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Cover of August and Everything After by Counting Crows
Cover: August and Everything After

Song · Counting Crows

“Rain King” by Counting Crows

From the album August and Everything After (1993)

“Rain King” by Counting Crows appears on 30 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 1994 and 2026. It was first released in 1993 on the album August and Everything After. Its best result is #12 on the WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1994. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #84 alternative song of 1994 and #1,311 alternative song of all time.

30countdowns
10stations
#12best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1994–2026years charted

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Rain King

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"Rain King" came off August and Everything After, Counting Crows' 1993 debut, as its third single, and its title is a nod to Saul Bellow's novel Henderson the Rain King. Adam Duritz had read it as a student at Berkeley and fixed on its hero, Eugene Henderson, a man who spills his joy and grief over everybody near him and leaves a mess wherever he goes.

T-Bone Burnett produced, and the arrangement rambles like a back-porch jam that caught fire: Duritz on piano and harmonica, Charlie Gillingham's Hammond and accordion, David Immerglück on mandolin and pedal steel, and Maria McKee, Gary Louris and Mark Olson swelling the harmonies. American Songwriter later ranked it among the band's 10 best songs.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 87 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1994 107
1994 76 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1994 101
1994 12 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1994 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 211 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 809 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 1142 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1145 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1148 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1147 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 1201 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1132 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 1132 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 313 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) 885
2005 1132 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 945 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 936 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 962 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 244 WYEP WYEP 913 Essential Songs 913
2010 990 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2010 677 WXPN WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) 885
2011 1022 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1077 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1131 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 590 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) 885
2020 1319 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 253 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2022 205 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2023 284 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2024 397 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2026 421 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Charting alongside it in 1994

Best songs of 1994 →
  1. 1Black Hole SunSoundgarden
  2. 2CloserNine Inch Nails
  3. 3Self-EsteemThe Offspring
  4. 4Interstate Love SongStone Temple Pilots
  5. 5Come Out and PlayThe Offspring
  6. 6Basket CaseGreen Day

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