Guitarist Jimmy Page originally constructed the melody of this song at his home in Plumpton, England, where he had recently installed a studio mixing console.
A new Vista model, it was partly made up from the Pye Mobile Studio which had been used to record the group's 1970 Royal Albert Hall performance and the Who's Live at Leeds album.
[6] Page wrote "The Rain Song" in response to George Harrison complaining to Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham that the group were unable to write ballads.
[12] Writing for the same publication in 2003, Gavin Edwards said that Page and Plant "rose to the challenge" presented by Harrison's comment, and the band created "seven minutes of exquisite heartache".
[13] In his review of the 2014 Houses of the Holy (Deluxe Edition), Kristofer Lenz of Consequence of Sound described "The Rain Song" as "one of the most sentimental tracks in Led Zeppelin's catalog" and called it "patient and beautifully arranged".
[14] Lenz also wrote that Plant's lyrics and vocals "infuse a sense of humanity, loss, and transcendence – a touch of emotional maturity".
On March 28, 2023, Jimmy Page released a previously unheard early demo of The Rain Song on his personal website and Youtube channel, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Houses Of The Holy.