The Rain in Spain
Encyclopedia
"The Rain in Spain" is a song
from the musical
My Fair Lady
, with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
. The song was published in 1956
.
The song is a key turning point in the plotline of the musical. Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering have been drilling Eliza Doolittle incessantly with speech exercises, trying to break her Cockney
accent speech pattern. The key lyric in the song is "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain", which contains five words that a Cockney would pronounce with an [aɪ] – more like "eye" than the Received Pronunciation
diphthong [eɪ]. With the three of them nearly exhausted, Eliza finally "gets it", and recites the sentence with all long-a's. The trio breaks into song, repeating this key phrase as well as singing other exercises correctly, such as "In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen", and "How kind of you to let me come", in which Eliza had failed before by dropping the leading 'H'.
According to The Disciple and His Devil, the biography of Gabriel Pascal
by his wife Valerie, it was Gabriel Pascal who introduced the famous phonetic exercises "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" and "In Hertford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen" into Pygmalion
in 1938, the first of which wound up leading to the song in My Fair Lady.
Spanish rain does not actually stay mainly in the plain. It falls mainly in the northern mountains. In Spanish, the phrase was translated as La lluvia en Sevilla es una maravilla (The rain in Seville
is marvelous).
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
from the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
, with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...
. The song was published in 1956
1956 in music
-Events:*January 26 – Buddy Holly's first recording sessions for Decca Records take place in Nashville, Tennessee*Roy Orbison signs with Sun Records*January 27 – Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel" / "I Was the One" is released...
.
The song is a key turning point in the plotline of the musical. Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering have been drilling Eliza Doolittle incessantly with speech exercises, trying to break her Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
accent speech pattern. The key lyric in the song is "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain", which contains five words that a Cockney would pronounce with an [aɪ] – more like "eye" than the Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...
diphthong [eɪ]. With the three of them nearly exhausted, Eliza finally "gets it", and recites the sentence with all long-a's. The trio breaks into song, repeating this key phrase as well as singing other exercises correctly, such as "In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen", and "How kind of you to let me come", in which Eliza had failed before by dropping the leading 'H'.
According to The Disciple and His Devil, the biography of Gabriel Pascal
Gabriel Pascal
Gabriel Pascal was a Hungarian film producer and director.Born 1894 in Arad, Austria-Hungary , Pascal was the first film producer to bring the plays of George Bernard Shaw successfully to the screen. His most famous production was Pygmalion, for which Pascal himself received an Academy Award...
by his wife Valerie, it was Gabriel Pascal who introduced the famous phonetic exercises "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" and "In Hertford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen" into Pygmalion
Pygmalion (1938 film)
Pygmalion is a 1938 British film based on the George Bernard Shaw play of the same title, and adapted by him for the screen. It stars Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller....
in 1938, the first of which wound up leading to the song in My Fair Lady.
Spanish rain does not actually stay mainly in the plain. It falls mainly in the northern mountains. In Spanish, the phrase was translated as La lluvia en Sevilla es una maravilla (The rain in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
is marvelous).
Translations
The musical has been translated into many languages, with Eliza speaking Berlin, Vienna, Stockholm, Göteborg, Amsterdam, and Budapest dialects. Here is the equivalent of "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" in various languages:- Afrikaans: "Die Spaanse maan het in sy baan gaan staan"
- Arabic: "سيدتي الجميلة: أنت القلب الكبير..أنت نعمة وإحسان..بنعمتك تختال علينا "
- Chinese: "西班牙的雨大多数落在平原上"
- Czech: "Déšť dští ve Španělsku zvlášť tam kde je pláň"
- Danish: "En snegl på vejen er tegn på regn i Spanien"
- Dutch (Version 1 and 3): "Het Spaanse graan heeft de orkaan doorstaan"
- Dutch (Version 2): "De franje in Spanje is meestal niet oranje"
- Estonian: "Hispaanias on hirmsad vihmahood"
- Finnish (Version 1): "Vie fiestaan hienon miekkamiehen tie"
- Finnish (Version 2): "En säiden tähden lähde Madridiin"
- French: "Le ciel serein d'Espagne est sans embrun"
- French (Quebec) : "La plaine madrilène plait à la reine"
- German: "Es grünt so grün wenn Spaniens Blüten blühen"
- German: "Es blüht so grün wie Blüten blüh'n im Frühling"
- Hebrew: "ברד ירד בדרום ספרד הערב" ("Barad yarad bidrom sfarad haerev": Hail fell in southern Spain this evening.)
- Hungarian: "Lenn délen édes éjen édent remélsz"
- Icelandic (Version 1): "Á Spáni hundur lá við lund á grund"
- Icelandic (Version 2): "Á Spáni er til að bili þil í byl"
- Italian (original performance on stage): "In Spagna s'è bagnata la campagna"
- Italian (film version): "La rana in Spagna gracida in campagna"
- Italian (later performances on stage): "La pioggia in Spagna bagna la campagna"
- Japanese: "スペインの雨はおもに平原に降る"
- Korean: "스페인 평원에 비가 내려요"
- Marathi: "Ti Phularaani"
- Norwegian (Version 1): "Det gol og mol i solen en spanjol"
- Norwegian (Version 2): "De spanske land har alltid manglet vann"
- Persian: "باران در سپاین می بارد فراوان"
- Polish: "W Hiszpanii mży, gdy dżdżyste przyjdą dni"
- Portuguese (Version 1): "O rei de Roma ruma a Madrid"
- Portuguese (Version 2): "Atrás do trem as tropas vem trotando"
- Russian (Version 1): "На дворе - трава, а на траве - дрова" ("Na dvorye trava, a na travye drova")
- Russian (Version 2:) "Карл у Клары украл кораллы" ("Karl ooh Klary ukral korally")
- Russian (Version 3:) "В Севилье град крупнее, говорят" ("F Sevilye grat krupneye, govaryat")
- Spanish (Version 1): "La lluvia en Sevilla es una pura maravilla"
- Spanish (Version 2): "La lluvia en España bellos valles baña"
- Spanish (Mexican cast) "El rey que hay en Madrid se fue a Aranjuez"
- Swedish: "Den spanska räven rev en annan räv"
- Swedish (version 2): "Nederbörden och skörden" ("All nederbörd förstörde körsbärsskörden")
- Turkish: "Ispanya’da yağmur, her yer çamur"
- Ukrainian: "Дощі в Афінах частіше йдуть в долинах" ("Doshchi v Afinah chastishe jdut' v dolynah")
Usage in popular culture
- In an episode of Dexter's LaboratoryDexter's LaboratoryDexter's Laboratory is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Cartoon Network Studios . The show is about a boy named Dexter who has an enormous secret laboratory filled with an endless collection of his inventions...
called "Accent You Hate", Dexter, along with two other kids, try to pronounce the phrase "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" correctly without their significant accents (one kid is Irish, the other is French) or else they would get beaten up by a bully who hates "funny accents." - In the Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode One If by Clam, Two If by Sea, Stewie tries to teach a girl to lose her Cockney accent. Together, he and Eliza sing a parody, "The Life of The Wife is Ended by the Knife." - The satirical revue Forbidden BroadwayForbidden BroadwayForbidden Broadway is an Off-Broadway satirical revue conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini. The original version of the revue opened on January 15, 1982 at Palsson's Supper Club in New York City and ran for 2,332 performances. Alessandrini has rewritten the show over a dozen...
set up playwright David MametDavid MametDavid Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
as being exasperated with Madonna'sMadonna (entertainer)Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
acting style with the lyrics, "I strain in vain to train Madonna's brain." The song is included on the album Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 2Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 2Forbidden Broadway, Volume 2 is the second album released for Forbidden Broadway , an off-Broadway musical that spoofs Broadway's latest musicals. The album was recorded and mixed in February 1991 in New York at Sear Sound....
. - The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode My Fair LaddyMy Fair Laddy"My Fair Laddy" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons seventeenth season. It first aired on February 26, 2006. This is the first episode that centers around Groundskeeper Willie. The title and the plot is based on the Broadway musical and film My Fair Lady.-Plot:When Mrs...
is itself a parody of My Fair Lady, and includes the song "Not On My Clothes" (with the lyrics, "What flows from the nose does not go on my clothes"). - The Rain in Spain sequence was parodied on Foster's Home for Imaginary FriendsFoster's Home for Imaginary FriendsFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends is an American animated television series created and produced at Cartoon Network Studios by animator Craig McCracken, creator of The Powerpuff Girls. It first premiered on Cartoon Network on August 13, 2004, as a 90-minute television movie, which led to a series...
as "The Sleet in Crete Stays Neatly in the Street". - In the House (TV Series)House (TV series)House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
episode 97 Seconds, Dr. Wilson says to House "Interestingly, the rain in Spain doesn't actually fall in the plain all that much." - In "Gilmore GirlsGilmore GirlsGilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
", Lorelai Gilmore remarks, "Oh no, it's raining in Spain! But since the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain...", to which Rory replies, "...looks like Italy for us.", when discussing their trip to Europe with Emily and Richard Gilmore. - In an episode of the US version of Whose Line Is It Anyway, Colin MochrieColin MochrieColin Andrew Mochrie is a Scottish Canadian actor and improvisational comedian, most famous for his appearances on the British and US versions of television improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.-Early life:...
recites the following joke in which the punchline parodies the song title: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer, dead at 53. I know, it is sad. Over Barcelona, today, the famed reindeer was hit by a flock of seagulls and a 747. Eyewitnesses report that the Reindeer in Spain was hit mainly by the plane." - The song If It's LoveIf It's Love (Train song)"If It's Love" is the second single from Train's fifth studio album, Save Me, San Francisco.It debuted at #31 on Billboard 's Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart. and has since become Train's second-consecutive #1 hit from the album, as well as their fourth #1 overall...
by TrainTrain (band)Train is an American pop rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1994. The band currently comprises a core trio of Patrick Monahan , Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood ....
contains the lyric "We can travel to Spain where the rain falls mainly on the plain, sounds insane." - In Stephen King's book The Gunslinger he writes a parody titled The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain.