Scars to Your Beautiful
"Scars to Your Beautiful" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara. Def Jam Recordings and Universal Music Group serviced it to contemporary hit radio on July 26, 2016, as the third single from her debut studio album "Know-It-All" (2015). A pop ballad, the song was written by Cara along with its producers Pop & Oak, Sebastian Kole, and DJ Frank E.
In the United States, "Scars to Your Beautiful" peaked at number eight. It marked Cara's second top-ten single on US "Billboard" Hot 100. It also reached the top ten in Australia, Iceland, Slovenia, and Sweden.
Background.
Cara felt motivated to make the song after viewing an episode of "Botched". In an interview with Idolator's Mike Wass, Cara stated about the process behind the song:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />"Basically, that song is about body image. It's directed at women, but I think men can relate to it as well. It's just a song about these things that certain women go through on a daily basis in order to feel loved or in order to love themselves. I think that's such a thing that goes on in today's world. These weird things are instilled in us. You know? They tell us that we’re not good enough or that there's only one kind of beauty. This song basically is contradicting that idea. It's saying, 'Well, if the world doesn't like how you look then they should change. They should change their perspective. You don’t have to change yourself.' I mean, I thought that that was important, you know, just to put out next. Especially because I think that's kind of the direction we're going in, you know, with 'Here'. 'Here' was about not belonging anywhere and 'Wild Things' was about finding a space you belong. Now 'Scars To Your Beautiful' is basically about embracing yourself and finally coming to that conclusion where you feel love and you can love yourself. I think it's cool to put out third because I feel like I have a bigger platform now. The point of the song is to reach as many women, or people, as possible."
Cara also noted that the song was inspired by Christina Aguilera's 2002 ballad "Beautiful".
Critical reception.
"The Guardian"'s Kitty Empire said that "There's substance on Scars to Your Beautiful, where Cara tackles the beauty myth à la Beyoncé. The verses pack some good stuff – 'What's a little bit of hunger? I can go a little bit longer.'" and later went on to say "the thumping motivational chorus merely suggests we are all stars." Katy Iandoli of Idolator stated "Scars to Your Beautiful is a modern-day version of TLC's 'Unpretty', in its acknowledgment of the beauty in both visible and invisible imperfections."
"Billboard" ranked "Scars to Your Beautiful" at number 77 on their "Billboard"'s 100 Best Pop Songs of 2016: Critics' Picks" list, commenting “Body-positivity anthems typically don't get this dark, but on "Scars To Your Beautiful," Alessia Cara isn't afraid to talk cutting, tears and eating disorders, before getting to the uplifting chorus, where she delivers some of the most empowering, horizon-expanding lyrics of this year: ‘You don't have to change a thing / The world could change its heart.’”
Music video.
The music video was published on July 11, 2016, with a cameo appearance by singer JoJo.
Background.
On the concept of the music video, LALALALALALCara said in an interview with "Cosmopolitan": "I wanted to do this kind of video for a very long time. Since we had this song — and since we knew it was going to be a single — I had this vision of many different cinematic shots of different kinds of people. I wanted all kinds of people — young, old, whatever their situation, whether it's visible scars, non-visible scars — just a bunch of different women, and there are some men in there as well because it can reach out to guys too. But I wanted real shots of real people telling their stories, and showing the story through little vignettes."
Impact and usage in media.
The song is featured in episodes of the television shows "The Bold Type", "", and "Family Law".
The song was used in the international trailer of "A Wrinkle in Time", as well as the background music for the introduction video of "Dirt Rally 2.0".
In 2018, the song was featured in television commercials for ULTA Beauty.
Charts.
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References.
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Oak Felder
Turkish songwriter and record producer (born 1980)
Warren "Oak" Felder (born November 9, 1980) is a Turkish songwriter and record producer based in Atlanta and Los Angeles. He is known for his work as part of the production duo Pop & Oak, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2015.
Early life.
Felder was born in Istanbul and grew up there. After studying network technologies and artificial intelligence at Istanbul Technical University in Istanbul, he moved to the United States in 2001 to attend Georgia Tech in Atlanta. His nickname comes from his Turkish name, Okay.
Career.
While a student at Georgia Tech, Felder recorded a demo with the singer/songwriter Sterling Simms, which led to a meeting with L.A. Reid and resulted in Felder writing and producing a track on a Mariah Carey album in 2005.
Around 2009, Felder became production partners with Pop Wansel as the production duo Pop & Oak. Their first big hit was "Your Love", the lead single on Nicki Minaj's 2010 debut studio album "Pink Friday". Other notable songs they have written and produced include six tracks on Elle Varner's 2012 album "Perfectly Imperfect" (two of the singles are "Only Wanna Give It to You" and "I Don't Care"), nine songs on Kehlani's debut album "SweetSexySavage," and six tracks on Alessia Cara's 2015 debut album "Know-It-All", including the singles "Here" and "Scars to Your Beautiful", which both went to number 1 on the "Billboard" Mainstream Top 40 charts.
Felder was nominated for a 2015 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for writing Usher's single "Good Kisser"; produced two songs on the Alicia Keys album "Girl on Fire", which won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album; wrote and produced "Invincible", the lead single from Kelly Clarkson's 2015 album "Piece by Piece"; wrote and produced "Clumsy", the second single from the 2016 Britney Spears album "Glory"; and wrote and produced five tracks on Demi Lovato's 2017 album "Tell Me You Love Me", including the lead single "Sorry Not Sorry", winning a 2019 BMI Pop Award for the single. Felder has also written and produced songs for artists including Trey Songz, Rihanna, Miguel, Kehlani, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez, Mario, Tamia, ZZ Ward, and Sabrina Carpenter. Felder was named as a top producer by BMI in 2012 and 2013, and won a 2017 BMI Pop Award for co-writing Alessia Cara's "Here", and a 2018 BMI Pop Award for co-writing her single "Scars to Your Beautiful". He also wrote and produced three tracks on Lizzo's 2019 major label debut "Cuz I Love You", wrote and produced the top 40 single "Who Do You Love" by The Chainsmokers featuring 5 Seconds of Summer, and working on music with Kehlani, Demi Lovato, and Alessia Cara in 2019.
Felder is published by Reservoir and managed by Lucas Keller and Peter Coquillard at Milk & Honey. Felder is on the board of directors of the Mechanical Licensing Collective, which works to increase the royalty money from streaming companies to songwriters.
Personal life.
Felder is married and lives in Atlanta and has a studio in Los Angeles.
References.
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Armageddon (Guy Sebastian album)
Armageddon is the sixth album by Australian singer-songwriter Guy Sebastian. It was released in digital and CD format on 12 October 2012. A deluxe edition featuring a DVD of a concert from Sebastian's "Armageddon Tour" was also available. The album reached number one and double platinum certification in Australia, and number 20 in New Zealand. It was Sebastian's seventh top ten album in Australia, and his second to achieve a number one peak. It was the ninth highest selling album in Australia in 2012, the second highest selling album by an Australian act.
Four top ten singles were released from the album, including "Don't Worry Be Happy", and "Battle Scars" which features Lupe Fiasco. "Don't Worry Be Happy" peaked at number five and gained 4× platinum certification, with "Battle Scars" reaching number one and 11× platinum. "Battle Scars" is Sebastian's sixth number one single in Australia and Fiasco's first. "Battle Scars" also reached number two and double platinum certification in New Zealand, number 71 and platinum certification in the US, and number two in Norway.
Sebastian has received a number of accolades for the album and its songs. He was nominated for three 2012 ARIA Music Awards, Best Male Artist and Best Pop Release for "Battle Scars", and Song of the Year for "Don't Worry Be Happy". "Battle Scars" was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and won the R&B/Hip category in the 2013 International Songwriting Competition. "Get Along" was a final five nominee for the 2013 APRA Song of the Year Award and "Don't Worry Be Happy" was nominated for Pop Work of the Year. Sebastian won Best Pop Release for "Armageddon" at the 2013 ARIA Awards and Best Live Act for the Get Along Tour. He received three other nominations, including Album of the Year.
Background and development.
Although Sebastian released the retrospective album "Twenty Ten" in 2010, "Armageddon" is his first studio album since "Like It Like That", an album of original soul music, was released in October 2009. "Armageddon", while mainly pop with some R&B songs, still shows the soul influences that "Like it Like That" did on many of the songs. Sebastian has said he grew up listening to old school soul music from artists like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Donny Hathaway, and Stevie Wonder, and they had always been his strongest musical influences. He said early in his career he was steered away from soul music, advised it wouldn't sell in Australia. After he released "The Memphis Album", a cover album of Memphis soul classics he recorded with members the MGs including Steve Cropper, he realised there was a market, and he felt he could now do the style of music he had always wanted to.
In an interview about "Armageddon" Sebastian spoke of how much "The Memphis Album" still influences his music, "I headed across to Memphis and was very inspired by the music scene there. I got to work with some people who were instrumental in shaping the careers of artists who heavily influence me. Artists like Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Sam Cooke. Being entrenched in that sort of environment really caused me to go 'You know what dude. Do what you want to do. Do what comes natural to you'." Sebastian said it was a turning point for him, adding, "From that Memphis thing a few years ago it's always going to start with me being true to who I want to be and what I enjoy singing." Sebastian feels his soul roots remained even when he delved into electro dance music with the single "Who's That Girl" from his previous album, explaining it was an old school Sam Cooke type of melody, with modern lyrics, over a dance track. He said, "I had that melody, and I could have gone so many ways with it. I could have produced an old-school soul song, but I went towards what you hear on the radio."
"Armageddon" was originally slated for release mid-2012, but it was delayed because Sebastian wanted to be completely happy with it before it was released. He said, "It's the longest I have spent with an album but I'm not rushing it for a TV performance or anything. It will happen when it's ready". He explained he had approached "Armageddon" in a different way than his previous albums, "I haven't sat down to write an album, I've just been writing whatever I feel. I'm still learning what defines me as an artist. There's stuff in there that radio won't touch but it needs to be there and I think it lifts the album. [...] I've done most of it myself and I've really taken my time." While the album has the upbeat happy music and love songs he is known for, Sebastian said becoming a father earlier in the year brought new awareness, and he started analysing the world his son would grow up in. He explained it gave him a broader perspective, and while he had always taken notice of the state of world affairs, he had never written about it in song before. Because of this he said the album has more light and shade, "there's definitely moments where it has a bit more depth to it -- it's not just 'I love you, do you love me too?' Obviously there's some love songs in there, but there's also a bit more commentary on the world that my little boy (Hudson) is going to inherit." When asked to give five words that could describe the album Sebastian used the words "dark", "reflective", "happy", "appreciative" and "anxious".
Writing and composition.
Five of the songs on "Armageddon" are written by Sebastian alone, while the others have at least one co-writer. Sebastian began writing songs which appear on the album almost two years before its release, and performed two of them, "Summer Love" and "Keeper", while touring as a support act on Lionel Richie's Australian and New Zealand tour in March 2011. Both are pop songs, with "Keeper" having a reggae feel. "Summer Love" is about bittersweet feelings for a lost love, and "Keeper" is about finding that special love, the one who is a keeper. "Don't Worry Be Happy", released as the lead single in November 2012, is an upbeat pop song Sebastian wrote after he encountered an angry motorist in Los Angeles. Discussing the inspiration for the track he explained he could sometimes be caught up in a little bit of "glass half empty" in his life, and wrote the song as a reminder to himself and hopefully to others that life is too short to stress about the small things. Sebastian showcased two more songs, "Amnesia" and "Armageddon", at the "Don't Worry Be Happy" media launch in December 2011. "Amnesia" is a soulful pop ballad about the anguish of coping with a broken relationship. Sebastian says of the power ballad "Armageddon", "The title track might sound pretty dark, but it's actually about not taking love for granted, and living like tomorrow is the last day on earth".
"Get Along" deals with the damage inflicted by religious, racial and cultural intolerance, asking why the world can't just get along. It is a stripped back track with minimal instrumental accompaniment. Sebastian explained why he wrote the song, "It sends your brain into overload when you are expecting your first child. It definitely makes you take a step back and try to gain some perspective on this world we live in". "Big Bad World" was written for his son Hudson who was born in March 2012. He said, "It's about that promise we all make to our kids, but realise we don't have as much control as we think. We want to protect them from the big bad world, but the promise matters the most." "Used to You" is a song Sebastian wrote for his wife Jules. He said, "I always say to her, 'I don't get used to you'. I still get back from tours and I'm still excited to see her. [...] We've been friends for 18 years, together for 13 years. I'm lucky".
"Beg" is a midtempo pop song with a percussion-driven chorus, about a relationship growing distant. "Died and Gone to Heaven" is an old school R&B song of love and passion, which features big harmonies and falsetto vocals. "Gold" is an uptempo soul song. Sebastian inserted a horn line into it from "Shake", a live recording of an Otis Redding track. He said, "You hear an old soul track, old Motown or Memphis, and it just makes you get on your feet." "Battle Scars", a collaboration with Lupe Fiasco, is an R&B ballad with a hip hop rap about the scars left from hurtful and broken relationships. Sebastian said that usually when he writes a song he comes up with the melody first with no words, but this time some of the lyrics came at the same time. After finishing the song with David Ryan Harris it was recorded leaving the parts where Sebastian envisaged the rap should go. When Fiasco was in Australia for Supafest, Sebastian recorded his rap at his Sydney studio.
Release and promotion.
"Armageddon" was released on October 12, 2012. With the release date originally anticipated to be mid-2012, the lead single "Don't Worry Be Happy" was released 11 months before the album. Sebastian performed the song during the 2011 "The X-Factor" Grand Final, and also as a medley with "Who's That Girl" at the 2011 ARIA Music Awards. In early February 2012 the album title and a June/July tour to coincide with the album release were announced. The second single "Gold" was released in May, and Sebastian performed it on "Dancing with the Stars" and "Australia's Got Talent". He had media interviews in the first half of the year to discuss the album's progress. The "Armageddon Tour" went ahead in June with no news of a release date for the album. In a later interview Sebastian explained, "So I was going to try and finish the album for the tour and have it ready because that would have been ideal, but it just wasn't ready. And I wrote a couple of other songs that I felt really needed to go on the album."
The third single "Battle Scars" was serviced to Australian radio on 2 August 2012, a week before it was released digitally. It was the most added song to radio in its first week, and became the most played song on Australian radio in its seventh week, where it remained for two weeks. Sebastian did a number media interviews in the week the song was released. In mid September Fiasco came to Australia to promote the single and his own album, and he and Sebastian held further interviews. On 18 September the cover art, track listing and release date of "Armageddon" was announced. Sebastian and Fiasco performed "Battle Scars" live for the first time on X Factor that night. They also performed it on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on 27 September, to promote the song in the US. Fiasco had added it to his album "" in countries other than Australia, credited as a duet, and released it as the fourth single in the US. The show was aired in Australia the following day. "Battle Scars" was used in the US for the TV promotion of the movie "Red Dawn".
Sebastian had media interviews in the weeks leading up to and during "Armageddon"'s release week, saying in one, "I think it's definitely time. I've released a few singles from this album already, like 'Don't Worry Be Happy', 'Gold' and 'Battle Scars', so three singles deep I should probably get the album out". The fourth single "Get Along" was serviced to radio in the first week in November. Sebastian performed "Get Along" and "Battle Scars" on the Seven Network's morning program "Sunrise" on November 12. He also performed "Get Along" on the first night of the 2012 X Factor Grand Final on November 19. On 29 November Sebastian and Fiasco performed "Battle Scars" at the 2012 ARIA Music Awards. Sebastian and Fiasco continued the US promotion of "Battle Scars" in early 2013, performing the song on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" with The Roots, and on "Conan". Both shows are also shown in Australia.
Singles.
"Don't Worry Be Happy" was released as "Armageddon"'s lead single on November 18, 2011. It peaked at number five and, although only released in mid November, was the sixth highest selling Australian artist single of 2011. The song spent 19 weeks in the ARIA Top 50, including ten weeks in the top ten and was certified 4× platinum in 2012.
"Gold" was released as the second single on May 11, 2012. It peaked at number ten, and was certified platinum by ARIA. There was some controversy surrounding the song. Carmen Smith who contributes significant vocals to the track, although not credited as a featured artist, was disqualified as a contestant from "The Voice" for appearing in the video. Smith had worked with Sebastian for years, and later stated "The Voice" producers were aware of this, and that she had a clause in her contract which allowed her to continue to perform and record with him. She thought appearing in the video would be permitted under her contract. However they said she was breaking the "spirit" of the rules, as it might give her an unfair advantage over the other contestants."
"Battle Scars" featuring Lupe Fiasco was released as the third single on August 10, 2012. It debuted at number one, Sebastian's sixth number one single in Australia and Fiasco's first. Sebastian has achieved the most number one singles for an Australian male singer in Australian chart history. "Battle Scars" moved him into outright third place for all Australian acts, with only Kylie Minogue and Delta Goodrem having achieved more. The song remained at number one for six consecutive weeks and has been certified 11× platinum. "Battle Scars" was the third highest selling song in Australia in 2012, the highest selling single by an Australian act. It also reached number two and double platinum certification in New Zealand. It charted at number 71 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. In addition to the Hot 100, it reached number 23 on the "Billboard" Digital Songs Chart and number one on the "Billboard" R&B/Hip-hop Digital Song Chart. The song spent 20 weeks in the "Billboard" Hot 100 and has been certified platinum for sales of one million. "Battle Scars" also reached number two in Norway.
"Get Along" was released as the fourth single on 10 November 2012, and debuted at number 34, rising to number five the following week. It was Sebastian's 11th of 12 top ten singles in Australia. It achieved double platinum certification in January 2013. "Get Along" also reached number nine and gold certification in New Zealand, Sebastian's sixth top ten single there.
Tours.
Armageddon Tour.
Sebastian toured nationally during June and July 2012. The 20 date tour had concerts in all capital cities and also in regional areas of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Originally scheduled to promote the album after its release, the tour became a showcase for the new songs. An extra concert at the Palais Theatre, Victoria was added to film footage for the deluxe edition of the album. Sebastian performed songs from previous albums as well as new songs. He felt it was the best tour he had done, saying "I pretty much put every cent back into the tour and really stepped up the production and the lighting, it's a lot bigger and better. I'm playing some 3000-seat venues and a bunch of them are sold out, so I want to make sure I'm not compromising. I didn't want to fall short, and it has come up great, better than I thought."
Sebastian invited Ben Burgess, a musician friend from the US, to tour with him. He performed Fiasco's rap on "Battle Scars" and was also the support act. Due to Carmen Smith's disqualification from "The Voice" she was able to participate on the tour. She performed backing vocals along with Gary Pinto, and also the featured parts for "Art of Love" and "Who's That Girl". Smith also performed "Armageddon" with Sebastian, as at the time he had been thinking of having a featured artist on the track. There was speculation in the media that Channel Nine's "The Voice" had issues with Sebastian, when "The Voice" contestants including his own brother Chris were barred from attending one of the concerts. Sebastian is a judge and mentor on "The X Factor" which is aired on the Seven Network. Channel Nine blamed it on scheduling and security problems, while the show's producers declined to comment.
Get Along tour.
In November 2012 a five date tour of the mainland capital cities was announced for March/April 2013. The concerts in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide sold out in the first week, and extra concerts were added in those cities. The tour was extended to include 37 concerts in regional areas of Australia in May and June 2013. David Ryan Harris, an American soul musician who has co-written songs with Sebastian including "Like it Like That" and "Battle Scars", was the support act. He also played guitar in Sebastian's band on the tour. Carmen Smith, and former X-Factor contestant Angel Tupai were the backing vocalists, and both performed duets with Sebastian.
Critical reception.
"Armageddon" and its singles have received a number of positive reviews. Jamie Horne, music journalist for the "Border Mail" gave the album four and a half out of five stars, saying, "Armageddon truly is mature pop. But do not fear — it's not adult contemporary and, more importantly, it's nothing like the club pop that's been diseasing our charts. It is late, however, having been penciled in for a mid-year release. But that's also forgiven early with the opening duo, Amnesia and Beg, the latter a swirling mid-tempo effort destined to be a live favourite." Cameron Adams from the "Herald Sun" wrote, "You've heard Guy's best single to date in Battle Scars; now welcome to his best album. His songwriting has matured as he's left the club behind to focus on the real world. Amnesia and Beg are classy, dramatic adult pop songs that showcase his voice." Adams said "Get Along" was "inspired", and showed new depth from Sebastian. Take 40, said, "Brilliant work Guy! We know this is going to be a success, and will hopefully give you some ARIA nods this time next year." They called the title track "Armageddon" an "uplifting anthem", and said "Get Along" showed "the beautiful timbre of his voice, and has a very inspiring message". Jessica Tisdell from music site Novastreamusic wrote, "Sebastian's latest album "Armageddon" (2012) demonstrates the great growth as an artist that he has achieved over the years of dedication to his career. [...] "Armageddon" is one of those albums that you just listen to easily and does not have one bad track." She said the lyrics of "Get Along" were "heart-warming and send a great message to humanity" and that "Amnesia" demonstrated "Sebastian's amazing vocal range".
David Lim, a music journalist and announcer on radio station Joy 94.9, wrote in an article about the best albums of 2012, "When it comes to the quality of songwriting and vocal performance, this is hands down the best Guy Sebastian album yet. [...] "Armageddon" feels like a mature, universal pop album that would appeal to young and old, broken and fulfilled alike." In earlier reviews for the singles he said "Don't Worry Be Happy" was "feel good, sun-soaked and universally appealing", and described Battle Scars as a "massive bruised ballad with a titan hook that just beats you down with no mercy." Lim wrote of "Get Along", "The emotive political ballad 'Get Along' is possibly the best single Sebastian has ever released. I just can't get over how great his observant lyrics about religious wars are. The hook - 'Dear God, dear soul, dear Mary, Mohammed... can we all just get along?' - absolutely rips right through the heart. Music site auspOp gave positive reviews for all the released singles. They said "Don't Worry Be Happy" was "bright as sunshine" and of "Gold" they wrote, "This new tune is precisely what Guy does best - oozing with class and old school soul. 'Gold' sounds like it could have been ripped straight from the streets of 1960s Detroit, what with its flashy brass, gorgeous gospel chorus and Guy's insane pitch-perfect vocal. They named "Battle Scars" as one of the best singles of the year, with "stunning, crystal-clear, pitch-perfect vocals" calling it "superb home-grown pop". In a review for "Get Along" they wrote, "This one is designed to get you thinking. To tap into your emotions. 'Get Along' is a song about hope, peace and understanding and a dream that perhaps one day we'll all be united, together as one people, one world, despite our differences in opinion, religion, creed and race. [...] Good on Guy for shining some light and spreading the love."
"Battle Scars" received positive response from overseas, including mentions in reviews for Fiasco's album. Hip hop indie/pop site Hillydilly called it "epic", writing, "Evidently this guy can sing because he sure does let it be known on 'Battle Scars'. There is also a perfect amount of Lupe on this track—he is not tucked away on some last verse ****, rather he is found throughout the song." David Fredrick from music discovery site Gigity wrote, "it is an instant classic that will surely grab your attention." HipHop DX said it "oozed mass appeal without deteriorating into sloshy mainstream". Colin McQuire from Pop Matters wrote that the "piano-laden groove adds the texture it needs to be a bona fide Top 40 hit, and Fiasco's crisp broken-hearted rhymes illustrate the exact type of accessibility the track needs to gain commercial notoriety." A reviewer for entertainment site Pop Culture Podcast said, "This one has chart topping single written all over it but due to its genuine lyrics and universal subject matter it doesn't feel like one that you have to 'sell out' to make."
Accolades.
"Don't Worry Be Happy" was nominated for Song of 2011 and Sebastian won the Australian Male Artist Award in the 2011 POPreplublic.tv. IT List Awards. The nominees are chosen by POPreplublic, with public vote deciding the winner.
 The song was also shortlisted for the 2012 APRA Song of the Year Award, which is voted for by the songwriting members of APRA. Sebastian was awarded the 2012 Australian GQ Solo Artist of the Year Award. He was nominated for three 2012 ARIA Music Awards. He received nominations for Best Pop release and Best Male Artist for "Battle Scars" in the industry judged categories. "Don't Worry Be Happy" was nominated for the new Song of the Year Award, where the nominees were the highest selling singles of the year, and the public decided the winner. "Armageddon" was named in the top 20 albums of 2012 by music site The Music Network, one of only six Australian albums included in their list.
"Battle Scars" won Song of 2012 in the 2012 POPreplublic.tv. IT List Awards. Sebastian also received nominations for Album of 2012 for "Armageddon" and Australian Male Artist. "Battle Scars" has also received recognition internationally. It was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration. The Awards are presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It also won the R&B/Hip category in the 2013 International Songwriting Competition. The judging panel is made up of musicians, songwriters and industry experts, and songs are judged on creativity, originality, lyrics, melody, arrangement and overall likeability. "Get Along" was a finalist in the Pop/Top 40 category, and received an honourable mention. "Get Along" was a final five nominee for the 2013 APRA Song of the Year Award, and "Don't Worry Be Happy" was nominated for Pop Work of the Year and Most Played Australian Work. Sebastian won Best Pop Release for "Armageddon" and Best Live Act for the Get Along Tour at the 2013 ARIA Awards. He was also nominated for Album of the Year and Best Male Artist for "Armageddon", and Song of the Year for "Get Along".
Commercial performance.
"Armageddon" debuted at number two on the ARIA Album Chart, rising to number one in its seventh week, and was certified double platinum. It is Sebastian's seventh album to peak in the top six, and his second to reach number one. After only 12 weeks of sales the album was the ninth highest selling album in Australia in 2012, the second highest selling album by an Australian act. The album went on to spend 31 weeks in the ARIA top 50, including 14 weeks in the top ten and again appeared in the End of Year Chart in 2013, charting at number 46. "Armageddon" also reached number 20 in New Zealand, Sebastian's fourth top 30 album there.
Track listing.
Sample credits
Personnel.
Adapted from the "Armagddon" liner notes.
Standard edition.
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Deluxe edition DVD.
Recorded at The Palais Theatre, Melbourne
On stage
Other personnel
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Charts and certifications.
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References.
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Battle Scars
"Battle Scars" is a song performed by Australian recording artist Guy Sebastian featuring American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released digitally in Australia and New Zealand on 10 August 2012 by Sony Music Entertainment. The song lyrics and music were written by Sebastian and David Ryan Harris, with the rap written by Fiasco. It was the third single lifted from Sebastian's seventh album "Armageddon". Fiasco added "Battle Scars" to his fourth album, "" in countries other than Australia. It was released as the fourth single on 28 August 2012, credited as a duet.
"Battle Scars" debuted at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart in its first week of release and has been certified 14× platinum. It was Sebastian's tenth of 12 top ten singles in Australia and sixth to reach number one, and Fiasco's third top ten and first number one single. "Battle Scars" was the third highest selling single in Australia in 2012, the highest selling single by an Australian act. Sebastian received ARIA Award nominations for Best Pop Release and Best Male Artist for the song. "Battle Scars" also reached number two and triple platinum certification in New Zealand and gold certification in Sweden.
In the United States "Battle Scars" peaked on the "Billboard" charts at number 71 on the Hot 100, number 23 on the Digital Song Chart and number one on the R&B/Hip-hop Digital Song Chart.<ref name="R&B R&B/Hip-hop Digital Song Chart">. Billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012.</ref> The song spent 20 nonconsecutive weeks in the Hot 100 and has been certified platinum. "Battle Scars" also reached number two in Norway. It was nominated for an NA


Don't Look Back in Anger
1996 single by Oasis
"Don't Look Back in Anger" is a song by English rock band Oasis. It was written by the band's lead guitarist and chief songwriter Noel Gallagher, and produced by Gallagher and Owen Morris. Released on 19 February 1996 by Creation Records as the fifth single from their second studio album, "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" (1995), it became Oasis's second single to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart, earning a quintuple-platinum sales certification in the UK. It was the first Oasis single with lead vocals by Noel, who had previously only sung lead on B-sides, instead of his brother Liam. Noel would later sing lead vocals on six other singles. The music video was directed by Nigel Dick, featuring the band performing at a mansion where a large group of women appears.
It is one of the band's signature songs, and was played at almost every live show from its release to the dissolution of the band in 2009. In 2012, it was ranked number one on a list of the "50 Most Explosive Choruses" by "NME", and the same year it was voted the fourth-most-popular No. 1 single of the last 60 years in the UK by the public in conjunction with the Official Charts Company's 60th anniversary. In 2015, "Rolling Stone" readers voted it the second-greatest Britpop song after "Common People" by Pulp. On 29 May 2017, Absolute Radio 90s broadcast a programme counting down the top 50 songs written by Noel Gallagher to mark his 50th birthday, with the song being voted No. 1. In August 2020, the song was voted as the greatest song of the 1990s by listeners of Absolute Radio 90s as part of celebrations for the station's tenth anniversary. In 2025, "Don't Look Back in Anger" became Oasis's second song to hit a billion streams in Spotify, after "Wonderwall".
Background and writing.
Noel Gallagher was so excited about the potential of the song when he first wrote it that he used an acoustic set to perform a work-in-progress version, without the second verse and with a few other slight lyrical differences, at an Oasis concert at the Sheffield Arena on 22 April 1995. He said before playing that he had only written it the previous Tuesday (18 April 1995) and that he didn't even have a title for it yet.
Noel Gallagher said of the song, "It reminds me of a cross between "All the Young Dudes" and something the Beatles might have done." Of the character "Sally" referred to in the song, he commented, "I don't actually know anybody called Sally. It's just a word that fit, y'know, might as well throw a girl's name in there." He explained the song by saying, "It's about not being upset about the things you might have said or done yesterday, which is quite appropriate at the moment. It's about looking forward rather than looking back. I hate people who look back on the past or talk about what might have been." Oasis later said they named the song after David Bowie's 1979 song "Look Back in Anger" (from "Lodger" (1979)).
In August 2007, Gallagher told "Uncut" magazine, "We were in Paris playing with the Verve, and I had the chords for that song and started writing it. We were due to play two days later. Our first-ever big arena gig, it's called Sheffield Arena now. At the sound check, I was strumming away on the acoustic guitar, and our kid (Liam) said, 'What's that you're singin'?' I wasn't singing anyway, I was just making it up. And our kid said, 'Are you singing, 'So Sally can wait'?' And I was like—that's genius! So I started singing, 'So Sally can wait.' I remember going back to the dressing room and writing it out. It all came really quickly after that." Gallagher claims that the character "Lyla", from Oasis's 2005 single, is Sally's sister. In the interview on the DVD released with the special edition of "Stop the Clocks", he also revealed that a girl approached him and asked him if Sally was the same girl mentioned in the Stone Roses track "Sally Cinnamon". He replied that he had never thought of that, but thought it was a good reference anyway.
In a 2019 "Esquire" magazine interview, Gallagher stated, "I remember writing it in Paris on a rainy night. We had just played a strip club: our set finished, the strippers came on. We were nothing, an insignificant little band. And I remember going back to my hotel room and writing it, and thinking, 'That'll be pretty good when we record it.' If I'd have known that night what I know now about people playing it at fucking funerals and weddings, I'd never have finished the song. Too much pressure."
Gallagher admits that certain lines from the song are lifted from John Lennon: "I got this tape in the United States that had apparently been burgled from the Dakota Hotel and someone had found these cassettes. Lennon was starting to record his memoirs on tape. He's going on about 'trying to start a revolution from me [sic] bed, because they said the brains I had went to my head.' I thought, 'Thank you, I'll take that!'" The line "revolution from me bed" refers to Lennon's notorious bed-ins in 1969 as Gallagher was reading "" published in 1994. The piano in the introduction of the song strongly resembles Lennon's "Imagine", as well as "Watching the Wheels".
As Oasis are often criticised for borrowing parts of other artists' songs, Gallagher commented on the intro's similarity to "Imagine":
Release.
The single's picture sleeve contains a photo by Brian Cannon. He intended the cover as a homage to an incident where Ringo Starr, having briefly left the Beatles in 1968 during the recording of the "White Album", was persuaded to return and George Harrison decorated Starr's drum kit in red, white and blue flowers to show their appreciation.<ref name="NME/Oasis"></ref>
The B-side "Step Out" was originally intended for the "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" album but was taken off after Stevie Wonder requested 10 per cent of the royalties as the chorus bore a similarity to his song "Uptight (Everything's Alright)". Because of this, Wonder, Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy received credit for writing the song, along with Noel.
The song's chart success coincided with its usage at the end of the final episode of the BBC television drama "Our Friends in the North". The show's producers had included the track without knowing it was going to be released as a single.
Critical reception.
"Don't Look Back in Anger" was met with high critical praise and it became a commercial hit. Larry Flick from "Billboard" said, "Noel Gallagher reveals a deft sense of timing and craft that turn his improprieties into masterful pop gems." David Stubbs from "Melody Maker" commented, "It's Oasis at their least incandescent, another outing for the chamber orchestra, supposedly elegiac but actually coming across as jaded and shagged. The chorus sounds like a Mott the Hoople reunion gig." The Stud Brothers of "Melody Maker" stated, "From its 'Imagine' intro to its storming conclusion this is, as we all already know, a very good song indeed." "Music Week" rated it five out of five and named it Single of the Week, writing, "Cheekily opening with John Lennon's "Imagine" riff, another Beatles-inspired single which will turn on the fans on Brits day. The inclusion of the ill-advised Slade cover of "Cum On Feel the Noize" is a low point, however." John Robinson from "NME" remarked, "When That Noel Moment arrives with 'Don't Look Back in Anger', he instructs us not to "put your life in the hands of a rock and roll band"." Andrew Harrison from "Select" praised it as "superior" and "sung beautiful by Noel." He felt the song "captures a wistful mood of confusion and loss, but you're never sure what it's all about." Also editors Helen Lamont and Leesa Daniels from "Smash Hits" gave the single five out of five in two separate reviews. Lamont named it "a new rock 'n' roll classic, imagine that." Daniels wrote, "Noel's turn to have a go at the singing lark, and by God it's fantastic! A rip-roaring, fist-punching-the-air type of anthem."
In December 1996, "Melody Maker" ranked "Don't Look Back in Anger" number 31 in their list of "Singles of the Year". In a 2006 readers' poll conducted by "Q" magazine, it was voted the 20th-best song of all time. In May 2007, "NME" magazine placed "Don't Look Back in Anger" at No. 14 in its list of the "50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever".
Chart performance.
The song reached No. 1 in the singles charts of Ireland and the United Kingdom, and it was a moderate success by reaching the top 60 in various countries. The song was the 10th-biggest-selling single of 1996 in the UK. It is Oasis's second-biggest-selling single in the UK (after "Wonderwall"), going quintuple platinum in the process. The song returned to the UK charts in 2017 following Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland's cover version at the One Love Manchester concert, reaching No. 25. "Don't Look Back in Anger" is Oasis's sixth-biggest "Billboard" hit in the US, reaching the No. 10 spot on the Modern Rock Tracks for the week of 22 June 1996.
Music video.
The accompanying music video for "Don't Look Back in Anger" was directed by British music video and film director Nigel Dick and features Patrick Macnee, the actor who played John Steed in the 1960s television series "The Avengers", apparently a favourite of Oasis. It was filmed at 1145 Arden Road in Pasadena, California on 4 December 1995. It features the band being driven by Macnee in a black cab to a mansion similar to the Playboy Mansion and performing the song there; a group of women dressed in white also occasionally lip sync to the lyrics. While filming the video, drummer Alan White met future wife Liz Carey, who also became as one of the models for the video. They married on 13 August 1997 at Studley Priory in Oxfordshire, but later divorced in 2004.
There are two uploads of the music video made available on YouTube. One being posted by the band themselves in 2008 with over 229 million views, and another posted in collaboration with Vevo in 2014 with over 120 million views.
Live performances.
The song became a favourite at Oasis's live performances.
Noel Gallagher encouraged the crowd to sing along and often kept quiet during the first chorus, allowing the fans instead to sing along while he played the song's guitar part. During the Dig Out Your Soul Tour, Noel abandoned the song's previous, full-band live arrangement in favour of a much slower, primarily acoustic arrangement. From 2008 through to Oasis's break-up, the song was performed by Gallagher on his Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar backed up by Gem Archer on electric guitar, Jay Darlington playing keyboards and Chris Sharrock playing tambourine. On 11 and 12 July 2009, during performances of the song at London's Wembley Stadium, Gallagher did not sing a word; instead, he stood back, played guitar, and allowed the crowd to sing the entire song. Since 2011, he has alternated between the acoustic version and the original arrangement when playing the song with his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.
Oasis became the first act since the Jam to perform two songs on the same showing of "Top of the Pops", performing "Don't Look Back in Anger", followed by their cover of Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize", also on the single.
In June 2017, Liam Gallagher performed an a cappella version of the song at Glastonbury, making it the first time he had performed the song rather than Noel.
Manchester Arena bombing.
Following the Manchester Arena bombing on 22 May 2017 in the band's hometown of Manchester, the song was used by the people of Manchester in remembrance of the bombing's 22 victims and to show the city's spirit. The song was sung by students of Manchester's Chetham's music school on 23 May, and on 25 May it was spontaneously sung by the crowd gathered for a minute of silence in the city centre. The woman who started the singing told "The Guardian", "I love Manchester, and Oasis is part of my childhood. "Don't Look Back in Anger"—that's what this is about: we can't be looking backwards to what happened, we have to look forwards to the future." The song re-entered the charts, along with Ariana Grande's "One Last Time," which was No. 1 on the iTunes single charts as of 26 May. On 27 May, the song was performed as a tribute by 50,000 audience members of a performance by the Courteeners in Manchester.
It was performed by Coldplay's Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland on either side of Ariana Grande at the One Love Manchester concert on 4 June 2017. Martin introduced the song by saying "Ariana, you've been singing a lot for us, so I think we in Britain want to sing for you. This is called "Don't Look Back in Anger", and this is from us to you".
It was also performed by the military band of the French Republican Guard on 13 June 2017, at the France versus England football match at the Stade de France, as a tribute to the victims of the attacks in Manchester and, more recently, London.
Track listing.
All songs were written by Noel Gallagher except where noted.
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Personnel.
Oasis
Additional personnel
Charts.
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References.
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Dont Look Back
1967 documentary film directed by D. A. Pennebaker
Dont Look Back is a 1967 American documentary film directed by D. A. Pennebaker that covers Bob Dylan's 1965 concert tour in England.
In 1998, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In a 2014 "Sight & Sound" poll, film critics voted "Dont Look Back" the joint ninth best documentary film of all time.
Synopsis.
The opening scene of the film has Bob Dylan displaying and discarding a series of cue cards bearing selected words and phrases from the lyrics to his 1965 song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (including intentional misspellings and puns). This was the first single from his most recent album, "Bringing It All Back Home", and a top ten hit in the UK when he filmed it there (a fact discussed in the film). Allen Ginsberg appears in the background having a discussion with Bob Neuwirth.
The film features Joan Baez, Donovan and Alan Price (who had just left the Animals), Dylan's manager Albert Grossman and his road manager Neuwirth. Marianne Faithfull, John Mayall, Ginger Baker and Allen Ginsberg may also be glimpsed in the background. Notable scenes include:
Title.
The original title of this film is "Dont Look Back", without an apostrophe in the first word. D. A. Pennebaker, the film's writer director, decided to punctuate the title this way because "It was my attempt to simplify the language". Many sources, however, have assumed this to be a typographical error and have "corrected" the title to "Don't Look Back". In the commentary track to the DVD release, Pennebaker said that the title came from the Satchel Paige quote, "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you," and that Dylan shared this view.
Production.
"Dont Look Back" was shot in black-and-white with a handheld 16mm-film camera and utilized direct sound, thus creating the template for the "rockumentary" film genre. Production began when Dylan arrived in England on April 26, 1965, and ended shortly after his final UK concert at the Royal Albert Hall on May 10. Pennebaker has stated that the famous "Subterranean Homesick Blues" music video that is shown at the beginning of the film was actually shot at the very end of filming. Pennebaker decided during editing to place it at the beginning of the film as a "stage" for Dylan to begin the film.
Release.
The film was first shown publicly May 17, 1967, at the Presidio Theater in San Francisco, and opened that September at the 34th Street East Theater in New York.
A transcript of the film, with photographs, was published in 1968 by Ballantine Books.
Reception and legacy.
"Dont Look Back" has been very well received by critics. It has a rating of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 55 reviews. The websites critics consensus reads, ""Dont [sic] Look Back" leaves the mysteries of Dylan largely intact while offering a gripping verite-style account of a pivotal moment in his incredible career." The film received a 5-star review from AllMovie and has a Metacritic score of 84, indicating "universal acclaim". In August 1967, a "Newsweek" reviewer wrote, ""Dont Look Back" is really about fame and how it menaces art, about the press and how it categorizes, bowdlerizes, sterilizes, universalizes or conventionalizes an original like Dylan into something it can dimly understand".
Kurt Cobain identified it as the only "good documentary about rock and roll" in a 1991 interview with his Nirvana bandmates, a sentiment with which Dave Grohl concurred.
The film has been parodied and paid homage to by many other films and television shows including "This Is Spinal Tap", "Bob Roberts", and "Documentary Now!". The opening sequence featuring "Subterranean Homesick Blues" has likewise inspired many music videos, including INXS' "Mediate", MC Evidence's "The Far Left," "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Bob" and Hozier's "Almost (Sweet Music)," and was cited by journalist Roger Friedman as "the most copied, most revered, music video of all time".
Home media.
"Dont Look Back" has been released and re-released on home video in many formats, from VHS to Blu-ray, over the decades. A digitally remastered deluxe DVD edition was released on February 27, 2007. The two-disc edition contained the remastered film, five additional audio tracks, commentary by filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker and Tour Road Manager Bob Neuwirth, an alternative version of the video for "Subterranean Homesick Blues", the original companion book edited by D. A. Pennebaker to coincide with the film's release in 1968, a flip-book for a section of the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video, and a brand new documentary by D. A. Pennebaker and edited by Walker Lamond called "65 Revisited". The DVD packaging was also given new artwork.
On November 24, 2015, The Criterion Collection released a newly restored 4K transfer of the film on Blu-ray and DVD. The Criterion version contained new special features.
References.
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It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and first released on his 1965 album "Bringing It All Back Home". It was written in the summer of 1964, first performed live on October 10, 1964, and recorded on January 15, 1965. It is described by Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as a "grim masterpiece".
Among the well-known lines sung in the song are "He not busy being born is busy dying," "Money doesn't talk, it swears," "Although the masters make the rules, for the wisemen and the fools" and "But even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked." The lyrics express Dylan's anger at the perceived hypocrisy, commercialism, consumerism, and war mentality in contemporary American culture. Dylan's preoccupations in the lyrics, nevertheless, extend beyond the socio-political, expressing existential concerns, touching on urgent matters of personal experience.
Dylan said that "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is one of his songs that means the most to him, and he has played the song often in live concerts. Since its original release on "Bringing It All Back Home", live versions of the song have been issued on ', "Before the Flood", ', and "Bob Dylan at Budokan". Dylan can also be seen performing the song in the film "Dont Look Back" and the video of the HBO special "Hard to Handle". The song has been covered by a number of other artists, including Roger McGuinn, the Byrds, Billy Preston, Hugo Race, Terence Trent D'Arby, Mick Farren, Caetano Veloso, Marilyn Scott, and The Duhks.
Bob Dylan's version.
Dylan wrote "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" in the summer of 1964. Although he was prepared to take his time developing the song, as he did with "Mr. Tambourine Man", he finished it in time for inclusion on the "Bringing It All Back Home" album, which was recorded in January 1965. Dylan first performed "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" live on October 10, 1964, at Philadelphia Town Hall. The version included on "Bringing It All Back Home" was recorded on January 15, 1965, the same day that the other three songs on side 2 of the album ("Mr. Tambourine Man", "Gates of Eden" and "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue") were recorded, with Tom Wilson producing.
It was long thought that the four songs that make up side 2 of "Bringing It All Back Home" were recorded in one long take. This is not true, but "Gates of Eden" was recorded in a single take and "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" was recorded in one take after a single false start. (the false start can be heard on both the 6-disc and 18-disc versions of "", released in 2015).
Dylan biographer Howard Sounes described "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" as a "grim masterpiece." The only accompaniment is Dylan's guitar, playing folk-blues riffs and up and down chord progressions. Author Sean Wilentz has noted that the song's chord structure is similar to that used by the Everly Brothers in their hit recording of "Wake Up Little Susie". The lyrics of "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" express Dylan's anger at what he sees as the hypocrisy, commercialism, consumerism, and war mentality inherent in contemporary American culture, but unlike those in his earlier protest songs, do not express optimism in the possibility of political solutions. In his book "Bob Dylan, Performing Artist", author Paul Williams has suggested that the song addresses "the possibility that the most important (and least articulated) political issue of our times is that we are all being fed a false picture of reality, and it's coming at us from every direction." Williams goes on to say that the song successfully paints a portrait of an "alienated individual identifying the characteristics of the world around him and thus declaring his freedom from its 'rules'." As such, a major target in the song is the old, established concepts which give a false picture of reality and hinder new worldviews from being accepted.
Critic Andy Gill considered that the song "shares the same sense of societal entropy" as the previous track on the album, "Gates of Eden", but that the critique in "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is more direct and less allusive. Author Michael Gray has commented that although the vitriol Dylan unleashes towards his targets is similar to his earlier political protest songs, "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is a transitional song in that it does not express optimism in the possibility of political solutions. Instead, argued author John Hinchey, Dylan sings in a new prophetic voice that would become his trademark. However, with the political pessimism comes a more poetic vision than in his earlier protest songs, along with a more complex figurative language. Howard Sounes notes that the song features some of Dylan's most memorable images. The opening lines begin the song's torrent of apocalyptic images:
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Gill links the opening line of the song to the title of Arthur Koestler's bleak novel "Darkness at Noon", set in the Great Stalinist purge of 1938 in Soviet Russia. For Gill, Dylan is suggesting that the human spirit can be cast into darkness by the dead hand of communism as well as by American capitalism.
According to Seth Rogovoy, this opening echoes the Book of Ecclesiastes (1:17), which reads, "I observed all deeds beneath the sun, and behold all is futile." There are echoes of Ecclesiastes throughout the song. Another example is:
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The author of Ecclesiastes laments (2:15–16) "The fate of the fool will befall me also; to what advantage, then, have I become wise? But I come to the conclusion that this, too, was futility, because the wise man and the fool are both forgotten. The wise man dies, just like the fool."
One of the most famous lines from the song reminds listeners that even the most powerful people will ultimately be judged:
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These lines seemed particularly prescient when Dylan performed the song on his 1974 tour with the Band, a few months before Richard Nixon resigned as President of the United States as a result of the Watergate crisis. After the song has confronted sex, religion and politics, it ends with the lines:
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Dylan's preoccupations in the lyrics extend beyond socio-political commentary, and touch on urgent matters of personal experience—the challenge to live and grow in the face of uncertainty.
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Jimmy Carter would later refer to the line in his presidential nomination speech at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, though it addresses matters of the self which supersede politics, in the process displaying certain themes associated with existentialism. Throughout the song, the words pour out quickly, with Dylan barely taking a breath between lines, so that the intricate rhyming structure is often missed: AAAAAB CCCCCB DDDDDB in the verses and AAB in the chorus.
Dylan has cited "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" as one of his songs that means the most to him. In 1980 he said, "I don't think I could sit down now and write 'It's Alright, Ma' again. I wouldn't even know where to begin, but I can still sing it." In 1997, Dylan told "The New York Times", "I've written some songs that I look at, and they just give me a sense of awe. Stuff like, 'It's Alright, Ma,' just the alliteration in that blows me away."
"It's Alright, Ma" has featured in Dylan's live concerts throughout his long career. Dylan's website reports that, as of March 2015, Dylan performed the song 772 times in concert. Concert performances of the song have been released on ' (recorded on October 31, 1964), "Live 1962-1966: Rare Performances From The Copyright Collections" (recorded on April 30, 1965), "Before the Flood" (recorded on February 14, 1974), ' (recorded on November 4, 1975), and "Bob Dylan at Budokan" (recorded on February 28, 1978). In addition to playing the song live regularly in the 1960s and 1970s, Dylan has included it in his Never Ending Tour from the late 1980s up to the present. Footage of Dylan playing "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" in May 1965 is included in the film "Dont Look Back", and a live performance of Dylan playing the song with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on February 25, 1986, is included in the video of the HBO special "Hard to Handle". Dylan also sang this song at his October 16, 1992, 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration at Madison Square Garden, which was released on "The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration" album. The studio recording was re-released on the 2008 compilation album "Playlist: The Very Best of Bob Dylan '60s".
Influence.
Clinton Heylin, in his biography "Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited", wrote that the recording "opened up a whole new genre of finger-pointing song, not just for Dylan but for the entire panoply of pop." Heylin adds that "It's Alright, Ma" probably contained more "memorable aphorisms" than any of Dylan's songs. One of these lines is "he not busy being born is busy dying," from the song's second verse, which was used by Jimmy Carter in his 1976 presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. During his presidential campaign in 2000, Al Gore told talk show host Oprah Winfrey that this was his favorite quotation. Writer and journalist Christopher Hitchens quoted from the song's lyrics in his last article for "Vanity Fair", written shortly before his death from esophageal cancer. Hitchens posted at the top of his essay the verse of "It's Alright Ma" that ends with the words "That he who is not busy being born is busy dying".
Another line, "Money doesn't talk, it swears," which appears in "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations". In addition, the "Columbia Dictionary of Quotations" lists this as well as three other lines from the song: "Although the masters make the rules, for the wisemen and the fools," "But even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked" and "Everything from toy guns that spark to flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark, it's easy to see without looking too far that not much is really sacred." Other well-known lines include "Propaganda, all is phony" and "Advertising signs they con you into thinking you're the one."
In a 2005 artist's poll reported in "Mojo" magazine, "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" was listed as the No. 8 all-time greatest Bob Dylan song, and a similar poll of readers ranked the song at No. 21. In 2002, "Uncut" magazine listed it as the No. 5 all-time Dylan song. The song was featured in the final episode of "The Sopranos". It has also been referenced by other songwriters. For instance, the indie-rocker Stephen Malkmus quotes "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" at the end of his song "Jo-Jo's Jacket" from his debut solo album.
Hip hop group Public Enemy reference it in their 2007 Dylan tribute song "Long and Whining Road".
Cover versions.
A widely known cover of "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is that performed by Roger McGuinn for the soundtrack of the 1969 film, "Easy Rider". One of the film's scriptwriters, the star, Peter Fonda, had originally intended to use Dylan's version of the song in the film but after failing to secure the appropriate licensing he asked McGuinn to record a cover of it instead. McGuinn's version of the song included on the "Easy Rider" soundtrack album, features McGuinn on guitar and vocals, accompanied by his bandmate from The Byrds, Gene Parsons, on harmonica.
The Byrds also recorded a version of the song during the 1970 recording sessions for their album "(Untitled)" but it was not included in the final track listing. The Byrds occasionally performed the song in concert during 1970 and a live recording of it, from a March 1, 1970, appearance at the Felt Forum, was included on the 2000 remaster of the "(Untitled)" album, which was re-titled as "(Untitled)/(Unissued)". This version also appears as a bonus track on the 2002 remastered version of the compilation album, "The Byrds Play Dylan", and on the 2006 4-disc box set "There Is a Season".
In 1971, Nannie Porres included "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" on her album "I Thought About You" and in 1973 Billy Preston included the song on "Everybody Likes Some Kind Of Music". Artists who have covered the song since then include Hugo Race, Terence Trent D'Arby, Mick Farren, Caetano Veloso, Marilyn Scott, The Duhks, and Ground Components.
In 2014, Lee Abramson covered "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" on his band's album "Blood."
References.
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Look Back in Anger
1956 play by John Osborne
Look Back in Anger (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet impassive upper-middle-class wife Alison. The supporting characters include Cliff Lewis, an amiable Welsh lodger who attempts to keep the peace; and Helena Charles, Alison's snobbish friend.
Osborne drew inspiration from his personal life and failing marriage with Pamela Lane while writing "Look Back in Anger", which was his first successful outing as a playwright. The play spawned the term "angry young men" to describe Osborne and those of his generation who employed the harshness of realism in the theatre in contrast to the more escapist theatre that characterised the previous generation. This harsh realism has led to "Look Back in Anger" being considered one of the first examples of kitchen sink drama in theatre.
The play was received favourably in the theatre community, becoming an enormous commercial success, transferring to the West End and Broadway, and even touring to Moscow. It is credited with turning Osborne from a struggling playwright into a wealthy and famous personality, and also won him the Evening Standard Drama Award as the most promising playwright of 1956. The play was adapted into a motion picture of the same name by Tony Richardson, starring Richard Burton and Mary Ure, which was released in 1959. Film production credited circa 1958.
Synopsis.
Act 1.
Act 1 opens on a dismal April Sunday afternoon in Jimmy and Alison's cramped attic in the Midlands. Jimmy and Cliff are reading the Sunday papers, plus the radical weekly, "price ninepence, obtainable at any bookstall" as Jimmy snaps, claiming it from Cliff. This is a reference to the "New Statesman", and in the context of the period would have instantly signalled the pair's political preference to the audience. Alison is attempting to