"Tomorrow" is a song by Australian rock band

Silverchair Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got their big bre ...

, which was released on 16 September 1994 on their debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

album, also titled ''Tomorrow''. The song was later released on '' Frogstomp'', the band's debut studio album, in 1995. Written by lead singer and guitarist

Daniel Johns Daniel Paul Johns (born 22 April 1979) is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter best known as the former frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of the rock band Silverchair. Johns is also one half of The Dissociatives with Paul Mac ...

and drummer Ben Gillies, it was produced and engineered by Phil McKellar at the national radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

's studios for SBS-TV's show, ''Nomad'', which aired on 16 June 1994. After the broadcast the band were signed to the Murmur label – a

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

subsidiary – which subsequently issued the ''Tomorrow'' EP. "Tomorrow" became a breakthrough hit for Silverchair when it reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart in October and remained there for six weeks. A re-recorded version was issued in 1995 in the United States and also peaked at number one on both the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks and the Album Rock Tracks charts; it made No. 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Airplay chart. In the United Kingdom, the song made No. 59 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 ...

in September 1995. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 1995 The Ninth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 20 October 1995 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. There had been a 18-month gap since the ...

, the song "Tomorrow" won three awards in the categories 'Single of the Year', 'Highest Selling Single', and 'Breakthrough Artist – Single'; they won two further awards for ''Frogstomp''. In January 2018, as part of

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to ...

's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Tomorrow" was ranked number 36.

History

Ben Gillies (on drums and percussion) and

(on lead vocals and lead guitar) co-wrote "Tomorrow" when they were performing with

Chris Joannou Christopher Andrew Joannou (born 10 November 1979) is an Australian musician best known as the bassist for the Newcastle-based alternative rock band Silverchair. He is a twin to sister Louise Kipa. He was the first of the three band members to ...

(on bass guitar) as Innocent Criminals.McFarlane
'silverchair'
entry. Archived fro
the original
on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2013. Note: User may have to supply further information, e.g. at 'Performer:' enter Silverchair Innocent Criminals entered YouthRock, a competition for school-based bands, in 1994. Early in that year they recorded demos of "Acid Rain", "Cicada", " Pure Massacre", and "Tomorrow" at Platinum Sound Studios. Johns recalled making the demos " had just recorded that at a really cheap studio ... It cost about $75. We weren't in there for more than an hour. The version we entered went for about six minutes". In April 1994, the band won a national band competition called Pick Me, using their demo of "Tomorrow". The competition was conducted by the SBS TV show ''Nomad'' and

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC) alternative radio station

. As part of the prize, Triple J recorded the song and ABC filmed a

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

, which was aired on 16 June. For the video's broadcast, they had changed their name to Silverchair (styled as silverchair until 2002). On 16 September, their Triple J recording of "Tomorrow" was released as a four-track extended play with "Acid Rain", "Blind", and "Stoned". From late October, it spent six weeks at number-one on the ARIA Singles Chart. It also reached number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart in February 1995. In 1995, a re-recorded version of "Tomorrow" (and a new music video) was made for the United States market, becoming the most played song on US modern rock radio that year. In the US it peaked at number one on both the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks and the Album Rock Tracks charts; it made No. 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Airplay chart. In the United Kingdom, the song made No. 59 on the

in September 1995.

Inspiration

When asked about where the inspiration for "Tomorrow" came from, Johns said:

That was on a TV show. There was this poor guy taking a rich guy through a hotel to experience the losses of the less fortunate than him. The rich guy is just complaining because he just wants to get out and the poor guy is saying you have to wait till tomorrow to get out. That's one of our least serious songs but it still has meaning to it.

Music videos

Two different

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

s were released to promote "Tomorrow". The original version was directed by Robert Hambling for SBS-TV show ''Nomad'', which was produced and directed from 1992 to 1994 by Kerry Negara. It was broadcast on 16 June 1994 as part of the group's prize for winning the Pick Me competition. The second version was shown in the US and directed by Mark Pellington. This video has been described as mirroring the music video for the Pearl Jam song " Jeremy", also directed by Pellington, as well as the work of directors

Samuel Bayer Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1962) is an American visual artist, cinematographer, and commercial, music video and film director. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts in 1987 with ...

and

Matt Mahurin Matthew S. Mahurin (born January 31, 1959) is an American illustrator, photographer and film director. Mahurin's illustrations appear in ''Time'', ''Newsweek'', '' Mother Jones'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''Esquire'', ''Forbes'', and ''The New York Tim ...

. Like many grunge videos popular on MTV at the time, the US "Tomorrow" video includes: harsh lighting, especially on the face; various disturbing images, such as a pig eating money and shots of a spider-like creature;

jump cuts A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera positions of the subje ...

between random images; and scribbled handwritten notes. The US version of the video is also known for Daniel Johns wearing a black shirt of the American band

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

. The video's high rotation on MTV "led to an abundance of radio requests".

Reception

ARIA Music Awards

On 20 October 1995, at the ARIA Music Awards, "Tomorrow" won three categories: 'Single of the Year', 'Highest Selling Single', and 'Breakthrough Artist – Single'; the group won two further awards for their work on the related album, ''Frogstomp''. At the ceremony they performed a cover version of Radio Birdman's "New Race" with Tim Rogers (of

You Am I You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by its lead singer-songwriter and guitarist, Tim Rogers. They formed in December 1989 and are the first Australian band to have released three successive albums that have each debuted ...

) joining them on stage. Their trophies were collected by Josh Shirley, the young son of ''Frogstomp''s producer,

Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...

Critical response

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the "angst-ridden single" as "from the standard grunge formula". In February 2004, Australian rock musician Scott Owen of

The Living End The Living End are an Australian punk rockabilly band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 199 ...

was asked for "the most influential Australian music release" and answered that it was Silverchair's "Tomorrow", he explained "it taught kids that if you give it a go you have the chance to take on the world".

Ultimate Guitar Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. U ...

placed the song at number 6 on their "Top 10 Grunge Songs That Prove Grunge Never Tried to Kill the Guitar Solo" list. They described it as "An outstanding exercise in quiet-loud dynamics, it features a wah-soaked guitar solo that showcases Johns' exquisite taste for melodic earworms."

Live performances

On 9 December 1995, Silverchair performed the songs "Tomorrow" and "Pure Massacre" on ''

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'', hosted by David Alan Grier.

Soundtrack appearances

"Tomorrow" was used in "The Mystery of Morning Wood", an episode on season six of '' Beavis and Butt-head'', in 1995. At the start of the episode the two main characters are singing

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's " More Than a Feeling", then concluded that the song was stupid and ended by stating how the video fails to disturb them. The song was also released as downloadable content for the video games ''

Guitar Hero World Tour ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero IV'' or ''Guitar Hero IV: World Tour'') is a music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' ...

'' in 2009, '' Rock Band'' in 2010, and ''

Rocksmith 2014 ''Rocksmith 2014'' is a music video game produced by Ubisoft. It is a followup to the 2011 game ''Rocksmith'', but has been described as a replacement to the original game rather than a sequel. Like its predecessor, the game allows players to plug ...

'' in 2014. A re-recorded version of "Blind" was used in the film ''

The Cable Guy ''The Cable Guy'' is a 1996 American black comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, written by Lou Holtz Jr. and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. It was released in the United States on June 14, 1996. The film co-stars Leslie Mann, Jack ...

'' in 1996 and included on the soundtrack album. "Stoned" was used in the movie '' Mallrats'' in 1995 and included on the soundtrack album.

Parody

Australian band Silverpram released a parody version of "Tomorrow", titled "Frogstamp", in 1995. The lyrics of the parody focused on the young age of the Silverchair band members at the time, with the chorus lyrics changed to "I turn four tomorrow." The single peaked at #72 on the Australian

ARIA In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

singles chart.

''Tomorrow'' EP and other releases

Personnel

;Silverchair members * Ben Gillies – drums *

– bass guitar *

– lead vocals, lead guitar ;Production and art work * Producer, engineer – Phil McKellar ** Producer, recording, mixing (Album Version) –

** Mastering (Album Version) – Ted Jensen * Studios –

studios, Sydney * Photography – David Anderson

Awards and nominations

;ARIA Music Awards

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Tomorrow at youtube.com
{{Authority control 1994 songs 1994 debut singles APRA Award winners ARIA Award winners Grunge songs Music videos directed by Mark Pellington Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand Silverchair songs Song recordings produced by Kevin Shirley Songs written by Ben Gillies Songs written by Daniel Johns Songs about poverty Songs based on actual events Murmur (record label) singles Columbia Records singles