Umbrella

Song meaning of Umbrella by Rihanna

“Before that song, Rihanna was just a pop-single girl,” said Terius “the Dream” Nash, who co-wrote “Umbrella.” “Now she got paparazzi following her around.”

The song was an international number one transformed Rihanna into a global superstar

Incredibly, Britney Spears turned down the song before it was offered to Rihanna “I’m so thankful for it,” she said. “I prayed for this song.”

"Umbrella" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna from her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad released in 2007.

It features American rapper Jay-Z, who co-wrote the song with its producers Tricky Stewart and Kuk Harrell, with additional writing from The-Dream.

American songwriter and producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart convened with Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Kuk Harrell to create new material.

In the studio, Stewart was "messing around with a walloping hi-hat sound", which he found in the free music software GarageBand, which is included in all Mac computers.

With his attention caught by the sound, Nash asked Stewart what he was doing: "Oh, my Gosh, what is that beat?". When Stewart incorporated chords onto the hi-hat, "immediately the words popped into [Nash's] head"; he went to the vocal booth and started singing.

Nash wrote the first two verses and the chorus over Stewart's skeleton track.

They quickly wrote the lyrics, completing the first verse in 60 seconds. They continued into writing, adding the hook while "[Stewart] would put the next chord".

In a matter of hours, they had recorded a demo of the track.

The song was written with American pop singer Britney Spears in mind, whom Stewart had previously worked with on her 2003 single "Me Against the Music".

Stewart and Nash thought that Spears, who had "her personal life ... a little out of control" at the time, needed a hit as a musical comeback.

Spears was working on her fifth album, Blackout, so they sent a copy of the demo to Spears' management. However, Spears did not hear of the song because her label rejected it, claiming they had enough songs for her to record.

Following the management's rejection of the track, it was given to British singer-songwriter Taio Cruz, who failed to convince his record company to release it.

It was then opted by Island Def Jam chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid, a friend of Stewart who established his first studio.

Reid immediately sent the demo to Rihanna, who was also positive of it: "When the demo first started playing, I was like, This is interesting, this is weird. ... But the song kept getting better. I listened to it over and over. I said, 'I need this record. I want to record it tomorrow."

Reid admits, "I made the producers an offer they couldn't refuse." and successfully persuaded Stewart's camp to Rihanna to record the song, they "just couldn't say no".

On giving up the record to Reid's camp, Mark Stewart comments, "We knew Rihanna's album would be out in a few months. Mary wasn't even in an album cycle yet. We made the sensible business decision."

Initially, Stewart admitted he was still reluctant as to whether Rihanna was the right artist to record the song, but following the recording of the "ella, ella" catch phrase, he felt they were onto "something".

Following Rihanna's recording, Def Jam CEO-rapper Jay-Z added his rap.

However, Jay-Z rewrote his verse without the awareness of Stewart and Nash.

Stewart could not understand it, but later realized it made "sense" instead of the first version. Stewart noted that "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".

Entertainment Weekly ranked the song number one on the 10 Best Singles of 2007.

Rolling Stone and Time listed the song at number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007.

At the 50th Grammy Awards in 2008, "Umbrella" also earned Rihanna and Jay-Z, a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

"Umbrella" was a commercial success, topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the United Kingdom, where the song's chart performance coincided with the prolonged rain and flooding, it was one of the most played songs on radio in the 2000s decade.

Umbrella lyrics by Rihanna

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 (Hov)

No clouds in my stones

Let it rain, I hydroplane in the bank

Coming down with the Dow Jones

When the clouds come, we gone, we Roc-A-Fella

We fly higher than weather, in G5's or better

You know me (You know me)

In anticipation for precipitation, stack chips for the rainy day

Jay—Rain Man is back

With Little Miss 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 shine, we shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath, I'ma stick it out to the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we'll 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 war 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 shine, we shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath, I'ma stick it out to the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we'll 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 gon' and let the rain pour

I'll be all you need and more

Because

When the sun shine, we shine together

Told you I'll be here forever

Said I'll always be your friend

Took an oath, I'ma stick it out to the end

Now that it's raining more than ever

Know that we'll 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 here to 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 here to me

Come into me

It's pouring rain

It's pouring rain