umbrella

Rihanna made it rain all over the world with the libidinous voodoo of this plea for possession and protection.  'Umbrella' was written by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter.  Stewart, Nash, and Harrell built the song around a hi-hat sound that came with GarageBand.  They wrote and recorded a demo very quickly and tried to shop it around to  Britney Spears, Taio Cruz, and Mary J. Blige; but  Island Def Jam chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid convinced them to give it to Rihanna for her third album, 'Good Girl Gone Bad'.  Harrell and Stewart produced the recording at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles.  The songwriters were unsure about the choice until they heard her take on the song.   Stewart says,  "When she recorded the 'ellas,' you knew it was about to be the jump-off, and your life was about to change if you had anything to do with that record."  Later, Jay-Z added his rap, changing the lyrics.  Stewart recalls: "There was actually another version before that one that he did. And the first one was perfect. And right before they were about to press it up, he went and changed his verse. And nobody even knew he changed his verse. At the time when he did, I didn't really understand. But now, when I go back every once in a while and listen to the old rap, what he wrote makes so much better sense. And from a songwriter's standpoint, he just really made it more about the song, with the metaphors about umbrellas and about the weather versus what he had before."

'Umbrella' went to number one in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.  In the UK, it made its debut at number one and spent ten consecutive weeks there. Worldwide it has sold more than six and half million copies, making it one of the biggest singles of all time.   While it was on the top of the British charts, the country was experiencing heavy rainfall and flooding.  Similar occurrences in New Zealand and Romania have led to speculation about a 'Rihanna Curse'.  

Rihanna said:  "I definitely knew that it was one of the most original sounds that I'd heard for a while. But a lot of people didn't really understand it. They thought the repetition was annoying. But I knew that was what people would catch on to right away, because that's what stuck in my head. People didn't get the lyric either...An umbrella is protection, it protects you from rain. The rain in this case is negativeness and vulnerability."







http://www.rihannanow.com/













Uh huh, uh huh
Yeah, Rihanna
Uh huh, uh huh 
Good girl gone bad
Uh huh, uh huh 
Take three, action
Uh huh, uh huh, ho

No clouds in my stones
Let it rain; I hydroplane into fame
Comin' down at the Dow Jones
When the clouds come, we gone
We Rocafella
We fly higher than weather
In G5's or better
You know me
In anticipation for precipitation stack chips for the rainy day
Rain man is back with little Ms. Sunshine
Rihanna, where you at?

You have my heart, and we'll never be worlds apart
Maybe in magazines, but you'll still be my star
Baby, 'cause in the dark
You can't see shiny cars
And that's when you need me there
With you I'll always share
Because

When the sun shines, we shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be your friend
Took an oath that I'm a stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh

These fancy things will never come in between
You're part of my entity, here for infinity
When the world has took its part
When the world has dealt its cards
If the hand is hard, together we'll mend your heart
Because

When the sun shines, we shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be your friend
Took an oath that I'm a stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh

You can run into my arms
It's okay, don't be alarmed
(Come into me)
(There's no distance in between our love)
So I'm gonna let the rain pour
I'll be all you need and more
Because

When the sun shines, we shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be your friend
Took an oath that I'm a stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh

It's raining, raining
Ooh, baby, it's raining, raining
Baby, come into me
Come into me
It's raining, raining
Ooh, baby, it's raining, raining
You can always come into me
Come into me
It's pouring rain
It's pouring rain
Come into me
Come into me
It's pouring rain
It's pouring rain