Chris's Picks: Robin in the Rain

[By Christopher Eckart, from the Spring 2026 issue]

“Robin in the rain, such a saucy fellow...” The voice of Raffi first brought this image of a plucky, happy bird enjoying wet weather to my imagination. He recorded ``Robin in the Rain" in 1976 with Bob and Dan Lanois and Bob Doidge, not at the legendary Grant Avenue Studios in downtown Hamilton, but in the basement of the Lanois family home in neighbouring Ancaster, Ontario. While Raffi and his production team brought this song to the attention and ears of millions of kids and parents, that saucy Robin is not Raffi’s creation.

Claire Senior Burke—a teacher at Toronto Normal school in the 1940s—wrote ``Robin in the Rain" and published it in Scissors and Songs Book 2 in 1939. I think most of us are introduced to songs by hearing them, so it’s really interesting to contemplate opening a book, reading music, and construing a song in our imaginations. Is that what Raffi did? I don’t know, but I take this as a little lesson to myself and other music makers and students to invest at least a little time and thought into learning and interpreting written music. It’s difficult for me, but imagine hearing a song in your own voice in your head the first time you encounter it; or discovering a song through the written poetry of its lyrics, then puzzling out the lines and spaces to discover a melody you’ve never heard.

Hearing Raffi’s Lanois-produced version, I know that "Robin in the Rain" is a remarkable song melodically and, I think, is worthy of a place in the Jazz standards songbook. The melody invites lots of chord movements and admits harmonic complexity while really anchoring the message and the image of that stalwart Robin prancing happily through the garden and threatening the wet worms. The performances by Ken Whiteley (guitar) and Chris Whiteley (trumpet) really add the early jazz flavour and soul to the recording of this composition and stand in a sometimes tense contrast to the plodding electric bass and Raffi’s straight-up delivery. The harmonic colours of the jazz chords and the trumpet fills that add some rhythmic interest are musical elements that elevate the melody and give the whimsical lyrics a really good, lush garden to run around in. While the Robin in the Rain and Raffi’s voice in this song are the standouts and stars, we wouldn’t be hearing and picturing them in a fully realised garden if it weren’t for the genius of Claire Senior Burke’s lyrics and melody and the thoughtful music-readers, players, and producers who interpreted and performed this classic song.