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" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Johnny Nash. It was the lead single from his twelfth album, I Can See Clearly Now (1972), and achieved success in the United States and the United Kingdom when it was released in 1972, reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box charts. It also reached number one in Canada and South Africa. The song has been covered by many artists throughout the years, including a hit version by Lee Towers that reached no. 19 in the Dutch Top 40 in 1982, and another recorded by Jimmy Cliff for the motion picture soundtrack of Cool Runnings that peaked at no. 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1993.

"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
Genre	Reggae soul R&B
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)
Official audio
"I Can See Clearly Now" on YouTube

Writing and recording

After Nash wrote and composed the original version, he recorded it in London with members of the Fabulous Five Inc.,^[1] and produced it himself. The song's arrangements and style are both heavily laced with reggae influences, as Nash had earlier collaborated with Bob Marley^[2] and his approach drew strongly from Marley's reggae style. The instrumental break was played by Francis Monkman on a Moog synthesizer.^{[3][better source needed]}

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.^[4]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1972–1973)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5]	3
Austria (Hitradio Ö3)[6]	9
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	1
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[7]	6
Ireland (Irish Singles Chart)[8]	9
Israel (IBA)[9]	23
New Zealand (Listener)[10]	5
South Africa (Springbok)[11]	1
UK Singles (OCC)[12]	5
US Billboard Hot 100[13]	1
US Bestselling Soul Singles (Billboard)[14]	38
US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks (Billboard)[14]	1

Chart (1989)	Peak position
UK Singles (OCC)[15]	54

Year-end charts

Chart (1972)	Rank
Australia[5]	46
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[16]	35
UK[17]	39
US Billboard Hot 100[18]	47

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[19]	Gold	50,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[20]	Gold	400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[21]	Gold	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Jimmy Cliff version

"I Can See Clearly Now"
Single by Jimmy Cliff
from the album Cool Runnings: Music from the Motion Picture
B-side	"Sweet Jamaica" by Tony Rebel
Released	October 1993 (1993-10)[22]
Genre	Pop-reggae
Length	3:16
Label	Chaos
Songwriter(s)	Johnny Nash
Producer(s)	Paul Henton
Jimmy Cliff singles chronology
"Samba Reggae" (1993) "I Can See Clearly Now" (1993) "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" (1994)
Music video
"I Can See Clearly Now" on YouTube

Jamaican reggae singer Jimmy Cliff recorded a cover of the song for the 1993 movie Cool Runnings.^[23] It was released as a single in October 1993 by Chaos label, reaching No. 18 and 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100. Internationally, the song reached No. 1 in France, Iceland, and New Zealand. In 2005, after the song was used as the opening theme for the Japanese television drama series Engine, it was released in Japan and peaked at number 45 on the Oricon chart.^[24] The music video for this version was directed by Academy Award nominated film director Scott Hamilton Kennedy.^[25]

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Cliff manages to breathe freshness into this oft-covered pop nugget. His laid-back vocal is matched by a relatively faithful arrangement (except for the delicate reggae flavors). Already amassing praise at adult formats, track is a good bet for eventual top 40 success."^[26]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1993–1994) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[27] 17 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[28] 32 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[29] 16 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[30] 26 Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)[31] 9 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[32] 18 Europe (European AC Radio)[33] 11 Europe (European Dance Radio)[34] 18 France (SNEP)[35] 1 Germany (GfK)[36] 52 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[37] 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[38] 39 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[39] 1 Scotland (OCC)[40] 26 UK Singles (OCC)[41] 23 US Billboard Hot 100[42] 18 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[43] 9 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[44] 98 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[45] 7 US Cash Box Top 100[46] 14 Chart (2005) Peak position Japan (Oricon)[24] 45

Year-end charts Chart (1994) Position Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[47] 81 France (SNEP)[48] 11 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[49] 7 New Zealand (RIANZ)[50] 14 UK Singles (OCC)[51] 196 US Billboard Hot 100[52] 66 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[53] 22

Sales and certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[54]	Gold	250,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[55]	Platinum	10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[56]	Silver	200,000‡
* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Other notable covers

• Irish band Hothouse Flowers released their version as the second single from their album Home in 1990. It reached No. 5 in Ireland,^[57] No. 22 in Australia^[58] and No. 23 in the UK.^[59] Much later, in 2016, it featured on the first episode of the Amazon Prime Video series, The Grand Tour, where the band themselves made an appearance on stage.^[60]
• Buffalo Rose and R&B singer INEZ released their cover version as a single in 2021, later named one of the best songs of the year by WYEP-FM.^[61]
• A version by Lee Towers reached the Dutch top 40, charting at No. 19, and was recorded on his 1982 album New York.
• The French singer Claude François also recorded a version of this song called "Toi et le soleil" which hit number 15 in Belgium.^[62]