Song · Sarah McLachlan
“Angel” by Sarah McLachlan
From the album Surfacing (1997)
“Angel” by Sarah McLachlan appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 2001 and 2004. It was first released in 1997 on the album Surfacing. Its best result is #455 on the WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #5,130 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"Angel" arrived on Surfacing, Sarah McLachlan's fourth album, in 1997, and it's about as bare as a hit gets: her piano and voice, Jim Creeggan's double bass and a drum machine from Pierre Marchand, who also produced, recorded and mixed it. She wrote it alone, and as she explained on VH1 Storytellers, it's about the death of musician Jonathan Melvoin from a heroin overdose.
The fourth and last single pulled from the album, it came out in 1998 and became her second top-five Billboard Hot 100 hit in a row, peaking at number four, while it held number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for 12 weeks. For all its dark subject, its words of comfort have made it a fixture at funerals and memorial services, and it is sometimes mistitled "In the Arms of an Angel".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1992 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 455 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
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