I Can See Clearly Now - wikipedia I Can See Clearly Now For the albums, see I Can See Clearly Now ( Johnny Nash album ) and I Can See Clearly Now ( Gospel Gangstaz album ). `` I Can See Clearly Now '' Single by Johnny Nash from the album I Can See Clearly Now B - side `` How Good It Is '' Released June 23, 1972 Format 7 '' single Recorded 1971 Genre Reggae, soul, funk Length 2 : 45 Label Epic Songwriter ( s ) Johnny Nash Producer ( s ) Johnny Nash Johnny Nash singles chronology `` Stir It Up '' ( 1972 ) `` I Can See Clearly Now '' ( 1972 ) `` There Are More Questions Than Answers '' ( 1972 ) `` Stir It Up '' ( 1972 ) `` I Can See Clearly Now '' ( 1972 ) `` There Are More Questions Than Answers '' ( 1972 ) `` I Can See Clearly Now '' is a song originally recorded by Johnny Nash. It was a single from the album of the same name and achieved success in the United States and the United Kingdom when it was released in 1972, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was covered by many artists throughout the years, including a 1993 hit version by Jimmy Cliff, who re-recorded the song for the motion picture soundtrack of Cool Runnings, where it reached the top 20 at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. Contents 1 Writing and recording 1.1 Track listings 2 Chart performance 2.1 Weekly singles charts 2.2 Year - end charts 2.2. 1 Certifications 3 Jimmy Cliff version 3.1 Charts and certifications 3.1. 1 Weekly charts 3.1. 2 Year - end charts 3.1. 3 Sales and certifications 4 Other covers 5 References Writing and recording After Nash wrote and composed the original version, he recorded it in London with members of the Fabulous Five Inc., and produced it himself. Its arrangements and style are both heavily laced with reggae influences. Nash had collaborated with Bob Marley in the past, and his approach drew strongly from Marley 's reggae style. Track listings 7 '' single `` I Can See Clearly Now '' -- 2 : 44 `` How Good It Is '' -- 2 : 38 7 '' single `` I Can See Clearly Now '' -- 2 : 44 `` Cupid '' -- 3 : 30 Chart performance After making modest chart advances for a month, the RIAA - certified gold single unexpectedly took only two weeks to vault from No. 20 to No. 5 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 4, 1972, remaining atop this chart for four weeks, and also spent the same four weeks atop the adult contemporary chart. Weekly singles charts Chart ( 1972 -- 73 ) Peak position Australia KMR Canada RPM Top Singles Irish Singles Chart 9 New Zealand ( Listener ) 5 UK Singles Chart 5 U.S. Billboard Black Singles 38 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart ( 1989 ) Peak position UK Singles Chart 54 Year - end charts Chart ( 1972 ) Rank Australia 46 Canada 55 UK 39 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 47 Certifications Region Certification Certified units / Sales United States ( RIAA ) Gold 1,000,000 shipments figures based on certification alone Jimmy Cliff version Reggae singer Jimmy Cliff recorded a cover of the song for the 1993 movie Cool Runnings. It was released as a single in 1993, reaching No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Cliff 's first single to make the Hot 100 in 25 years, and is his highest - charting single in the United States. The song reached number one in France, Iceland and New Zealand. The music video for this version was directed by Academy Award nominated film director, Scott Hamilton Kennedy. `` I Can See Clearly Now '' Single by Jimmy Cliff from the album Cool Runnings soundtrack B - side `` Sweet Jamaica '' by Tony Rebel Released 1993 Format CD single Recorded 1993 Genre Pop - reggae Length 3 : 16 Label Chaos Songwriter ( s ) Johnny Nash Producer ( s ) Paul Henton Charts and certifications Weekly charts Chart ( 1993 -- 1994 ) Peak position Australia ( ARIA ) 17 Canada ( RPM ) 16 France ( SNEP ) Germany ( Official German Charts ) 52 Iceland ( Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 ) Netherlands ( Dutch Top 40 ) 39 New Zealand ( Recorded Music NZ ) UK Singles ( Official Charts Company ) 23 US Billboard Hot 100 18 US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) 9 US Adult Contemporary Recurrents ( Billboard ) US Bubbling Under R&B / Hip - Hop Singles ( Billboard ) 11 US Hot R&B / Hip - Hop Songs ( Billboard ) 98 US Mainstream Top 40 ( Billboard ) 7 Year - end charts Chart ( 1994 ) Position France ( SNEP ) 11 New Zealand ( Recorded Music NZ ) 14 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 66 Sales and certifications Region Certification Certified units / Sales France ( SNEP ) Silver 285,000 Other covers The song also appears in various other films, such as Grosse Pointe Blank, The Break - up, Thelma & Louise, Antz, Deep Blue Sea, Envy, Hitch, Igor, Shrek 2 's `` Far Far Away Idol, '' `` Viktor Vogel -- Commercial Man, '' and Jennifer 's Body, as well in a 2009 advertisement for Lipton in the Middle East and Russia. It is also briefly sung by Cheech in the movie Up in Smoke. It has also been covered by these artists : Grace VanderWaal Grace VanderWaal 's new single `` Clearly '', a reinterpretation with the permission of Johnny Nash Funk, Inc. in 1973 on Hangin ' Out Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1973 on Imagination Petula Clark ( 1974 Come On Home ) Ray Charles ( highest charting R&B version # 35 in 1978 ) Hothouse Flowers in 1990 on Home ( this version was a # 23 hit in the UK Singles Chart in August 1990 ) Holly Cole Trio in 1993 on Do n't Smoke in Bed Soul Asylum on After the Flood : Live from the Grand Forks Prom, June 28, 1997 Neil Finn in 1998 to raise money for The Fred Hollows Foundation. Finn 's version also played in the movie Antz, where Z and Bala find Insectopia. Dream Sequence in 1999, as `` Clearly, '' an uptempo eurodance remix Anne Murray ( 1999 What A Wonderful World and 2001 reissue of There 's a Hippo in My Tub ) R&B guitarist Jonathan Butler recorded a cover from his 2010 album So Strong. Simone Dinnerstein & Tift Merritt on their 2013 album, Night Nancy Sinatra on Shifting Gears in 2013. Alex E Horace Andy Aswad Beat Crusaders Singers of musical Belles belles belles covered the Claude François ' song Ken Boothe Doyle Bramhall Susan Cadogan Eagle - Eye Cherry for the romantic comedy Over Her Dead Body Rick Danko Elsa as `` Éternité, '' another French version Even in Blackouts on The Fall of the House of Even Everlife Claude François as `` Toi et le soleil, '' a French version Bobby Goldsboro Dobie Gray Lloyd Green Richie Havens Martin Kitcher ( On the Best Of... ) James Last Lorie - cover of the French Toi et le Soleil Claude François version Susie McEntire Kaitlyn Maher The Mamas & the Papas Liza Minnelli Marisa Monte Geoff Moore and the Distance Willie Nelson Donny Osmond Procol Harum in concert medleys Francis Rossi on One Step at a Time ( Deluxe Edition only ) Kermit Ruffins Screeching Weasel on My Brain Hurts and the soundtrack of Jennifer 's Body Sonny and Cher Dusty Springfield ( recording unissued and subsequently lost or destroyed ) The Three Blind Mice during `` Far Far Away Idol '' in Shrek 2 Toots & the Maytals Lee Towers In November 2002, the song was featured prominently in `` The Freak, '' an episode of the NBC police drama television series Boomtown. In November 2016, a cover version of the song by the Hothouse Flowers was featured in the premiere episode of British Motoring show, The Grand Tour, causing the song to reach the number 1 position on the iTunes 's Top 40 UK Rock Song chart in late 2016. References Jump up ^ Stephen Nye. `` '' The Fabulous Five `` ''. Trojan Records. Retrieved 7 June 2018. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 1996 ). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition ( Billboard Publications ). ^ Jump up to : Steffen Hung. `` Forum - 1970 ( ARIA Charts : Special Occasion Charts ) ''. Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2016 - 06 - 02. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 07. Jump up ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie Archived 2009 - 06 - 03 at WebCite ( Retrieved August 9, 2008 ) Jump up ^ `` flavour of new zealand - search listener ''. Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 07. Jump up ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com ( Retrieved August 1, 2008 ) ^ Jump up to : Billboard Allmusic.com ( Retrieved August 9, 2008 ) Jump up ^ `` Music : Top 100 Songs Billboard Hot 100 Chart ''. Billboard.com. 1972 - 11 - 25. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 07. Jump up ^ UK Singles Chart ( 1989 release ) Chartstats.com ( Retrieved August 1, 2008 ) Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on September 16, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 1972 - UK Music Charts ''. Uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 07. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits of 1972 / Top 100 Songs of 1972 ''. Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 07. Jump up ^ `` American single certifications -- Johnny Nash -- I Can See Clearly Now ''. Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH Jump up ^ King, Alex P. ( 2004 ). Hit - parade -- 20 ans de tubes ( in French ). Paris : Pascal. p. 341. ISBN 2 - 35019 - 009 - 9. Jump up ^ `` Kennedy, Scott Hamilton - Environmental Film Festival ''. Environmental Film Festival. Retrieved 2018 - 07 - 30. Jump up ^ `` Australian-charts.com -- Jimmy Cliff -- I Can See Clearly Now ''. ARIA Top 50 Singles. Jump up ^ `` Canadian RPM - Top Singles - Volume 58, No. 24, December 25, 1993 ''. RPM. 1993. Retrieved 17 August 2013. Jump up ^ `` Lescharts.com -- Jimmy Cliff -- I Can See Clearly Now '' ( in French ). Les classement single. Jump up ^ `` Musicline.de -- Jimmy Cliff Single - Chartverfolgung '' ( in German ). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Jump up ^ `` Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 ( 14.04. 1994 - 20.04. 1994 ) '' ( PDF ). Dagblaðið Vísir - Tónlist. Retrieved 2018 - 03 - 13. Jump up ^ `` Nederlandse Top 40 -- Jimmy Cliff '' ( in Dutch ). Dutch Top 40. Jump up ^ `` Charts.nz -- Jimmy Cliff -- I Can See Clearly Now ''. Top 40 Singles. Jump up ^ `` Official Singles Chart Top 100 ''. Official Charts Company. Jump up ^ `` Jimmy Cliff Chart History ( Hot 100 ) ''. Billboard. Jump up ^ `` Jimmy Cliff Chart History ( Adult Contemporary ) ''. Billboard. Jump up ^ Billboard Allmusic.com ( Retrieved August 9, 2008 ) Jump up ^ `` Jimmy Cliff Chart History ( Hot R&B / Hip - Hop Songs ) ''. Billboard. Jump up ^ `` Jimmy Cliff Chart History ( Pop Songs ) ''. Billboard. Jump up ^ 1994 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com Archived 2011 - 08 - 20 at the Wayback Machine. ( Retrieved January 30, 2009 ) Jump up ^ `` End of Year Charts 1994 ''. Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 3, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Billboard Top 100 - 1994 ''. Archived from the original on 2009 - 03 - 01. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 27. Jump up ^ `` French single certifications -- Jimmy Cliff -- I Can See '' ( in French ). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Jump up ^ `` Les Singles en Argent : '' ( in French ). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 17 August 2013. Jump up ^ Eder, Bruce. `` Imagination ''. allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 22. I Can See Clearly Now - Nash Jump up ^ `` Home ''. Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 22. Released : 1990 (... ) composed by (... ) 7. Johnny Nash Jump up ^ `` So Strong overview ''. Allmusic.com. Johnny Nash Studio albums Hold Me Tight ( 1968 ) Let 's Go Dancing ( 1969 ) I Can See Clearly Now ( 1972 ) My Merry - Go - Round ( 1973 ) Celebrate Life ( 1974 ) Here Again ( 1986 ) Singles `` As Time Goes By '' `` Cupid '' `` Stir It Up '' `` I Can See Clearly Now '' `` Tears on My Pillow '' `` ( What a ) Wonderful World '' `` Rock Me Baby '' Related topics JAD Records Book : Johnny Nash Jimmy Cliff Studio albums Jimmy Cliff ( 1969 ) Another Cycle ( 1971 ) Give Thankx ( 1978 ) Cliff Hanger ( 1985 ) Humanitarian ( 1999 ) Rebirth ( 2012 ) Compilation albums Reggae Night ( 2004 ) Soundtrack albums The Harder They Come ( 1972 ) Songs `` Many Rivers to Cross '' `` The Harder They Come '' `` Reggae Night '' `` I Can See Clearly Now '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I_Can_See_Clearly_Now&oldid=855699790 '' Categories : 1972 singles 1993 singles Billboard Hot 100 number - one singles Billboard Adult Contemporary number - one singles Jimmy Cliff songs Johnny Nash songs Screeching Weasel songs SNEP Top Singles number - one singles Number - one singles in New Zealand Epic Records singles 1972 songs Hidden categories : Webarchive template webcite links CS1 French - language sources ( fr ) Webarchive template wayback links Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2017 Certification Table Entry usages for United States Singlechart usages for Australia Singlechart usages for France Singlechart usages for Germany Singlechart usages for Dutch40 Singlechart usages for New Zealand Singlechart usages for UK Singlechart called without song Singlechart usages for Billboardhot100 Singlechart usages for Billboardadultcontemporary Singlechart usages for Billboardrandbhiphop Singlechart usages for Billboardpopsongs Certification Table Entry usages for France Talk Contents About Wikipedia Brezhoneg Français Italiano Nederlands Polski Edit links This page was last edited on 20 August 2018, at 06 : 28 ( UTC ). 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Question: who sang the original i can see clearly now the rain has gone
Answer: Johnny Nash