When I Was a Boy

For the 1993 short film, see When I Was a Boy (film).
Not to be confused with the songs by The Who and Dar Williams.
When I Was a Boy
Studio album by Jane Siberry
Released August 3, 1993
Recorded

June 1991–January 1993

Mushroom Studios, Vancouver, BC
Reaction Studios, Toronto
Westside Studios, London
Genre Ambient[1]
Synthpop[1]
Downtempo[1]
Length 66:23
Label Reprise/Warner Bros. Records
26824
Producer Jane Siberry, Brian Eno (tracks 1 and 4), Michael Brook (track 3)
Jane Siberry chronology

Bound by the Beauty
(1989)
When I Was a Boy
(1993)
Maria
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
Robert Christgau B−[3]
Rolling Stone [4]

When I Was a Boy is a 1993 album by Jane Siberry. Internationally, it is her most famous album. In Siberry's native Canada, however, the album was commercially successful but not as big a hit as her 1985 album The Speckless Sky.

The album includes Siberry's most famous song, "Calling All Angels", a duet with k.d. lang which appeared on two movie soundtracks, Until the End of the World in 1991 and Pay It Forward in 1998. The song was also sung by cast members of Six Feet Under in a scene from the episode "The Rainbow of Her Reasons." "Sail Across the Water" and "Temple" were the other singles from the album.

Several songs included electronic textures; "Temple" was Siberry's first song that was popular in dance clubs. The album was also Siberry's first to explore more spiritual themes, which would become a hallmark of her later music.[5]

On The Tragically Hip's 1997 live album Live Between Us, Gordon Downie sings the chorus from "Temple" in that album's track "Nautical Disaster".

The song "All the Candles in the World", is featured in the 2000 movie Final Destination.

Track listing

All songs written by Jane Siberry, except where indicated.

  1. "Temple" – 4:45
  2. "Calling All Angels" – 5:17
  3. "Love Is Everything" – 5:50
  4. "Sail Across the Water" – 5:22
  5. "All the Candles in the World" – 3:49
  6. "Sweet Incarnadine" (Siberry, Erdal Kizilcay, Ken Myhr) – 6:46
  7. "The Gospel According to Darkness" – 4:51
  8. "An Angel Stepped Down (And Slowly Looked Around)" – 5:50
  9. "The Vigil (The Sea)" – 9:23
  10. "Bells" – 1:19
  11. "At the Beginning of Time" – 7:20
  12. "Love Is Everything (Harmony Version)" – 5:51

Personnel

Additional personnel

Charts

Album

Year Chart Peak position Weeks on the chart
1993 RPM Top 100 Albums 46[6] 13

Singles

Song Year Chart Peak position
"Calling All Angels" 1992 RPM Adult Contemporary 9[7]
"Sail Across the Water" 1993 RPM Top 100 Singles 66[8]

References