“Angel” by Sarah McLachlan

Sarah, in this “Angel”, talks about how creatives, particularly musicians and artists strive to make a name for themselves, but yield to the influence of drugs once they feel their relevance fading.

She discusses how these artists work so hard to build their careers and get so consumed by their initial successes that they try to do everything it takes to achieve it over again. In an attempt to maintain their fame, they are drained of all the creativity and fun of making music. At the end of the day, they become machines that simply want to make more money. And as time goes on, they feel empty and try to fill that void with something, hence most of them turn to hard drugs.

Throughout the song’s course, Sarah promotes two viewpoints. The first is that of empathy for musicians who resort to drugs once in a while to experience a feeling of escape and make meaning of the industry they find themselves. Another viewpoint is to make the listener aware of the uncertainties these drugs can result in. She suggests that it has led to the deaths of many great artists, thus it is a dangerous path to take despite the temporal feel-good feelings it evokes.

Inspiration behind “Angel”

Sarah Mclachlan has said this song was inspired by the death of Jonathan Melvoin of the band Smashing Pumpkin. Melvoin died tragically in 1996 at age 34. He died from a drug overdose.

The Death of Melvoin

Johnathan Melvoin was not a full-fledged member of the Smashing Pumpkins. Rather the band hired him as a keyboardist in 1995 for a world tour they had embarked on. And within about a year’s time he was dead from a drug overdose. He actually OD’d alongside one of the Smashing Pumpkins’ actual members, Jimmy Chamberlin. However, Chamberlin survived.

In the aftermath, Melvoin’s family has asserted that he did not have major drug issues upon first affiliating himself with the Smashing Pumpkins. As such, they did not even bother to invite the band to his funeral.

“Angel” Facts

Writing: Exclusively by Sarah McLachlan
Production: Pierre Marchand
Album: McLachlan’s pop/soft rock album titled “Surfacing”
Release: 24th November, 1998

Chart Performance

United States: #4
United Kingdom: #36
Canada: #7
Ireland: #7
Norway: #9

FYI: In addition to McLachlan’s own “Surfacing” album, “Angel” also appeared on the soundtrack album of the fantasy film “City of Angels”. It was actually the project’s 4th and final single. The Goo Goo Dolls’ iconic song “Iris” is also featured as a single on the project. And so is Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited“.