Shining Light

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"Shining Light"

Single by Ash
B-side(s)	"Warmer than Fire", "Gabriel", "Feel No Pain", "Jesus Says (Remix)"
Released	January 29, 2001
Format	CD, 7"
Recorded	1999
Genre	Alternative Rock
Length	5:09
Label	Infectious
Producer(s)	Owen Morris
Chart positions
#8 (UK)
Ash singles chronology
"Wildsurf" (1998)	"Shining Light" (2001)	"Burn Baby Burn" (2001)
Alternate cover

CD 2 cover

"Shining Light" was the first single released from the Free All Angels album by the band Ash on January 29, 2001. It was released as a single CD (released on 2CD formats) and as a 7" vinyl (which came with a picture sleeve). It was also Ash's first single to be released as an enhanced CD. "Shining Light" is Ash's biggest selling single to date and one of those most recognisible hits.

"Shining Light" was written about Wheeler's now ex-girlfriend "Audrey". Tim was driving home in his car when the line and tune "Yeah you are a shining light" came into his head. He rushed home and wrote it straight away on an acoustic guitar. The first time the band heard it, they say that they 'knew it was a hit'.

"Shining Light" was first played at a London Astoria gig in 2000, and is considered to be one of the band's greatest achievements, musically and lyrically. Ash once said of the song:

Tim: "I think Shining Light's a breath of fresh air"

Rick: "It's a very melodic song, it sticks in your head, so we thought it'd have a pretty good chance of getting in the Top 10. It was good being back there 'cos it's been a long time, over two years since we had a single out".

Charlotte: "It was the first song we recorded and we knew it would be the first single".

The song was extremely critically acclaimed and won, among others:

Ivor Novello Awards 2001 - Best Contemporary Song [1]
Irish Music Awards 2002 - Best Single

"Shining Light" can also be found on Ash's greatest hits compilation, "Intergalactic Sonic 7″s" as well as on the "Tokyo Blitz" DVD.

The song was re-recorded by Canadian Artist Emm Gryner on her 2005 Album "Songs of Love and Death". In addition, this was the song played on the last ever episode of Roswell as the group in the series drives away forever - signifying the death of the series. It has also been covered by Coldplay and Noel Gallagher claims it to be one of his favourite songs.

The b-side "Warmer than Fire" was originally written by Steve Ludwin of Little Hell. The song was originally intentioned to be a download-only release for fans, but due to its immense popularity it was released on the "Shining Light" single as well as on the "Cosmic Debris" b-side collection. The song has also been performed several times live in concert. Rumours that Wheeler bought the royalties for the song from Ludwin for £35 have been denied by the band.

"Warmer than Fire" also had its own music video, directed by Darren Tiernan (Wheeler's cousin). It consists of footage of the band messing around in Puerto Banus, Spain, where Free All Angels was being recorded and climaxes in a burning of a large, old grand piano. The video cost very little and has rarely been seen.

"Gabriel" also appears on CD1 (as well as on the Cosmic Debris) collection and is considered to be quite a retro-sounding Ash track, reminiscent of "Innocent Smile" on "1977".

"Feel No Pain" is the first b-side on CD2, and was one of the leftover tracks from the "Free All Angels recording session". The song is mainly about actually writing a song.

The band were unhappy with some of the mixes of the tracks on "Nu-Clear Sounds" so Ash relished the opportunity to record a slightly different take of the 1998 single "Jesus Says" which also appears on CD2.

"Shining Light's" music video consists of Tim swimming underwater for the majority of video, while shots of him singing the song against a black background are occassionaly cut to. The rest of the band don't appear until at the climax, where after Tim swims into a bright, shining light, he appears to wake up from sort of coma in a hospital bed. Again, this video was directed by Darren Tiernan, and also appears on the CD2 enhanced version of the single.

Originally the band had CGI effects, but they were said to be of so poor quality that they were dumped for the final video release. Mark has said of it: "OK, this version was never seen on TV for a reason. Originally we had a CGI submarine and shark in the video. Tim passes them on his ascent to the surface but they sucked so bad we had them cut. Moral of the story? Cheap ass special effects aren't worth the peanuts!"