"Calling All Angels" is a song by American rock band Train. It was included on the band's third studio album, My Private Nation, and produced by Brendan O'Brien. On April 14, 2003, the song was the first single to be released from My Private Nation, peaking at number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topping three other Billboard charts: the Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40, and Triple-A listings. Outside the US, the song entered the top 40 in Australia and New Zealand.
Background
"Calling All Angels" was inspired by a conversation singer Pat Monahan had with his therapist. Monahan said, "She said, "Just remember that we are made up of angels and traitors, and the angel is the one that says, 'You're beautiful and you can do anything you want,' and the traitor is the one that says, 'You're ugly and you can't get anything right.'" And so that song just came from that conversation of, if we all called our angels, what a cool life this would be for all of us."[1]
Critical reception
The song received mixed reviews from rock critics, with Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly giving the song a B+ and calling it "an anthemic hymn to commitment...that builds steadily to a gloriously clanging climax."[2] Matt Lee of the BBC was less impressed, describing the track as "pedestrian, the vocals soulless, even more so than" the band's biggest hit single, "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)".[3]
In 2016, the song was used in the US version of The Passion. It was sung by Jencarlos and appeared on the official soundtrack album. It was sung in the story when Jesus (Jencarlos) prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. The tempo was slowed, several lyrics were changed, and the third verse was entirely cut to fit the theme of the scene.
^Calling All Angels (European maxi-CD single liner notes). Train. Columbia Records. 2003. COL 673648 2, 6736482003.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Calling All Angels (Australian CD single liner notes). Train. Columbia Records. 2003. 673655.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
