Recording History
"Shining Light" was written about Tim Wheeler's now ex-girlfriend Audrey. Wheeler was driving home in his car when the line and tune "Yeah you are a shining light" came into his head. He rushed home and wrote it straight away on an acoustic guitar. The first time the band heard it, they say that they 'knew it was a hit'.
"Shining Light" was first played at a London Astoria gig in 2000, and is considered to be one of the band's greatest achievements, musically and lyrically. Ash once said of the song:
- Tim: "I think Shining Light's a breath of fresh air"
- Rick: "It's a very melodic song, it sticks in your head, so we thought it'd have a pretty good chance of getting in the Top 10. It was good being back there 'cos it's been a long time, over two years since we had a single out".
- Charlotte: "It was the first song we recorded and we knew it would be the first single".
The song was extremely critically acclaimed and won, among others:
- Ivor Novello Awards 2001 - Best Contemporary Song
- Irish Music Awards 2002 - Best Single
"Shining Light" can also be found on Ash's greatest hits compilation, Intergalactic Sonic 7″s as well as on the Tokyo Blitz DVD.
The song was re-recorded by Canadian artist Emm Gryner on her 2005 album Songs of Love and Death. In addition, this was the song played on the last ever episode of Roswell as the group in the series drives away forever - signifying the death of the series. It has also been covered by Coldplay and Noel Gallagher claims it to be one of his favourite songs.
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