The Morning After (Maureen McGovern song)
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| “The Morning After” | |||||
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| Single by Maureen McGovern from the album The Morning After |
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| B-side | "Midnight Storm" | ||||
| Released | May 1973 | ||||
| Recorded | April 1972 | ||||
| Label | 20th Century Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Joel Hirschhorn Al Kasha |
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| Maureen McGovern singles chronology | |||||
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"The Morning After" (aka "The Song from 'The Poseidon Adventure'") is an Academy Award-winning song, first released in May 1973. It was the first hit for singer Maureen McGovern, and was used as the love theme for the film The Poseidon Adventure, which was released late the year before.
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[edit] Beginnings
The song was written in March 1972 by 20th Century Fox songwriters Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, who were told to write the love theme for The Poseidon Adventure in one night. In the end, the finished product was called "Why Must There Be a Morning After?" but tweaking from higher-ups resulted in the song's more optimistic tone (as evidenced by the new cry of "There's got to be a morning after"). In the end titles of the film, it is officially called "The Song From 'The Poseidon Adventure'", not what would be its otherwise best known title, "The Morning After".
The song is performed in the film by the character of Nonnie (actually a vocal double (Renee Armand) singing for Carol Lynley) as entertainment at the New Year's Eve party early in the film. The lyrics seem to resonate during ensuing story developments in which the survivors of the capsized SS Poseidon brave all odds to live another day.
Russ Regan, head of 20th Century Records, suggested that Maureen McGovern, who had sent him a demo tape and was working at the time as a secretary, sing the song. Having the utmost faith in her, he financed the recording with his own money and signed her to his label.
[edit] Acclaim
At first, the song was not a hit. However, the song gained much publicity after being nominated for, and eventually winning, the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Ironically, a character makes fun of the song and performer's voice in the film. It debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 in late June at number ninety-nine. The song slowly rose up the chart and after seven weeks, it took the number one spot, which it would keep for two weeks.
The publicity surrounding McGovern and her rendition of the Oscar winner led her to release an album (also entitled The Morning After), and helped her obtain the rights to sing the love theme to 1974's The Towering Inferno, We May Never Love Like This Again, also written by Kasha and Hirschhorn; that tune also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
[edit] Pop culture references
- In the South Park episode "The Succubus" (#303), a succubus uses "The Morning After" to control Chef, and force him into marriage. The boys have to sing the song backwards in order to banish the succubus.
- The Simpsons episode "The Wettest Stories Ever Told" featured a parody of The Poseidon Adventure. Just before the ship (called the Neptune) capsizes, Lisa sings a parody of "The Morning After", which gives not-so-subtle hints to the destruction of the ship and deaths of the passengers.
- Family Guy episode "Don't Make Me Over" features Mort Goldman performing a karaoke version of "The Morning After".
- King Of The Hill episode "Pour Some Sugar on Kahn" has Kahn Souphanousinphone singing a karaoke version of "The Morning After" to much acclaim before his father-in-law betrays Kahn later in the episode by singing the song first.
- In the Veronica Mars episode "My Big Fat Greek Rush Week", Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie claims that "The Morning After" is playing in her head the morning after her roommate Parker Lee is raped.
- In the movie Kung Pow, the first line of the song is played at the start of the final battle between The Chosen One and Master Pain (Betty).
| Preceded by "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single August 4, 1973 — August 11, 1973 |
Succeeded by "Touch Me in the Morning" by Diana Ross |
| Preceded by "Theme from Shaft" from Shaft |
Academy Award for Best Original Song 1972 |
Succeeded by "The Way We Were" from The Way We Were |
