The Temptations' 1967 single "I Wish It Would Rain" marked a pivotal moment for the group, signalling their shift towards a harder-edged "psychedelic soul" sound and standing as one of the last major recordings featuring volatile lead singer David Ruffin. The song's poignant lyrics, written by Rodger Penzabene, took on tragic significance when the 22-year-old songwriter took his own life just a week after the track's release in December 1967, reportedly after discovering his wife's infidelity, though his family has disputed this account.

Penzabene wrote the lyrics with encouragement from his friend and Temptations musical director Cornelius Grant, while the music came from Barrett Strong and producer Norman Whitfield, who deliberately raised the song's key to make Ruffin strain vocally and heighten its sense of anguish. Ruffin, then struggling with drug addiction and tension within the band over his demands for special billing, was fired in 1968 after missing a concert, and briefly continued gate-crashing performances before being permanently replaced by Dennis Edwards. Despite the turmoil behind it, "I Wish It Would Rain" reached number four on the charts in 1968, becoming one of the final hits from that era of the group before their dramatic stylistic reinvention.