"Fallen Angel" is a song by American singer and actress

Traci Lords Traci Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She entered the adult film industry using a fake birth certificate to conceal that she was two years under the legal age of eighteen. Lords starred in adult f ...

. It was released as the second single from her debut studio album, ''

1000 Fires ''1000 Fires'' is the debut studio album by American singer and actress Traci Lords, released on February 28, 1995, by Radioactive Records. The album remains her only full-length music release to date. Lords started working on the album in April ...

'', on August 3, 1995, by

Radioactive Records Radioactive Records was an American record label. It was formed as a joint venture between talent manager Gary Kurfirst (who managed such acts as the Ramones, Big Audio Dynamite, Deee-Lite and Deborah Harry) and MCA Records, and it is now out o ...

. The

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mas ...

remix of the song was also featured on the soundtrack to the film ''

Virtuosity ''Virtuosity'' is a 1995 American science fiction action film directed by Brett Leonard and starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Howard W. Koch Jr. served as an executive producer for the film. The film was released in the United St ...

'' (1995), in which Lords appeared. Written by Lords The chorus IS IT LOVE. Is questioning the role of Courtney Love in her husband’s death.

Ben Watkins Juno Reactor is a multi-national musical and performing group, primarily based in Brighton, UK. Known for their cinematic fusion of electronic, global influences, and orchestral symphonic approach, collaborating with composer Don Davis and compo ...

and

Johann Bley Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning " Yahweh is Gracio ...

, and produced by

Juno Reactor Juno Reactor is a multi-national musical and performing group, primarily based in Brighton, UK. Known for their cinematic fusion of electronic, global influences, and orchestral symphonic approach, collaborating with composer Don Davis and compo ...

, "Fallen Angel" is an

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

dance song with

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

and

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

influences. It also contains elements of

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

music and features Spanish guitar and

castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a simi ...

. Lyrically, the song deals with

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

and was inspired by the death of Kurt Cobain. It received relatively positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

and noted a moderate commercial success, peaking at number eleven on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Songs and number 72 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Two music videos for the song were released: one featuring the original version of the song and the footage from the film ''Virtuosity'' and other directed by

Stéphane Sednaoui Stéphane Sednaoui () is a French director, photographer, film producer and actor. Over the years, Sednaoui has redefined his artistic approach to focus on his fine-art and cinematographic projects. New and existing work have been exhibited ...

featuring the Honeymoon Stitch Mix, produced by

Chad Smith Chad Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the ...

and

Dave Navarro David Michael Navarro (born June 7, 1967) is an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock band Jane's Addiction, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. Between 1993 and 1998, Navarro was the guitarist of the Red Hot Ch ...

Background and recording

Lords began working on her debut album, ''

'', in the spring of 1994. After collaborating with Tom Bailey and Keith Fernley of the band

Babble Babble may refer to: * ''Babble'' (That Petrol Emotion album), 1987 album by That Petrol Emotion * ''Babble'' (Coyne & Krause album), 1979 album by Kevin Coyne And Dagmar Krause * Babble (band), a later incarnation of the Thompson Twins * Babb ...

, Lords wanted to incorporate more dance-oriented music into her record. She was introduced Ben Watkins of

and began working on songs with harder

-influenced sound. "I got into techno in 1992 when I was working as a model in London. I didn't have much money and I was living with three other girls in this shitty flat above a coffee shop—which was totally depressing—so we used to go to the clubs to escape from it all and that's where I fell in love with the music. I really wanted that influence to come across on my album so when I eventually signed with

Radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...

that's what we did."Tzara, Alexander. (October 5, 1995)
"Traci Lords: I Was A Teenage Pornstar"
''Trigger''. Retrieved on June 1, 2015. Lords wrote the lyrics based on the surroundings of Kurt Cobain's death and also used excerpt from her personal journals she wrote as a child. "I've kept personal journals since about the age of nine, and some yricswere actually taken from them; I remember talking to Ben (Watkins) one day about

when something struck a chord - I looked back at the journals that I'd written when I was about ten, and the words that I found were the same words that I used in the song, words that I wrote when I was just a child," Lords said.

Composition

"Fallen Angel"

dance song. It contains elements of

and

as well as

music. It features Spanish guitar and

within its composition. The song is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 134

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The main lyrical theme of the song is

. Lords sings: "You say you wake up in the morning/Feeling used/Like a fallen angel/Tired and bruised".

Music videos

Two different music videos for "Fallen Angel" were released, the first of which used the original version of the song and the second featured the Honeymoon Stitch Mix, produced by

and

. The first one was shot during the production of the film ''

'' (1995) directed by

Brett Leonard Brett Leonard (born May 14, 1959) is an American film director, producer and music video director specializing in the science fiction and horror genres. A few of his films such as ''The Lawnmower Man'' (1992) and ''Virtuosity'' (1995) featur ...

. It depicts Lords, wearing a skin tight

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosper ...

ensemble, dancing at an underground rave while being filmed by several camera operators and projected on screens surrounding her. The video utilizes heavy

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from aroun ...

effects. The second music video was directed by

. It depicts Lords wearing a red latex dress walking in a hotel room. The main theme of the video is depression and

anxiety disorder Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental disorders characterized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear such that a person's social, occupational, and personal function are significantly impaired. Anxiety may cause physi ...

. It also features

close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long ...

s of her outlining her lips with a deep red lipstick. Notably, the video was one of the ones chosen by Courtney Love to be broadcast on her MTV2 takeover

24 Hours of Love ''24 Hours of Love'' was a special programming stunt that aired live on MTV2 starting on September 21, 2002. The official premise of the show was that rock star Courtney Love would do a live broadcast for 24 hours in a row, and that she would be in ...

Track listings

;UK 12" vinyl # "Fallen Angel" (Honeymoon Stitch Mix) – 4:09 # "Fallen Angel" (Perfecto Mix) – 7:57 # "Fallen Angel" (Primax Iberian Mix) – 5:04 # "Fallen Angel" (Muzik Club Vocal) – 8:15 # "Fallen Angel" (Sexy Perfecto Dub) – 9:06 ;Europe/Australia CD Maxi-single # "Fallen Angel" (Honeymoon Stich Radio Mix) – 4:03 # "Fallen Angel" (Perfecto Mix) – 8:00 # "Fallen Angel" (Muzik Club Vocal Mix) – 8:18 # "Fallen Angel" (Primax Iberian Mix) – 5:07 # "Fallen Angel" (Honeymoon Stitch Mix) – 4:53 # "Fallen Angel" (Original Album Mix) – 4:58 ;US 12" vinyl # "Fallen Angel" (Perfecto Mix) – 7:58 # "Fallen Angel" (Honeymoon Stitch Mix) – 4:49 # "Fallen Angel" (Muzik Club Vocal) – 8:16 # "Fallen Angel" (Mykonos House Mix) – 10:05 ;US CD Maxi-single # "Fallen Angel" (Honeymoon Stitch Mix) – 4:50 # "Fallen Angel" (Perfecto Mix) – 8:00 # "Fallen Angel" (Muzik Club Vocal) – 8:17 # "Fallen Angel" (Mykonos House Mix) – 10:05 # "Fallen Angel" (Sexy Perfecto Dub) – 9:07

Credits and personnel

*Traci Lords – vocals, songwriting *

– producer, programming *

– songwriting *

Gary Kurfirst Gary Kurfirst (8 July 1947 – 13 January 2009) was an American music promoter, producer, manager, publisher, and record label executive. Kurfirst founded Radioactive Records, whose acts included Live, Black Grape, Ramones, Big Audio Dynamite, ...

– executive producer *Otto The Barbarian – engineer *Nahako Maehara – assistant engineer *Raul Vega – photography *Mark Felt – design *Stan Endo – design Credits and personnel adapted from "Fallen Angel" UK 12" single liner notes.

Charts

Weekly charts

References

{{authority control 1994 songs 1995 singles Music videos directed by Stéphane Sednaoui Radioactive Records singles Traci Lords songs Songs about suicide Songs written by Ben Watkins Trance songs