Alright (Supergrass song)
| "Alright" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| A-side | "Time" |
| B-side | "Condition" |
"Alright" is a song by British alternative rock band Supergrass. It was released with "Time" as a double A-side single from their debut album I Should Coco on 3 July 1995. The song is featured in the films Clueless, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Astro Boy, High Lane (2009), The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! as well as in Intel's Pentium TV advertisements.[citation needed]
Music and lyrics
"Alright" received a great deal of airplay in the UK.[citation needed] The "bona fide teen anthem",[2] with its upbeat lyrics and cheerful piano tune, seemed to epitomise British youth culture at the time, when Britpop was at its height. The band's youthful appearance (lead singer Gaz Coombes had only just turned 19 when it was released) added weight to the lyrics. However, Coombes himself argued around the time of its release that, "it wasn't written as an anthem. It isn't supposed to be a rally cry for our generation. The stuff about 'We are young/We run green...' isn't about being 19 but really 13 or 14 and just discovering girls and drinking. It's meant to be light-hearted and a bit of a laugh, not at all a rebellious call to arms." with Danny Goffey also saying: "It certainly wasn't written in a very summery vibe. It was written in a cottage where the heating had packed up and we were trying to build fires to keep warm."[3]
The second A-side "Time" is a slower, more blues-driven track, with the song even incorporating a harmonica solo. The B-side, "Condition", is a cover of "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" by Mickey Newbury and originally a hit for Kenny Rogers. "Je Suis Votre Papa Sucre" (I Am Your Sugar Daddy) is a short instrumental.
Reception
"Alright" was the fifth single to be released from I Should Coco. While "Caught by the Fuzz", "Mansize Rooster", "Lose It", and "Lenny" all charted (with "Lenny" even scraping the Top Ten in the UK Singles Chart) and were warmly received by the critics, it was "Alright/Time" – the final release from the album – which proved to be their breakthrough single, largely due to the popularity of the song "Alright", which still receives airplay in the UK. "Alright/Time" reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart,[4][5] making it Supergrass' highest charting single to date, along with "Richard III". It remained in the top 3 for a month. In a 1999 interview, Coombes joked "We don't play 'Alright' anymore. We should play it in a minor key, and in the past tense."[6]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Alright" | 3:00 |
| 2. | "Time" | 3:09 |
| 3. | "Condition" | 2:43 |
| 4. | "Je Suis Votre Papa Sucre" | 1:46 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Alright" | 3:00 |
| 2. | "Time" | 3:09 |
| 3. | "John Eke Is Scandolous" | 4:12 |
Music video
The success of the record was helped by a lively promotional video directed by Dom and Nic, featuring the band joyfully messing around on bicycles and a bed on wheels at Portmeirion in North Wales.
Having seen the video, Steven Spielberg approached the band and proposed that they work together on a television series in the style of The Monkees.[7] The group turned him down,[7] preferring to work on their second album In It for the Money. Troy Carpenter, co-director of Nude as the News, claims "the gesture says a lot about the band's personality — one which has stuck with the group throughout its career — which is basically that of a fun-loving rock group whose undeniable musical talent is sometimes overshadowed by the sheer ebullience of its music.[8]
In popular culture
The song features prominently in the 1995 film Clueless, starring Alicia Silverstone.
The song was covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks for their 2007 video game Alvin and the Chipmunks.
The song appears on the soundtrack to the 2009 film, The Men Who Stare at Goats, which starred George Clooney, Ewan MacGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey.
The song is also included on the soundtrack of the 2009 film Astroboy.
Travie McCoy's 2010 single "We'll Be Alright" was inspired by the Supergrass song.
As of 2011, Alright has been used in adverts for Dairylea cheese spread.
French band BB Brunes covered this song in 2011, with french lyrics, under the name "Cul et chemise".
The song was featured at the end credits of "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists".
The song is featured in the episode, Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M. from the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. It is edited out of the DVD release, however.
The song was featured in LOL (Laughing Out Loud) (France, 2008) and a french adaption of it performed by BB Brunes in LOL (US, 2012)
The song was used during the opening scene of the 2012 film Chernobyl Diaries.
References
- ^ "Alright certified award". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 May 2008. [dead link]
- ^ Review of I Should Coco from allmusic.com by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
- ^ Maconie, Stuart (October 1995). "Hey! Hey! We're The Cheeky Monkeys!". Q.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ The Strange Ones Supergrass Site
- ^ Supergrass biography : beginnings, career, success
- ^ 1999 interview with Johnathan Cohen from nudeasthenews.com
- ^ a b Everdell, Abby (6 June 2008). "Artist of the Day: Supergrass". Spin. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Bio of Supergrass at nudeasthenews.com
External links