Starseed (song)

Last updated

"Starseed"
Starseed single.jpg
Single by Our Lady Peace
from the album Naveed
ReleasedMay 16, 1994
Recorded1994
Length4:04
Label (US)
Songwriter(s) Our Lady Peace
Producer(s) Arnold Lanni
Our Lady Peace singles chronology
"The Birdman"
(1994)
"Starseed"
(1994)
"Hope"
(1994)
Music video
"Starseed" on YouTube

"Starseed" is the second single from Our Lady Peace's first album Naveed , released in 1994. It was remixed and released on the soundtrack to Armageddon . In addition, a live version from the 2003 Live album was released as a single. The song was also planned to be included on the soundtrack for Drew Barrymore's 1995 film Mad Love but was left off. [1] Art model Saul Fox makes a brief appearance in the music video and appears on the cover of the promotional single.

Contents

Origins

According to Maida in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press : "Starseed was written in five minutes. Chris [Eacrett] came up with the bass line and the vibe was so heavy we just wrote it." [2] It only took the band twenty more minutes to record the song. [3]

Versions

The mix of "Starseed" released in the United States as a single and on the Armageddon soundtrack varies from the version released on Naveed. The ending of the song, which on Naveed ended cold after the last lyric was extended to a fadeout, stretching the song from its original 4 minutes, 7 seconds to 4 minutes and 19 seconds. This version is known as the "Armageddon Remix".

Meaning

"It was based on this book by Ken Carey, The Starseed Transmissions, about a channeling experience he had. The whole chorus is about if you have had a channeling experience and during this experience you find something you believe and trying to convince everybody else is not always an easy task. I'm into a lot of meditating. My dad was Catholic and he tried to school me in that, but I never really agreed with him. I've always been interested in religion and the way it affects society. The Starseed thing is about going on a meditation journey and coming back with something tangible. Something you actually believe in. Something that means something to you. It is hard to convince people of my father's generation of anything other than the religious values instilled in them." - Raine Maida

Track list

  1. "Starseed"
  2. "Supersatellite"

Music video

The music video was produced by George Vale and is shot mostly in sepia tone. It was filmed at a former Sears warehouse in Toronto. The video has a very middle-eastern theme, akin to the rest of the album, showing people levitating and dressed in turbans. Future bassist Duncan Coutts makes a brief appearance in the video as an extra. During shooting, a light box that moved up and down fell three floors from the ceiling barely missing several band members. [4] The Starseed video was seen on Beavis and Butt-head during the episode "Green Thumbs" in 1995. The outdoor portion of the music video was filmed at the Cheltenham Badlands in Caledon, Ontario.

Charts

Chart (1994–1995)Peak
position
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [5] 42
Canada Cancon (RPM) [6] 1
US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [7] 10
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [8] 7

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chantal Kreviazuk</span> Canadian singer-songwriter (born 1973)

Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk is a Canadian singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist. Born in Winnipeg, she played music from a young age before signing with Columbia Records in the 1990s. Her debut studio album, Under These Rocks and Stones, was first released in Canada in 1996 and saw commercial success before being issued in the United States the following year to critical praise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady Peace</span> Canadian rock band

Our Lady Peace is a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Led by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band currently also features Duncan Coutts on bass, Steve Mazur on guitars, and Jason Pierce on drums. The band has sold several million albums worldwide, won four Juno Awards, and won ten MuchMusic Video Awards—the most MMVAs ever awarded to a band. Nineteen of their singles have reached the Top Ten on one of Canada's singles charts. Between 1996 and 2016, Our Lady Peace was the third best-selling Canadian band and the ninth best-selling Canadian artist overall in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raine Maida</span> Canadian musician

Raine Maida is a Canadian musician best known as being the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. He has come to be known for his unique countertenor nasal falsetto singing voice, as well as his cryptic and poetry-influenced song lyrics. He occasionally plays certain instruments, such as the acoustic guitar, while performing with Our Lady Peace. Following guitarist Mike Turner's departure from Our Lady Peace in 2001, Maida is the only remaining original member of the band.

<i>Spiritual Machines</i> 2000 studio album by Our Lady Peace

Spiritual Machines is the fourth studio album by the Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released by Columbia Records in December 2000. Although not initially intended, the project evolved into a conceptual interpretation of futurist and inventor Raymond Kurzweil's 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines. Short tracks of spoken dialog from Kurzweil himself are interspersed among the actual songs on the album. The Kurzweil K250 keyboard, one of his inventions, was utilized throughout the recording of the album.

<i>Clumsy</i> (Our Lady Peace album) 1997 studio album by Our Lady Peace

Clumsy is the second studio album by the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace, released on January 23, 1997, by Columbia Records. The album is the band's most successful to date, achieving diamond status in Canada and strong sales in other countries, including platinum status in the U.S. for another 1 million sales. In 2007, it ranked No. 76 on "The Top 100 Canadian Albums" by Bob Mersereau and No. 33 on The Top 102 New Rock Albums of All Time by 102.1 The Edge. The album features five hit singles: "Superman's Dead", "Automatic Flowers", "Clumsy", "4am" and "Carnival". Each single except "Carnival" has a music video.

<i>Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch</i> 1999 studio album by Our Lady Peace

Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch is the third studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released on September 21, 1999, by Columbia Records. The album was very successful in Canada, debuting at #1 on the Canadian Albums Chart. The album was certified 3× Platinum in July 2001. Hit singles from the album include "One Man Army", "Annie", "Is Anybody Home?", and "Thief". The final track on the CD, "Stealing Babies", features Elvin Jones, a prominent post-bop jazz drummer. The photo shoot for this album took place around Staten Island in New York State.

<i>Gravity</i> (Our Lady Peace album) 2002 studio album by Our Lady Peace

Gravity is the fifth studio album by the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released on June 18, 2002 by Columbia Records in North America. The album became a worldwide success, charting highly both in Canada and the United States with the hit singles "Somewhere Out There" and "Innocent".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncan Coutts</span> Canadian musician

Robert Duncan Coutts is a Canadian musician, best known for being the bassist for Our Lady Peace since 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thief (Our Lady Peace song)</span> 2000 single by Our Lady Peace

"Thief" is a song by Canadian alternative rock group Our Lady Peace. It was released in March 2000 as the fourth and final single from their third album Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superman's Dead</span> 1997 single by Our Lady Peace

"Superman's Dead" is a song by Canadian alternative rock group Our Lady Peace. It was released in January 1997 as the lead single from their second album Clumsy. This has become one of Our Lady Peace's most popular songs in both Canada and the U.S., as well as many other parts of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4am (Our Lady Peace song)</span> 1997 single by Our Lady Peace

"4am" is a song by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released in December 1997 as the fourth single from their second album Clumsy. The band has described the title of the song as having a double meaning. The band wrote the entire song at 4 am. Also, the band's lead vocalist's father's name was Anthony Maida. The song being written at 4am and the initials of Raine's father give meaning to the song's name. Raine has confessed that the song was triggered by a dream about his father. The dream was about their relationship and the fear he had about his father supporting his musical career. The meaning has resonated with many of the band's fans. The song has a steady upbeat tempo throughout, with poetic lyrics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clumsy (Our Lady Peace song)</span> 1997 single by Our Lady Peace

"Clumsy" is a song by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released in 1997 as the second single from their second album, Clumsy. It is one of the band's most successful singles, reaching number one in Canada for three weeks. It also experienced success in the United States, reaching number five on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and staying in the top ten for 15 weeks. The song ranked number one on CILQ-FM's Top 107 songs of 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somewhere Out There (Our Lady Peace song)</span> 2002 single by Our Lady Peace

"Somewhere Out There" is a song by Canadian alternative rock group Our Lady Peace. It was released on April 1, 2002, as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Gravity. It was the most successful single from the album, reaching number 44 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and peaking inside the top 40 on five other Billboard charts. "Somewhere Out There" was the ninth-most played song on radio in Canada in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Man Army (song)</span> 1999 single by Our Lady Peace

"One Man Army" is a song by Canadian alternative rock group Our Lady Peace. It was released in July 1999 as the lead single from their third album, Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady Peace discography</span>

Between 1994 and present, Our Lady Peace discography has amounted to twelve total albums. These include ten studio albums, one live album and two compilation albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Birdman (song)</span> 1994 single by Our Lady Peace

"The Birdman" is Our Lady Peace's first single off their debut album Naveed. Because of the Naveed cover, Saul Fox is best known for being the Birdman. The chorus of the song originates from an early demo that the band cut in 1992 called "Nobody's Wrong" with a completely different meaning.

<i>Naveed</i> (album) 1994 studio album by Our Lady Peace

Naveed is the debut studio album by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. It was produced by Arnold Lanni, and was released on March 22, 1994, by Sony Music Canada. Naveed became a success in Canada, being certified 4× Platinum in the country. There were five singles released for the album, including "The Birdman", "Starseed" and "Naveed". This is the only album to feature bass player Chris Eacrett, who was replaced by Duncan Coutts in 1995.

<i>Burn Burn</i> (album) 2009 studio album by Our Lady Peace

Burn Burn is the seventh studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released in North America on July 21, 2009. The album's title is based on a quote by Jack Kerouac from his 1957 novel On the Road.

<i>Curve</i> (album) 2012 studio album by Our Lady Peace

Curve is the eighth studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace (OLP), released on April 3, 2012. The album was recorded from 2010 through 2012 at vocalist Raine Maida's home recording studio. Curve's first single, "Heavyweight", was released on December 20, 2011. The music from Curve has been touted by lead singer Maida as being "more experimental and ambitious" than the band's 2000 concept album Spiritual Machines. The album's cover features Canadian heavyweight boxer George Chuvalo, whose vocal excerpts are featured in the album's tenth and final track "Mettle".

<i>Armageddon: The Album</i> 1998 soundtrack album by Various artists

Armageddon: Music From the Motion Picture is the soundtrack album to the 1998 Touchstone Pictures film Armageddon, released by Columbia Records and Hollywood Records on June 23, 1998. The album features several songs recorded specifically for the soundtrack, including "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and "What Kind of Love Are You On", performed by Aerosmith, "Remember Me", performed by Journey, and "Mister Big Time", performed by Jon Bon Jovi. Our Lady Peace's "Starseed" is a remixed version of the original. The album was commercially successful in Japan, and was certified double platinum for 400,000 copies shipped in 1999.

References

  1. Howell, Peter. "Our Lady Peace Big Outside Canada" Toronto Star May 20, 1995: C4
  2. Lyons, John. "Band Honed Live Show As Opening Act On Tour" Winnipeg Free Press October 27, 1994: A4
  3. "Transparent Humans Mailing List - Digest #13" December 8, 1995
  4. "Transparent Humans Mailing List - Digest #31" April 5, 1996
  5. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2585." RPM . Library and Archives Canada.
  6. "Canadian Content (Cancon) - Volume 59, No. 24 Jul 04, 1994". RPM . Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  7. "Our Lady Peace Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  8. "Our Lady Peace Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2021.