Insomniac (song)

Last updated
"Insomniac"
Insomniac cover.jpg
Single by Echobelly
from the album Everyone's Got One
ReleasedMarch 1994
Genre Britpop
Length4:15
Label Fauve, Rhythm King
Songwriter(s) Sonya Madan, Glenn Johansson
Echobelly singles chronology
"Bellyache"
(1993)		"Insomniac"
(1994)		"I Can't Imagine the World Without Me"
(1994)
Audio sample

"Insomniac" is a song by the Britpop band Echobelly. It was released as a single in March 1994 and was included on the band's album, Everyone's Got One . The song, written by Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson, is primarily about drug abuse.

Contents

The single received positive critical reviews and peaked at #47 on the UK music charts. It was featured on the soundtrack for the film Dumb and Dumber .

Background

"Insomniac" was composed by band members Sonya Aurora Madan and Glenn Johansson. [1] It is based on a 4/4 alternating verse/chorus structure and may be a musical homage to one of Echobelly's major influences, Morrissey. [2]

Billboard wrote that the song is a "gentle warning of the dangers of snorting too much speed". [3] However, according to Britpop and the English Music Tradition, the song might be a "dig" at Britpop's cocaine-driven lifestyle at the time (which is highlighted by the lines "Whatever turned you on/You put it up your nose" and "No sleep at all/Carry me home"). [2]

Release

"Insomniac" was released as a single in March 1994 with the b-side "Talent". It was then included as the seventh track of Echobelly's debut album, Everyone's Got One, which was released in August 1994. [4] The song was also included on the band's 2001 compilation album I Can't Imagine the World Without Me and their 2008 release The Best Of Echobelly . [4] [5]

Critical reception

The single received positive reviews from music critics, who called it "stunning" [6] and "one of the best singles of 1994". [3] According to author John Harris, "Insomniac" was one of Echobelly's two best songs, along with "Bellyache". [7] Allmusic's Ned Raggett wrote that "at the band's best ... Madan grapples with personal politics and dreams full on -- "Insomniac" and "Close...But," with its pictures of relationships fracturing on all fronts and resolution to look beyond them for something better, make for entertaining blasts of inspiration." [8]

Chart performance

"Insomniac" charted at #47 in the UK for the week ending on April 2, 1994. This was the single's only appearance on the music charts. [9]

"Insomniac" was featured on the soundtrack for the film Dumb and Dumber. [10]

Music video

The song's music video features three performances by the band, with songwriter-vocalist Madan wearing three different outfits: black clothes and black make-up; a white Union Jack T-shirt; and a red sequined dress and blonde wig. The video "takes full advantage of Madan's dramatic presence", [11] and she dances in front of the camera for the duration of the song in the three contrasting outfits, before taking the wig off at the end. [12]

Track list

7" [4] [13]

  1. "Insomniac" - 3.46
  2. "Centipede" - 4.03
  3. "Talent" - 2.07

Charts

ChartPeak
position
UK Singles [9] 47

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References

  1. ↑ "Insomniac". allmusic.com. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Bennett, Andy and Stratton, Jon. Britpop and the English Music Tradition (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2010), p. 67.
  3. 1 2 Sinclair, David. "Global Music Pulse". Billboard, Oct 14, 1995, p. 53.
  4. 1 2 3 Strong, Martin Charles. The Great Rock Discography (The National Academies, 2002).
  5. ↑ "The Best of Echobelly". Amazon UK.
  6. ↑ Robbins, Ira A. The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock (Simon & Schuster, 1997), p. 228.
  7. ↑ Harris, John. Britpop! (Da Capo Press, 2004), p. 396.
  8. ↑ Raggett, Ned. "Everybody's Got One - Echobelly". allmusic.com. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  9. 1 2 "Official Charts Company - Echobelly - Insomniac". OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  10. ↑ Cronin, Peter. "Brits Around the World". Billboard, Feb 18, 1995, p. 52.
  11. ↑ Bennett, p. 66.
  12. ↑ "ECHOBELLY 'Insomniac'". youtube.com, September 11, 2007. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Echobelly – Insomniac (1994, CD)". Discogs .
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