I Can See Clearly Now

After Nash wrote and composed the original version, he recorded it in London with members of the Fabulous Five Inc., 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 and his approach drew strongly from Marley's reggae style. The instrumental break was played by Francis Monkman on a Moog synthesizer. ==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 US 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. ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==

Jamaican reggae singer Jimmy Cliff recorded a cover of the song for the 1993 movie Cool Runnings. It was released as a single in October 1993 by Chaos Records, reaching No. 18 on the US Billboard Hot 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 No. 45 on the Oricon chart. Critical reception Larry Flick from Billboard magazine 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." Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Sales and certifications Release history ==Other notable covers==

• Ray Charles covered this song in his 1977 album True to Life. • Irish band Hothouse Flowers released their version as the second single from their album Home in 1990. It reached No. 5 in Ireland, No. 22 in Australia and No. 23 in the UK. 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. • 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. • 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" that reached No. 15 in Belgium. • Neil Finn covered the song in 1998 for the film Antz and it later was released as a single in 1999. ==References==