Beginning in 1987 in London, England, Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) released hip hop-inspired and sample-heavy records as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and, on one occasion (the British number one hit single "Doctorin' the Tardis"), as The Timelords. As The KLF, Drummond and Cauty pioneered the genres "stadium house" (rave music with a pop-rock production and sampled crowd noise) and "ambient house". The KLF released a series of international top-ten hits on their own KLF Communications record label, and became the highest internationally selling UK band of 1991. The duo also published a book, The Manual, and worked on a road movie called The White Room.
From the outset, they adopted the philosophy espoused by esoteric novels The Illuminatus! Trilogy, gaining notoriety for various anarchic situationist manifestations, including the defacement of billboard adverts, the posting of prominent cryptic advertisements in NME magazine and the mainstream press, and highly distinctive and unusual performances on Top of the Pops. Their most notorious performance was at the February 1992 Brit Awards, where they horrified the formal audience with a hardcore thrash version of "3 A.M. Eternal" (performed with the justifiably named Extreme Noise Terror) that also included Drummond spraying the crowd with blanks from an automatic rifle and the post-performance announcement, "The KLF have left the music industry." Topping their already extreme actions, Cauty and Drummond delivered the carcass of a dead sheep -- plus eight gallons of blood -- to the lobby of the hotel after-party. In May 1992 the duo deleted their entire back catalogue.
With The KLF's profits, Drummond and Cauty established the K Foundation and sought to subvert the art world, staging an alternative art award for the worst artist of the year and burning a million pounds sterling. Although Drummond and Cauty remained true to their word of May 1992—the KLF Communications catalogue remains deleted—they have released a small number of new tracks since then, as the K Foundation, The One World Orchestra and most recently, in 1997, as 2K. Cauty has provided remixing services for bands as diverse as Hawkwind and Placebo, under the name Scourge of the Earth.
The KLF catalogue remained absent from digital platforms until January 1, 2021, when an 8-track compilation of their 7" hit singles 1988-1991 - Solid State Logik 1 was released on streaming platforms, marking the 1st installment of a series called Samplecity Thru Trancentral.
Make It Rain
The KLF Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You been waiting
We been waitin'
But the rain don't come
Rain won't come
Rain won't come
You been waiting
I been waiting
But the rain won't come
Rain won't come
The rain won't come
Hay, make it rain
Hey, make it rain
Pump, pump a little harder
Pump, pump a little harder
Say yeah
Say yeah
Say yeah
Say yeah
Hey, hey yeah, make it rain
Hey, make it rain
Pump, pump a little harder
Pump, pump a little harder
Pump, pump a little harder
Pump, pump a little harder
Pump, pump a little harder
Pump, pump a little harder
Say yeah
Say yeah
Rain, oh won't you make it rain
Oh, won't you rain
Rain, make it rain
Pump, pump a little harder
I been waiting
You been waiting
The KLF's song "Make It Rain" has a strikingly simple but powerful message. The opening verse speaks of a prolonged wait for rain that hasn't come, which may either signify the metaphorical yearning for a change or an actual wait for a rain that hasn't happened. The repetition of "rain won't come" creates an underlying tension that parallels the frustration of waiting for a positive change that never arrives. Subsequently, the chorus emerges, where the singer implores someone to "make it rain," which may symbolize an appeal to a higher power, political or social change or a call to take action to bring forth a positive transformation.
The lyrics "pump, pump a little harder" could signify the effort required to bring about change. As if to say, we must put in more effort to achieve the change we want to see. The repetition in the second verse enforces the urgency and the shared desire for a change. It's as if the singer is saying, "we're all in the same boat, let's work together to make things better." The song ends with a final plea for rain to come, with the repetition of "make it rain" and "pump, pump a little harder" becoming more intense as if the stakes are higher, and the urgency to bring forth change is stronger.
Line by Line Meaning
I been waiting
I have been patiently waiting for something to happen
You been waiting
You have also been patiently waiting for the same thing to happen
We been waitin'
Both of us have been waiting for quite some time now
But the rain don't come
The thing we have been waiting for, the rain, is not happening
Rain won't come
Despite our waiting, the rain is still not happening
Rain won't come
We reiterate that the rain is not happening
You been waiting
We remind ourselves that you have been waiting just like me
I been waiting
Again, we remind ourselves that I have been waiting too
And we been waitin' so long
We emphasize that we have been waiting for a long time already
But the rain won't come
We repeat that the rain is still not happening despite our waiting
Rain won't come
We repeat it again to drive the point home
Hey, make it rain
We finally come up with a request for the rain to happen
Pump, pump a little harder
To make the rain happen, we urge someone to exert extra effort
Pump, pump a little harder
We ask for the extra effort to continue
Say yeah
We cheer ourselves up and encourage one another with a positive exclamation
Say yeah
Once again, we repeat the positive exclamation
Hey, hey yeah, make it rain
We use different words to convey the same request for the rain to happen
Hey, make it rain
We repeat our request for the rain to happen
Pump, pump a little harder
Again, we urge someone to exert extra effort to make the rain happen
Pump, pump a little harder
We repeat the same request for the extra effort to be exerted
Pump, pump a little harder
Still, we request for more effort to make the rain happen
Pump, pump a little harder
We once again request continued extra effort to make the rain happen
Say yeah
We repeat our positive exclamation to keep ourselves motivated
Say yeah
We repeat the same positive exclamation to keep the positivity high
Rain, oh won't you make it rain
We appeal directly to the rain to happen
Oh, won't you rain
We repeat our appeal to the rain to happen
Rain, make it rain
We make a direct request for the rain to happen
Pump, pump a little harder
We once again request for extra effort to make the rain happen
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: James Cauty, William Drummond, Ernest Drummond
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Валерия Алекс
One of the best rhythm of 90's! Bravo KLF!
Clint Nicksic
Best atmospheric song!!! Way ahead of the times!!! Used to dance to this back in 1991
Firebrand TF
Fantastic, cool theme! Thanks for sharing!
TheBatwave
This is my jam!
MrGroenland1
Un immense album de 1991.
La dernière grande décennie musicale.
Un morceau pop/funk/electro inclassable.
1991 ? 1e album de Seal
Evgeny
Ох эта музыка детства
Kristin Ollermann
verry good song.genial
marcio sene
Amazing!
chanel grégory
Remember de ouf 😘
David Thomson
Loud and loud only thi’ shall be played ✌🏻