"Put Your Lights On" is a song by American rock band

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

and American musician

Everlast Erik Francis Schrody (born August 18, 1969), known by his stage name Everlast, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter, who was the frontman for hip hop group House of Pain. He was also part of the hip hop supergroup La Coka ...

from Santana's 18th studio album, '' Supernatural'' (1999). Released to US rock radio in August 1999, the song peaked at number 18 on the '' Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

and number eight on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Put Your Lights On" won a

Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011. The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Beginning in 2012, all solo or duo/group ...

at the

42nd Annual Grammy Awards The 42nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2000, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1999. Nominations were announced on January 4, 2000. Santana was the main ...

Background

wrote the song while recovering from a major heart attack that he had suffered in February 1998 (directly after he completed recording his first solo album, ''

Whitey Ford Sings the Blues ''Whitey Ford Sings the Blues'' is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Everlast, and the first one following his departure from House of Pain. It was released on September 8, 1998, via Tommy Boy Records, a full eight year ...

''). He has referred to it as "one of the most personal songs I ever wrote", stating that the song was "kind of all about hope, but it's coming from a really dark place you know, so... and really questioning a lot of your beliefs, and affirming, you know, stuff in your soul." Everlast converted to Islam in 1996, and the end of the song contains the words "La ilaha illa Allah", ("There is no

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

but

" in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

), the first part of the

Shahada The ''Shahada'' ( Arabic: ٱلشَّهَادَةُ , "the testimony"), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there i ...

, the Islamic profession of faith.

called Everlast in 1998, asking him if he could contribute a song for ''Supernatural'', and Everlast suggested "Put Your Lights On". According to Everlast, Santana loved the song, and "from then on everything went very fast." Everlast has stated that he was unsure whether to include the Arabic-language portion in the recorded song, because "I did not want to sell Allah's words", but that Santana insisted that they be included.

Track listings

Australian CD single # "Put Your Lights On" (featuring Everlast) – 4:10 # "

Smooth Smooth may refer to: Mathematics * Smooth function, a function that is infinitely differentiable; used in calculus and topology * Smooth manifold, a differentiable manifold for which all the transition maps are smooth functions * Smooth algebrai ...

" (remix featuring Rob Thomas) – 3:53 # "

Maria Maria "Maria Maria" is a song by American rock band Santana featuring the Product G&B, included on Santana's 18th studio album, ''Supernatural'' (1999). The song was written by Wyclef Jean, Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis, Carlos Santana, Karl Perazzo, and R ...

" (radio mix featuring

the Product G&B The Product G&B is an American R&B duo made up of David McRae (also known as Sincere Gubano) and Marvin Moore-Hough (also known as Money Harm). They were associated with Wyclef Jean's The Refugee Camp. Since their debut in 1998, the duo lent thei ...

) – 4:25 UK CD single # "Put Your Lights On" (radio edit featuring Everlast) – 4:03 # "Maria Maria" (Spanish-English version featuring the Product G&B) – 4:15 # "El farol" (album version) – 4:59 European CD single # "Put Your Lights On" (radio edit featuring Everlast) – 4:03 # "Maria Maria" (Spanish-English version featuring the Product G&B) – 4:15 German maxi-CD single # "Put Your Lights On" (radio edit featuring Everlast) – 4:03 # "Put Your Lights On" (album version featuring Everlast) – 4:47 # "Maria Maria" (Spanish-English version featuring the Product G&B) – 4:15 # "El farol" (album version) – 4:59

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the German maxi-CD single liner notes and the '' Supernatural'' album booklet. Studios * Engineered at

Fantasy Studios Fantasy Studios was a music recording studio in Berkeley, California, at the Zaentz Media Center, known for its recording of award-winning albums including Journey's ''Escape'' and Green Day's ''Dookie''. Built as a private recording studio for ...

(

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

) and South Beach Studios ( Miami Beach, Florida) * Mixed at South Beach Studios (Miami Beach, Florida) * Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City) Personnel * Everlast – writing (as Erik Schrody), lead vocals, rhythm guitar * Carlos Santana – lead guitar, congas, percussion * Benny Rietveld – bass * Chester Thompson – keyboards *

Dante Ross Dante Ross (born October 11, 1967) is an American music industry executive, artists and repertoire representative, and record producer. He was named one of the top-25 greatest A&R representatives in hip hop by ''Complex'' magazine. Ross has been ...

– production, programming * John Gamble – production, programming, engineering *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

– mixing * Femio Hernandez – mixing assistant * Steve Fontano – engineering * Steve Farrone – engineering * Mike Anderson – engineering assistant

Charts

Release history

References

External links

Santana fan site with info about the song
at www.UltimateSantana.com {{Authority control 1998 songs 1999 singles Everlast (musician) songs Music videos directed by Marcus Raboy Santana (band) songs