We’ve all been there. Sitting in the car, windows foggy, staring at the drizzle while a high-pitched, desperate voice wails about morphine and missed sunlight. You know the one. Honestly, Bruno Mars songs It Will Rain is essentially the national anthem for anyone who has ever felt like their world was ending because of a breakup. But there is a weird, almost frantic energy to this track that feels different from his usual "Uptown Funk" swagger or the "24K Magic" glitz.
It’s darker. Grittier. Sorta hopeless.
Released back in late 2011, "It Will Rain" didn't just land on the radio; it haunted it. It was the lead single for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, which explains a lot of the melodrama. If you’re trying to capture the vibe of a hundred-year-old vampire falling for a human girl in a rainy town in Washington, you don't go for a sunny bop. You go for soul-crushing agony.
The Weird History of How Bruno Mars Songs It Will Rain Came to Be
Believe it or not, the song wasn't originally written for Edward and Bella. Bruno was actually messing around with the melody while on the Hooligans in Wondaland Tour in the States. He had his guitar. He had a hook. But he didn't have a reason to finish it. It was just another unfinished demo collecting dust in his brain until he got a call from the Twilight producers.
They wanted a hit. He had a half-baked masterpiece.
Bruno actually went to see an early cut of the movie to get the "vibe" right. He saw the wedding scenes. He felt the tension. Suddenly, that unfinished tour song had a purpose. He basically went back to the studio with his production team, The Smeezingtons (which sounds like a group of Victorian chimney sweeps but was actually just Bruno, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine), and finished the track.
He told Billboard at the time that the Twilight movies are essentially dark love stories. To him, this song was the "darker side of love." It shows. The opening line about leaving morphine at the door is a heavy way to start a pop song. It’s not just a "I miss you" track; it's a "I literally cannot function without you" track.
Why the Lyrics Still Hit So Hard
There is something deeply uncomfortable about the lyrics when you really look at them. He talks about how there will be no sunlight if he loses his girl. He mentions that her parents hate him—"I’ll never be your mother’s favorite, your daddy can’t even look me in the eye." That’s a specific kind of pain. It’s not just romantic; it’s social. It's the feeling of being an outsider fighting to keep the only thing that makes life bearable.
Some critics back in the day actually hated this.
They called it "over-dramatized." Some even compared the morphine line to a "safe" drug reference meant to sound edgy without actually saying anything. But if you've ever been 17 and heartbroken, that melodrama feels like the most honest thing in the world. Bruno's vocals are what save it from being cheesy. He doesn't just sing the notes; he sounds like he's physically breaking apart by the time the bridge hits.
The production is interesting too:
- The Tempo: It’s a slow-burn 72 beats per minute.
- The Key: Written in D major, which is traditionally a "happy" or "triumphant" key, but here it feels heavy.
- The Instrumentation: You’ve got that steady, almost heartbeat-like drum and then those cinematic strings at the end that make it feel like the world is actually ending.
Where It Fits in the Bruno Mars Universe
When you look at the catalog of Bruno Mars songs It Will Rain stands out because it doesn't belong to a main album. It was a one-off for a soundtrack. Bruno has been very protective of that distinction. He didn't put it on Unorthodox Jukebox. He didn't try to make it fit his retro-soul evolution. It exists in its own rainy bubble.
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Still, it was a massive success. It hit number three on the Billboard Hot 100. It stayed on the charts for nearly 30 weeks. People clearly connected with the "darker side" of Bruno. It proved he wasn't just the "Just the Way You Are" guy who wrote sweet wedding songs. He could do the "if you leave me I'm going to jump off a bridge" vibe just as effectively.
Honestly, the music video is probably the most "2011" thing you’ll ever see. It’s directed by Phil Pinto and Bruno himself. It's got the moody lighting, the grainy film look, and clips of the movie spliced in. Bruno is wearing his signature Chuck Taylors, walking through a rainy apartment, looking absolutely miserable. It’s peak emo-pop.
The Lasting Impact
Does it still hold up? Yeah, mostly.
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If you listen to it today, you can hear the seeds of what he would do later with Silk Sonic—that deep, soulful R&B influence—but wrapped in a radio-friendly pop package. It’s a bridge between his early "bubblegum" days and the sophisticated musician he became.
It’s also a reminder of a time when movie soundtracks actually mattered. Back in 2011, getting the lead single for a Twilight movie was like winning the lottery. It guaranteed you'd be heard by millions of teenagers who would then play the song until the digital files literally wore out.
If you're revisiting the song today, try listening to the "live" versions from his Las Vegas residency. He still plays it. He hasn't retired it. Even after all the Grammys and the Super Bowl shows, he still taps into that raw, desperate energy. It’s a testament to his range. One minute he’s doing a James Brown split, and the next he’s making you feel like your heart is being put through a paper shredder.
What to do next with this track:
- Check out the isolated vocals: If you really want to appreciate the technique, find a video of his raw vocal take. His "coos" and melismatic runs in the bridge are masterclass-level R&B.
- Compare it to "Grenade": Both songs deal with extreme sacrifice for love. "Grenade" is about what he'd do for her; "It Will Rain" is about what happens after she’s gone. It's a fascinating look at how his songwriting evolved over just one year.
- Watch the live Park MGM performance: He’s been performing it in Vegas as recently as late 2025. Seeing how a 40-year-old Bruno interprets a song he wrote in his mid-20s adds a whole new layer of maturity to those desperate lyrics.