“Ask the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain…” (Zechariah 10:1, James 5:7).
ETW Music Collective - NEW RELEASE MUSIC - ‘RAIN’
The new 2025 re-forged version of the song ‘RAIN’ has been a wonderful fresh collaboration. Music and Lyrics By Kevin Rankin & Stephen Bennett, arranged and produced by Kevin Rankin. It is an epic cinematic orchestral version re-imagined and reforged through the genius music gift of my friend Kevin Rankin; Music Producer / Musician / Songwriter / Photographer / Creative. Kevin and I were key leaders in the pioneering Australian Christian band, Sons of Thunder in the early-mid 1980s. We are life-long friends, still thundering strong, learning how to navigate these end days.
The new ‘RAIN’ track is a sound for now, for this era of history; a fullness of sound I’d always dreamt of creating (see the second link below). The first original song Rain Comes Down, was written and produced 20 years ago in 2006, by Stephen Bennett author, musician and founder of EndTime-Writers. It was recorded in South Africa Johannesburg with the WIP music group, for Stephen’s album South Africa for Breakthrough. (Orginal song link) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0SatsFbp70
On listening to the original first iteration of Rain Comes Down, Kevin had an immediate fresh vision for the music, echoing my desire for a massive epic sound for these days. In 2006, the orginal was more an intimate seed version, such is the way of prophetic preparedness. But it was chosen for now, reforged as a new sound reality, prophesying to the nations.
‘RAIN’ is an epic cinematic piece of music calling for the might of the latter rain of Holy Spirit to drench the nations in all His glory, power, thunder, and might (Zechariah 10:1, James 5:7). This sound unleashes EPIC; as are the endless sounds of heaven, as we read in the book of Revelation - bigger than we can imagine!
NEW SONG listening link for the track ‘RAIN’ at Tonic Audio (Listen Loud!)
‘Rain: The Reforging’ A tale true, By Kevin Rankin
In the quiet town of Thistlewood a musician named Jonah, known for his soft and worshipful ballads, embarks on a quest to reforge his orginal beloved ‘rain song’. After years of its humble existence, he yearns to turn it into a cinematic masterpiece—a sweeping orchestral suite, that will move hearts and stir souls.
However, Jonah realizes that in order to bring this vision to life, he needs the help of a reclusive composer named Elias, whose talent for transforming music into epic symphonies is unparalleled. They meet at Elias’s cabin by the sea, and in the winds of salty air, a new journey began…
As Elias starts to rework the new ‘RAIN’, strange and inexplicable things begin to happen. Every time he sits at the piano to compose, the calm weather outside shifts dramatically, and a heavy rainstorm erupts. It’s as if the heavens themselves are responding to the music in real-time!
Jonah, initially puzzled, comes to see these storms as a divine approval of the new sound, a sign that his piece of music is on the right path; a confirmation from something much higher than our human understanding.
However, the process is not without its struggles. The simple, gentle melody of the original song begins to grow into something grand, but with every new arrangement, something feels like it’s being lost; an intimate connection with the song’s original message.
As the storm outside intensifies, Jonah wrestles with his own doubts, fearing that he might be overstepping the song’s quiet beauty for the sake of epic grandeur.
One fateful night, as a particularly violent storm ravages the town, Jonah retreats to the studio, determined to find the heart of the song once more. There, amidst the howling winds and the driving rain, he hears something extraordinary: a voice within the storm. It is not just the roar of nature but something deeper, a whisper in the winds that carries with it a new message.
The voice tells him that the new ‘RAIN’ is not just a prayer of solace but a call to strength. The original version of the song was a quiet plea for comfort in times of sorrow, but now it must evolve into a declaration of faith; an anthem for those who face trials, storms, and uncertainties in this world. It’s a message of perseverance and hope, that even in the heaviest rains, something new and mighty will emerge.
Jonah realizes that the song’s transformation was never about losing its essence but about magnifying its power. The storms were not just an external sign of divine approval; they were the very spirit of the song being awakened, urging him to embrace the full depth of its message. Elias, too, understands this now, and together, they craft a final version of‘RAIN’—a grand suite of orchestral swells and soaring vocals, yet still carrying the tender, worshipful heart of the original.
When the piece is performed for the first time, the sky suddenly clears, and the sun breaks through the clouds. The music, full of thunderous power, reverberates across the land to an audience of thousands, stirring something deep within every listeners soul. The rain, having once symbolized a gentle prayer, now becomes a symbol of strength and transformation, reminding all who have ears to hear it, that even the fiercest storms can give way to a new and unshakeable hope…
In the end, Jonah’s song had not only been reforged—it was reborn, embodying both the quiet whisper of faith and the triumphant roar of victory.
The song of the storm becomes not just a piece of music, but a timeless anthem for all who walk through life’s crazy ravaging storms and trials, yet, emerging so much stronger from their experiences.
By Kevin J Rankin (July 24/2025)
Story of the new ETWMC music track RAIN - By Stephen Bennett
As a musician I have always loved loud, passionate and big expressions of music, be it intimate songs of love, epic declarations, or otherwise. Many years ago Kevin and I were key members od the band Sons of Thunder in Queensland Australia. The SOT mantle literally means to ‘create havoc in the spirit’ or rend open the heavens. As with the prophet singer Heman in the Tabernacle of David, and the rending, violent ripping open of the heavens above Jesus, when He was baptized by John and the Holy Spirit descended ‘like a dove.’ We sang many latter day songs into the spirit of Australia in those early days of the 1980s. Check out ‘Go’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPJ6lW6wPVM
John the Baptist was the greatest of prophets ever (Matthew 11:11). Jesus said, he took the kingdom by force with a spiritual violence that no one else had attained. Yet ironically, even the least of us in Christ, can, and even be, more-so than John as great as he was.
When John the Baptist made a sound with his voice, thousands listened. Not just in his time and era, but those words and their inherent sound echoed right down through the corridors of history. However, there is a great war for that ‘prophetic sound;’ a sound that cost him his life (Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29). John was beheaded. Who does that…!
When you lay down your gifts and abilities, and surrender, giving all, and every facet of your life to the Lord, you will hear the new sound. Just as Apostle John saw in the book of Revelation, that sound was utterly overwhelming; totally EPIC - like nothing he’d ever heard! These are the days for us to do that as singers, musicians and artists, in all creative genres.
The original version of the rain song, had a strong personal intimacy with God, and a great melody, but I always knew there was more in it. Much of my early albums of music, even as a young Christian 45 years ago, were strongly prophetic, with end-time themes, and songs for nations; they just arrived that way. But most didn’t fit in church music set lists, but as the years rolled on I realized they were often prophecies, declarations to proclaim around the world in my travels, and for this end-time era we are in now.
So, to re-forge ‘RAIN' in collaboration with my old thunder friend Kevin was a huge joy and inspiration. Especially in this time, 2025+, as the Lord calls me back to focus on music, and start the new ETW Music Collective, after writing over a dozen books and many articles these past years.
We live on the edge of the greatest time in history in these last days now, where we will see the end-time scriptures fulfilled and Jesus returning to earth as He promised.
Kevin had many experiences, in the nearly 150 hours of recording and producing process of RAIN, a lot of it with the weather! ‘Yes it would often start to rain when the red record button was pressed!’ But I’ll let him tell you his story in his own unique creative way; the journey reforging the original song into a completely new sound... ‘RAIN!’