Angel (Sarah McLachlan song)

Infobox Single
Name = Angel


Artist = Sarah McLachlan
from Album = Surfacing
Released = November 24, 1998
Format = CD single
Recorded = 1997
Genre = Pop
Length = 4:30
Label = Nettwerk Records, Arista Records
Writer = Sarah McLachlan
Producer = Pierre Marchand
Last single = "Adia"
(1998)
This single = "Angel"
(1999)
Next single = "I Will Remember You"
(live)
(1999)

"Angel" is a song by Sarah McLachlan that originally appeared on her 1997 album "Surfacing". As McLachlan explained on "VH1 Storytellers", the song is about the Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin, who overdosed on heroin and died in 1996. McLachlan explained that there's nothing constant when you are on the road; everything becomes the same.

Released as a single in 1999, "Angel" peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, and at #36 on the UK Singles Chart. The song has had enduring popularity; it is often used to highlight emotional scenes on television shows and has been featured in a number of soundtracks (including the film "City of Angels" and TV's "Alias", "Dawson's Creek", "Felicity", "Cold Case", "The Pretender" and "General Hospital") and as a song of comfort and healing following the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre and the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. On July 2, 2005, McLachlan performed this song at Live 8 in Philadelphia with Josh Groban. She also performed the song on "Concert for Linda," dedicating it to the memory of Linda McCartney, and appeared in an August 2007 televised appeal for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in which the song was used. Musician Darryl McDaniels, otherwise known as D.M.C. of the famous hip-hop band Run-D.M.C., has said the song saved his life. [cite web|title=DMC: Saved By An Angel - How Sarah McLachlan thwarted the legendary MC's suicidal tendencies.|url=http://music.ign.com/articles/691/691277p1.html|date=2006-02-24|publisher=IGN.com]

The song has a sparse arrangement — mostly McLachlan at the piano, with subtle upright bass played by Jim Creeggan of Barenaked Ladies.

A remix of the track by Dusted appears on McLachlan's 2001 album "Remixed".

A live version with Emmylou Harris appears on a Lilith Fair compilation, McLachlan's own iTunes Originals collection, and her Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume 2 compilation.

Cover versions

"Angel" was covered by the Canadian musician Allison Crowe on her 2003 album and television special "Tidings" and by the Irish band Westlife on their album "World of Our Own" that same year. "American Idol" performer Kelly Clarkson covered this song as an early demo. Mexican singer Yuridia covered the song for her sophomore album, "Habla El Corazón", in a Spanish version entitled "Estar Junto A Tí," in memory of her late brother.

References

External links

*youtube|BDkcJ-62uuY|Angel (licensed content by Sony BMG)
* [http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid416542555/bctid18086026 Brightcove music video]