Angel of the Morning

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"Angel of the Morning" is a hit pop song that has been recorded numerous times, and has been a charting hit single for several artists including Merrilee Rush, P.P. Arnold, Mary Mason, Melba Montgomery, and Juice Newton.

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[edit] Original and charting versions

Written and composed by New York-born songwriter Chip Taylor, it was originally recorded by Evie Sands for Cameo-Parkway Records in 1967, but the record label went bankrupt, stranding the song in limbo. A representative from publishing company April-Blackwood then pitched the song to Memphis producer Chips Moman and Merrilee Rush. The song was susequently recorded by Merrilee Rush and The Turnabouts, who had a top 10 North American hit with the song in 1968.

In the UK, also in 1968, P.P. Arnold recorded "Angel of The Morning" and had the hit with it in that country. Mary Mason also had a UK Top 30 hit with her version ("Angel of the Morning - Any Way That You Want Me") in 1977.

The following year, Melba Montgomery recorded the song, and took it to #22 on the U.S. country charts in 1978. It was the last top 40 hit of Montgomery's career.

The highest-charting (and largest-selling) version in the United States was recorded and released in 1981 by country-rock chanteuse Juice Newton, hitting #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (for four weeks) and #4 on the Hot 100, as well as #22 on the Country chart. The recording also earned Newton a Grammy nomination for Best Female Vocalist - Pop. More than 1 million copies of Newton's single of the song were sold in the United States, and the single reached the Top Ten in a number of other countries, including Canada and Australia. Newton recorded the song again in 1998 on her "The Trouble with Angels" album.

More recently, Swedish singer Jill Johnson released "Angel of the Morning", with lyrics in English, in 2007 from her cover album Music Row. This version peaked at #30 at the Swedish singles chart.

[edit] Non-charting cover versions

  • American based singer Joya Landis recorded an early reggae version of this song in 1968. The Jamaican single was on the Treasure Isle label. The UK single (on Trojan TR 622) had Love Letters by Phyllis Dillon & Alton Ellis on the b-side. It also appeared on the compilation album Soul Of Jamaica a.k.a. Come Rock With Me In Jamaica, 1968 and on the Trojan compilation album Tighten Up, Volume 1, 1968. It was produced by Arthur Reid.
  • In 1981, Norwegian singer Elisabeth Andreassen released "Angel of the Morning" on her album Angel of the Morning. With lyrics in Swedish by Mats Rådberg, the song was named "En enda morgon" ("One only morning"). A 1982 recording by the dansband, with Kikki Danielsson on lead vocals, was named "Nattens sista ängel" ("Last angel of the night"), and these lyrics were written by Roine Carlsson.
  • In 1995, The Pretenders released their own version on the "Friends" soundtrack album. The song was released as a single as well, but it did not chart.
  • The short-lived British girl band Thunderbugs recorded a fresh, upbeat version of the song in their 1999 debut (and only) album, Delicious.
  • Reggae artist Shaggy released a single entitled "Angel" in 2001 that featured a reworked tune and almost entirely new lyrics, turning it into an apology and homage to his lady love, instead of the original's tone of loss and one-night stands.
  • Boston-based band Vagiant released a cover on their album Public Display of Infection.


[edit] Meaning

In the song's lyrics, the narrative voice addresses a lover. The song is sung from the perspective of a woman, and it tells the story of two people carried away by passion, knowing that there will be consequences the next morning. The song was inspired by the song "Ruby Tuesday" by The Rolling Stones and it echoes that song lyrically and melodically.

The lyrics of the song at the time it was originally written may have some symbolic relationship between the relatively conservative sexual attitudes of the 1950s and the much more "liberal" ones of the middle 1960s. Thus there may be something of a conflict in the singer's mind between what she has heard, from her childhood, about how "nice girls don't do that" and her realization as a woman that she has chosen to do this because she wants to. The concept of this song may be compared to Gale Garnett's "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" (1964) where the woman says in that song that she will stay with a man for one year, but why she'll only stay with him that long, or whether he's her husband she's leaving or a lover, is not clear either.

The opening line of the song is "There'll be no strings to bind your hands, not if my love can't bind your heart." In that line, and throughout the song, the narrator tells her lover that it is all right if he/she leaves (presumably after lovemaking), although the narrator is clearly conflicted about it. The narrator then tries to convince her lover that he/she should stay despite the potential consequences. The lyrics are unusual (for the time) because they contain such a frank portrayal of female sexuality told from a woman's perspective.

Whether the song takes place in the context of a one night stand or an ongoing affair is not specified in the lyrics. Why the lover must leave before daybreak is also not specified. The song can be seen as an anthem of liberation and defiance wherein the narrator challenges her lover to see her as a human being free to express her sexuality, despite social consequences. It can also be seen as the story of a woman who has engaged in an ill-conceived and self-destructive affair. This duality is at the core of the song and is reflective of the conflict felt by the narrative voice. The song ends with the line "Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby."

[edit] Related mythology

The planet Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset. It is often called "The Morning Star" or "Angel of the Morning" (when it rises before the sun.) Venus was the Roman goddess of love.

Lucifer was also associated with the planet Venus and also had the title "Angel of the Morning."


[edit] Film and Television

The Merrilee Rush version of the song is featured in the soundtrack of the movie,Girl, Interrupted. The Rush version is also employed in a scene in the 1978 film Fingers, where it is used to accentuate the conflicted nature of the main character played by Harvey Keitel. The song was performed live by Chrissie Hynde in a 1995 installment of Friends titled "The one with the baby on the bus", and that version also appeared the show's Friends Soundtrack album. The song also makes an appearance in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire, with Tom Cruise's titular character singing what appears to be the original version, enthusiastically if badly. Juice Newton's 1981 version appears in the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. More recently, Conan O'Brien has referenced the track, during periodic ironic pledges to cease his show's use of arbitrary humor in which he presents a gorilla dressed as a nurse who uses an old-fashioned abdominal exerciser while enjoying the song.

Juice Newton's version can be heard in the movie Charlie Wilson's War, in Charlie Wilson's apartment in DC with his mistress, just before the call from Joanne Herring.

[edit] Versions

Versions include:

[edit] In popular culture

[edit] References

Languages