"Stand a Little Rain" is the title of a song written by Donny Lowery and Don Schlitz

Don Schlitz

Donald Alan "Don" Schlitz, Jr. is a country music songwriter. For his songwriting efforts, Schlitz has earned two Grammys, as well as four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards...

, and recorded by American country music group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded...

. It was released in June 1986 as the first new single from the album Twenty Years of Dirt

Twenty Years of Dirt

Twenty Years of Dirt is the 1986 album from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It is a collection of hits from their 20 year career. The album contained one new song, Stand A Little Rain, which reached #5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The album reached 10 on the US Country charts...

. The song reached #5 on the U.S. Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart and #3 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.

Critical reception

Kip Kirby, of Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that the band "delivers a slow, melancholy descant on the strengthening power of adversity." He goes on to call it a "change of pace from their whimsical, 'Partners, Brothers and Friends

Partners, Brothers and Friends

"Partners, Brothers and Friends" is a the title of a song written by Jeff Hanna and Jimmy Ibbotson and recorded by American country music group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It was released in February 1986, as the third single and title track from the album Partners, Brothers and Friends...

'.

In popular culture

During April 1992, the song was the unwitting subject of one of George H. W. Bush

George H. W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

's malapropism

Malapropism

A malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".-Etymology:...

s when he referred to the group as the "Nitty Ditty, Nitty City Great" at a country music awards ceremony in Nashville:

"I said to them, you know, there's another one that the Nitty Ditty, Nitty City Great -- [laughter] -- that they did, and it says, "If you want to see a rainbow, you've got to stand a little rain." We've had a little rain. New Hampshire has had too much rain. A lot of families are hurting."

This unusual phrasing was repeatedly used as an example of Bush's garbled syntax

Syntax

In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....

 (notably, in Dave Barry

Dave Barry

David "Dave" Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.-Biography:Barry was born in Armonk, New York,...

's book Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway), which in turn helped publicize the band.

Chart performance

"Stand a Little Rain" debuted at #61 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of June 21, 1986.

Chart (1986)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	5
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	3