El Somnambulo considers David Ruffin of the Temptations the greatest soul singer of all time, and I’m not going to disagree. And it’s not just because of his great voice — watch him express this song’s pain in this live clip. This is not, like most TV appearances by pop acts at the time, a group lip-synching to their recording — you can tell because Ruffin flubs the lyrics on the second verse (“To the world outside my tears I refuse to explain” is the line from the third verse, which he repeats when the third verse comes around). The ending is also different from the recorded version, which means that effortless falsetto on “eases the pain” was something Ruffin could summon on command. As a bonus, the performance shows off the patented four-headed microphone stand that Ruffin invented for the band’s backup vocalists.
The song’s heartbreak is real (note to Mike D: the exception that proves the rule). Motown staff lyricist Rodger Penzabene, 23 years old at the time, wrote it (along with the Temptations’ follow-up hit, “I Could Never Love Another”) after learning his wife was cheating on him. On New Year’s Eve 1967, a week after the release of “I Wish It Would Rain” as a single, Penzabene killed himself. The song peaked at No. 4 in March 1968.