Possession
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Possession (Sarah McLachlan song)
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| "Possession" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Sarah McLachlan | ||||||||||
| from the album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy | ||||||||||
| Released | 1993 | |||||||||
| Format | CD single | |||||||||
| Genre | Pop | |||||||||
| Length | 4:37 | |||||||||
| Label | Nettwerk Records, Arista Records | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Sarah McLachlan | |||||||||
| Producer | Pierre Marchand | |||||||||
| Sarah McLachlan singles chronology | ||||||||||
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Possession is the first single from Sarah McLachlan's album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. It was released in Canada on 10 September 1993 by Nettwerk Records.
The song appears twice on the album as the first track and as a hidden track: a solo piano version following the last track "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy."
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Contents
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Lawsuit
In 1994, McLachlan was sued by Uwe Vandrei, an obsessed fan from Ottawa, Ontario, who alleged that his love letters to her had been the basis of "Possession". This lawsuit never came to trial as the plaintiff committed suicide. [1]
The lawsuit was also challenging for the Canadian legal system; the suit was essentially a frivolous complaint by Vandrei, a self-admitted stalker, in an attempt to get close to McLachlan, and the trial was delayed significantly by discussions of how to ensure McLachlan's physical safety during the proceedings.
In an interview in Rolling Stone three years later, McLachlan added, "And this one person wasn't the only guy ... there were a lot of letters from other people saying the same kind of thing ... Writing the song 'Possession' was very therapeutic."[2]
Music videos
Canadian version
The original version of the video features a remixed background track and depicts Sarah McLachlan wrapped in white cloth, as Eve, as Potiphar's wife, and other such biblical references, depicting vanity, deceit, corruption, intimacy and other taboos of conservative society. As McLachlan explained, "Oh it's so lofty, it's pompous now. I was trying to dispel that by showing a bunch of female archetypes using historical paintings, ‘Venus’, ‘Adam and Eve’, ‘Salome's Last Dance’. I wanted to show all women possessing all these different archetypes. I also had myself suspended in the air and wrapped in gauze, as if my personality and my sexuality were bound. Throughout the video I was being unraveled by unseen forces, and I came out in end strong and free and - Ta Da! - there I was my own self. Yes, it was pretty lofty [...] and the label told me..."[3] The video was directed by McLachlan herself, and features her friends and band members. It aired in Canada but not in the United States, cause, according to TV Tropes, it was "too spooky or something".
American version
The American version of the video, released in 1994 features the original album version of the song, being played by McLachlan and her band in a cathedral-style hall. It was directed by Julie Hermelin.
Tracklisting
CD: Nettwerk / W2-6319 (Canada)
- "Possession [Version 1]"
- "Possession [Version 2]"
- "Fear [Janes version]"
- Version 2 remixed by John Fryer; remix also featured on the "I Will Remember You" single.
CD: Arista / 07822-12662-2 (US)
- "Possession"
- "Fear [Janes mix]"
- "Mary [Earlier Mix]"
- "Black [Live at Harbourfront, Toronto]"
- Black taken from "Live EP"
Other versions
In addition to the two different versions of "Possession" appearing on the Fumbling Towards Ecstasy album, a live recording of the song is available on McLachlan's live concert album, Mirrorball. A fourth version, the Rabbit in the Moon remix, is available on two different McLachlan remix albums: Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff and Remixed.
Another version was recently recorded exclusively for iTunes.
Cover versions
Canadian alternative rock band Evans Blue covered this song on their first album, The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume. Smile Empty Soul also has a cover of the song on their album B-Sides. The German gothic novel rock band ASP covered this song on their EP Werben.
Uses in other media
The song was used in the Due South episode "Victoria's Secret" as an anthem for the character of Victoria Metcalf, the love interest/adversary of Benton Fraser, and appears on Due South: The Original Television Soundtrack.
In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 experiment #910, The Final Sacrifice, an altered version of "Possession" ("And I will be the one / To hold Larry Csonka down / Kiss him so hard / I'll take Larry Csonka's breath away") was sung by Tom Servo as part of a running gag alluding to Troy's obsession with Larry Csonka.
References
- ^ Hrynyshyn, James (18 January 1995). "Object of Obsession". Ottawa X Press. http://groups.google.com/group/rec.music.gaffa/msg/94edf58db15b0d75?hl=en&dmode=source. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
- ^ Silberger, Kathy (25 December 1997). "I think the success of Lilith got rid of some of that old-school, pig-dog mentality". Rolling Stones. http://www.aquezada.com/sarah/articles/rs122597.html. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ^ As quoted in Scene (April 1994).
External links
- Canadian version at YouTube
- Possession on YouTube (licensed content by Sony BMG)
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