SONG OF THE DAY
“Shine” by Collective Soul (Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid, Atlantic, 1994). Written by Ed Roland.
“Shine” by Dolly Parton with Nickel Creek (Little Sparrow, Sugar Hill Records, 2001). Written by Ed Roland.
INTERESTING DETAILS (from wikipedia)
– The song served as the lead single from their 1993 debut album, Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid.
– It remains the band’s most well-known song and a hallmark of 1990s alternative rock.
-It became the #1 Album Rock Song of 1994, won a Billboard award for Top Rock Track, topped the Album Rock Tracks for eight weeks, peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and hit #42 on VH1’s “Top 100 Songs of the ’90s.”
– In 2001, it was included on the band’s 7even Year Itch: Greatest Hits, 1994-2001.
– Due to the song’s lyrical mention of “heaven,” Collective Soul was often early on regarded as a Christian band. Frontman Ed Roland elaborated, “I remember around the time [“Shine” came out] getting into an argument with a writer who said, ‘You’re a Christian band.’ I said, ‘No, we’re not.’ ‘Well, you have the word heaven in your song.’ And I said, ‘Well, so does Led Zeppelin. I don’t remember anyone saying they were a Christian band.'” He went on to stress that such classification would unite the bandmates’ beliefs and that a particular doctrine can not speak for all its members.
– The song’s video was included on the era-themed compilation Essential Music Videos: ’90s Rock produced by MTV (click the video link below to watch).
– Due to its popularity among ’90s music, “Shine” has been included on various era-themed compilation albums including VH1: I Love the ’90s, Whatever: The ’90s Pop and Culture Box, Big Shiny ’90s, and The Buzz. Live versions have been included on the Woodstock ’94 and Much at Edgefest 1999 compilations.
– Dolly Parton’s recording of the song earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
– Phish performed a short version of the song in the middle of “Fly Famous Mockingbird” at Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve 1995 with songwriter Tom Marshall on vocals. This version can be found on the live album Phish: New Year’s Eve 1995 – Live at Madison Square Garden.
– The Collective Soul album title is derived from the lyrics of Paul Simon’s 1986 hit “You Can Call Me Al”.
– The Collective Soul cover art itself is a modified version of the original logo of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 Broadway musical, Sweeney Todd.
MY TAKE
Welcome to 1990’s week! Though it is a Thursday, I am choosing to start today because the 1990’s is really and truly calling to me right now, and I WILL ANSWER! My dad originally conceived of the idea of theme weeks for the blog as a back-up, in case I began running short of things to blog about. That is certainly not the case—I typically have about 4 songs I want to talk about each day—but this theme started presenting itself, so I decided to let this happen.
ENJOY 1990’s WEEK!
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Click here to see/ hear the playlist, which includes both versions of the song and live versions by each artist! Enjoy!