloud in the sky and yet, when I got back to my post at Sedaka's right elbow, the lyric just fell onto the page with very little effort from me. Somewhere, in my consciousness, I guess I was having a Gene Kelly moment."

Chart performance

In the U.S., "Laughter in the Rain" reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 1, 1975 (Sedaka's first single to top the Hot 100 since 1962). The song spent two weeks at the top of the adult contemporary chart. The record was also a major hit in Canada, reaching #2 on the pop singles chart and #1 on the adult contemporary chart. It was also released in the U.K., where it spent nine weeks on the Singles Chart, peaking at #15 on June 22, 1974.

Weekly charts

Lea Roberts Neil Sedaka

Year-end charts

Personnel

Other sources