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"Northern Lites" is the ninth single by Super Furry Animals. It was the first single to be taken from the ''Guerrilla'' album and reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 10 May 1999. The song was written by singer Gruff Rhys and was inspired by the El Niño phenomenon. The track's title refers to the Aurora Borealis, a natural light display which the band were convinced they had seen prior to the song being written. Rhys wrote the melody for "Northern Lites" several years before it was completed but only decided on a calypso style after he wrote the lyrics. The steel drums on the track are played by keyboardist Cian Ciaran and were added on the spur of the moment after the group saw them "lying around" Real World Studios during recording. Critical reaction was largely positive with the song being named "Single of the Week" in both the ''Melody Maker'' and ''NME'', with the latter also listing the song at number 3 in their single of the year list for 1999. The music video for "Northern Lites" was directed by Super Furry Animals and Martin McCarthy and features footage of curling and Irish road bowling although Rhys has blamed the song's failure to chart higher on the fact that it "didn't have a video". ==Themes and recording== "Northern Lites" was written by singer Gruff Rhys about "the weather", and was particularly inspired by coverage of the "terrifying, worldwide, seven-year phenomenon" of the west Pacific El Niño climate pattern on "weather channels" in 1998. The song's title refers to the Aurora Borealis, a natural light display which can be observed particularly in the polar regions, and usually at night. The band were convinced that they had seen the lights before the track was written but, as no-one else was present, they could not get confirmation that what they had witnessed was not simply a "Furry fantasy". Rhys has claimed that he would have called the song "Aurora Borealis" but "Latin song titles are out of the question". Although Rhys has said that the song is "about asking Jesus if he decides to seek his revenge on us, to get it over with as soon as possible and blow us away to the Northern Lights" he has also stated that, although some critics have interpreted the track as being about "questioning one's faith", it is really "just a song about the weather".〔 The melody of "Northern Lites" was written by Rhys several years before the track was released. The band experimented with reggae and "dirgy rock" styles before Rhys wrote the lyrics and, because they were inspired by adverse weather conditions affecting Latin America, tried playing along to a preset calypso rhythm track which was on his keyboard.〔〔 The singer has stated that, although he does not think the band have "any right to make Latin-influenced" songs, they did not choose a calypso style for the track in a cynical attempt to "crack South America".〔 The group are not "purists" and feel that Latin music is "part of () cultural esperanto".〔 The track was recorded in the middle of 1998 at Real World Studios, Box, Wiltshire, along with the rest of ''Guerrilla'', and was produced by Super Furry Animals.〔 The band allowed "the music to dictate itself" during recording sessions, choosing to add steel drums on the spur of the moment after seeing the instruments "lying around" Real World during recording.〔 The steel drum parts were performed by keyboardist Cian Ciaran, despite the fact he did not know how to play them.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Northern Lites」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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