Euphoria, Take My Hand

Album: Euphoric Heartbreak (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the lead single from the Glasgow rock band Glasvegas's second album, Euphoric Heartbreak. It was recorded in Los Angeles under producer Flood (Smashing Pumpkins, U2). The official record title contains three forward and three backward slashes, which frontman James Allan claims represent, "the ascent, the crest of a wave, and then the crash."
  • The song was inspired by an experience when James Allan and his guitarist cousin Rab Allan were in Santa Monica staying at the beach house. James recalled to the Sunday Mail: "One night when we were looking out over the sea, the sun looked so bright reflecting off the water it was like fireworks. It seemed to dance with the music in my head."
  • James described "Euphoria" to the NME as a song about choices, "and opposites. The crossroads, man, it's the choices. Vincent Van Gogh, Wheatfield with Crows. The past, man, and the choices you have."

    Van Gogh's famous Wheatfield with Crows painting shows a large field of wheat against a dark forbidding sky, with crows circle menacingly overhead. The observer is faced with the indecision of three separate paths in the foreground.
  • The Euphoric Heartbreak album sleeve features an image of Marilyn Monroe shot during the filming of her last movie, the never-finished screwball comedy Something's Got To Give. Photographer George Barris took the shot on a Santa Monica beach close to where Glasvegas wrote the album. In a freaky moment of serendipity, James Allan had expressed his fondness for the picture before he found out where it had been taken. The sleeve is meant to show him looking out from the house towards Marilyn on the beach.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Prince

PrinceFact or Fiction

Prince is shrouded in mystery, making him an excellent candidate for Fact or Fiction. Is he really a Scientologist? Does he own an exotic animal?

Alan Merrill of The Arrows

Alan Merrill of The ArrowsSongwriter Interviews

In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.

Van Dyke Parks

Van Dyke ParksSongwriter Interviews

U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside Story

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside StorySong Writing

The in-depth discussion about the making of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in the 1973 film.

Amy Grant

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New York

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.