"Waking Up" is a song by

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

group

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by ex-Suede members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave music. The band's members changed several times, w ...

. It was released as a single in February 1995 and reached number 13 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 ...

. It preceded the release of their self-titled debut album, which came out the following month. The song, written about being an underachiever, received positive critical reviews. However, it also prompted a lawsuit from the publishers of

the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origina ...

, who claimed that Elastica took the song's riff from the Stranglers' " No More Heroes". The case was settled out of court after Elastica agreed to co-credit the Stranglers as writers on all future releases of the song.

Background

"Waking Up" is a song about being an underachiever, in which writer-vocalist

Justine Frischmann Justine Elinor Frischmann (born 16 September 1969) is an English artist and retired musician. She was the lead singer of the Britpop band Elastica after forming Suede, before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as a painter. ...

"exorcises her personal malaise" with the lines: "I'd work very hard but I'm lazy/I've got a lot of songs but they're all in my head/I'll get a guitar and a lover who pays me/If I can't be a star I won't get out of bed."

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

contributed keyboards to the song. The single was released on 13 February 1995 with the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

"Gloria". "Waking Up" was included as the 11th track on Elastica's 1995 self-titled album, and an alternate version was included on 2001's '' The Radio One Sessions''.

Controversy

Elastica was sued for

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

by the publishers of the Stranglers, Complete Music, who claimed that "Waking Up" resembled one of

' songs, "No More Heroes". The case was settled out of court before Elastica's album was released. Elastica agreed to pay Complete Music 40 percent of the royalties from the album, and the Stranglers were also given a co-writing credit on the song.Peschek, David
"Elastica's Anxiety of Influence"
independent.co.uk, 31 March 1995. Retrieved 15 May 2011. One of the members of the Stranglers,

JJ Burnel Jean-Jacques Burnel (born 21 February 1952) is an English musician, producer and songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist with the English rock band The Stranglers. He is the last founding member to remain in the band. ...

, later said, "Yes, it sounds like us, but so what? Of course there's plagiarism, but unless you live in a vacuum there's always going to be. It's the first thing our publishers have done for us in 20 years, but if it had been up to me, I wouldn't have bothered." Another member of the Stranglers,

Jet Black Brian John Duffy (26 August 1938 – 6 December 2022), professionally known as Jet Black, was an English drummer and founding member of punk rock/ new wave band The Stranglers. He last performed with the band in 2015, and officially retired in ...

, even thanked Elastica in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' for bringing attention to his old band.

Reception

Critical reception

"Waking Up" received positive reviews from music critics. Louise Gray called it "magnificent".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

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 databas ...

wrote that the song "rework dthe Stranglers' "No More Heroes" into a more universal anthem that loses none of its punkiness".Erlewine, Stephen Thomas
"Elastica – Elastica"

. Retrieved 15 May 2011. In his review of the single, Jack Rabid wrote that "Waking Up" is a "great song" that "sounds like

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

covering the Stranglers, with a sharp female singer."Rabid, Jack
"Waking Up – Elastica"
AllMusic. Retrieved 15 May 2011. ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote: "The A-track is not only loud but definitely a song too, stretchable to more than just the alternative format."

Chart performance

The song debuted on the

at number 13 on 19 February 1995. "Waking Up" stayed on the chart for four weeks in total.

Music video

The promotional music video for "Waking Up" features two different performances by the band. In both, the band members are wearing black clothing, and in one of the performances, they are surrounded by naked men sitting on the ground., 6 October 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2011.

Track listings

7-inchStrong, Martin Charles.
The Great Indie Discography
' (Canongate U.S., 2003). # "Waking Up" # "Gloria" CD single # "Waking Up" # "Gloria" # "Car Wash" # "Brighton Rock"

Charts

Weekly charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1995 singles 1995 songs Elastica songs Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs written by Justine Frischmann