"Supernova" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to sta ...

from her second album, ''

Whip-Smart ''Whip-Smart'' is the second album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released in 1994, the follow-up to Phair's critically well received debut, 1993's ''Exile in Guyville''. Despite not being as critically well received as her previous reco ...

'', released in 1994. The song received heavy rotation on radio stations and its music video was frequently aired on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. The song went on to hit number 6 on the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart and number 78 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 1995, the song was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in the 37th Annual

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

. This song was used for the soundtrack of the film ''

Love & Other Drugs ''Love & Other Drugs'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy drama film directed, produced and co-written by Edward Zwick and based on Jamie Reidy's 2005 non-fiction book ''Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman''. Starring Jake Gyllenhaa ...

''.

Background

Phair said, "I wanted to just kind of write about the joy of being in love and having sex be a part of that. ... I'm so awestruck by the fact that my body, which has evolved over millions of years, has these responses and it's all wrapped up with the emotions that I'm feeling. I wanted to describe every level of that in a song."

Reception

In their review of the single, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' commented that "it's time for this alternative rock darling to make the transition into pop stardom. Fuzzy, guitar-rooted ditty bounces with a pure-pop hook, saucy lyrics, and layered vocals that sound like a cute girl group gone mad."

Track listings and formats

* Australian and German single # "Supernova" (Album Version) – 2:50 # "Supernova" (Clean Version) – 2:49 # "Combo Platter" (Girlie Sound) – 4:48 * German cassette # "Supernova" (LP Version) – 2:47 # "X-Ray Man" (Remix) – 2:30 * US 7-inch vinyl and cassette # "Supernova" (Album Version) – 2:49 # "Combo Platter" (Girlysound) – 4:48 * US single # "Supernova" (Edit) – 2:50 # "Supernova" (Clean Version) – 2:49 # "Combo Platter" (Girlie Sound) – 4:48

Credits and personnel

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Brad Wood Brad Wood is an American record producer and sound engineer based in Los Angeles. He has produced many albums, including Liz Phair's ''Exile in Guyville'' and Placebo (band), Placebo's Placebo (Placebo album), self-titled debut. Career W ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

, mixing * Casey Rice – talking guitar lines, guitar solo, recording, mixing *

Leroy Bach LeRoy Fredrick Bach is an American musician, composer, and music producer. He has hosted musical gatherings, fostered musical collaborations, and led bands in Chicago since 1990. Bach is perhaps best known for his work as a multi-instrumentalist i ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Roger Seibel – mastering Credits and personnel adapted from ''Whip-Smart'' album liner notes.

Charts

References

1994 singles 1994 songs Liz Phair songs Matador Records singles Songs written by Liz Phair Song recordings produced by Brad Wood {{1990s-rock-song-stub