| "Morning After" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Song by Dead By Sunrise | |
| from the album Out Of Ashes | |
| Working title: | The Morning After |
| Recorded: | 2007-2009 |
| Released: | October 13, 2009 |
| Length: | 3:29 |
| Live debut: | June 04, 2001 |
| Last performed: | November 12, 2011 November 05, 2017 (Julien-K) |
| Writer: | Chester Charles Bennington, Amir Davidson, Ryan Christopher Shuck, Anthony Valcic |
| Producer: | Dead By Sunrise |
| Label: | Warner Bros. Records |
| Out Of Ashes tracklist | |
"Morning After" is a bonus track on Dead By Sunrise's debut studio album Out Of Ashes, always listed as the thirteenth track. The song was originally exclusive to the Japanese and iTunes editions of the album, but has made its way to other digital platforms following the death of Chester Bennington. It is one of Chester's oldest known songs and has been performed live with three of his bands: Linkin Park, Bucket Of Weenies and Dead By Sunrise.
Background
The first public knowledge of the song came on June 4th, 2001 when Linkin Park headlined London's Brixton Academy while touring for Hybrid Theory. To start the encore, Chester gave the crowd the choice to hear him play "Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction or one of his own songs. They chose to hear one of his own songs, and Chester debuted "Morning After" acoustically. He said the song was written about "sleeping in my car." Later, he played it once more, ironically on September 12th, 2001 and introduced it by saying, "Ya'll mind if I play a song? This is one of my own songs I wrote by myself, naked in the bathroom. Yeah, with a fucking guitar. Dreaming about all the beautiful ladies here in Berlin. Ya'll ready? Alright. This song is called The Morning After. It's a song, it's a song I wrote about the anticipation of one day maybe making it in the music business and being able to do what I love doing, to go around the world and play for a bunch of fucking great people like yourselves. It goes a little something like this." These were the only two recorded performances of the song until Chester started his solo project, but the song was played at least one more time during Linkin Park shows in May 2001. The Berlin show was recorded by a fan in audio and this performance of "Morning After" started circulating online across the fanbase after the show, becoming quite popular.
In an LPU chat before Projekt Revolution 2002, Chester was asked, "will The Morning After be on your new CD?" to which he replied, "Probably not. That was a song that I wrote about 6 years ago and I just play every once and a while .. just for fun." He was also asked if he'd play the song at the Detroit stop of the tour, to which he replied, "Ill talk to the guys about morning after @ detroit.. maybe they will let me."[1] The first quote suggests the song was written sometime around 1996, during his stint in Grey Daze. During the promotion of Out Of Ashes, it was revealed the song is actually much older than that. Chester said, "I wrote that when I was like 15. So that song goes actually all the way back to… I think it was like one of the first songs I´ve ever written when I kind of taught myself how to play some power chords on the guitar. I wrote that song and brought it into my old band Grey Daze. And it was like: “Hey guys, what do you think?” And they´re like: “You’re really cute”, you know, because I was real young. I was like 14 or 15 or whatever. They´re like: “Yeah, yeah, yeah. He thinks he can write songs - shut up and go sing”, you know? One of those things… but it always stuck in my head, and so I felt this song might actually be really good - if it’s been sticking around in my brain for 14 years… most ideas that I have don’t stick around that long."[2]
In May 2005, Chester formed a side project during the Linkin Park hiatus entitled Bucket Of Weenies, which played rock covers as well as a few original pieces by the band members. One of these was "Morning After"; its performance at the Club Tattoo 10th Anniversary in May 2005 was its first rock performance and the first time it was played in any form since September 12, 2001. Bucket Of Weenies was a short lived project and played roughly only six to eight shows, in which "Morning After" was always on the setlist.
Chester recorded a majority of his solo album in 2005 for release that year, but postponed its release when Linkin Park started recording their followup to Meteora.
In 2008, Snow White Tan reformed under its new name, Dead By Sunrise. At the Club Tattoo 13th Anniversary Party that May, they played three songs, one of which was "Morning After". The band started touring regularly in 2009, continuing into 2010 and the song was a part of all of their shows.
When Out Of Ashes was released in 2009, "Morning After" was selected as the Japanese bonus track for the album. Speaking on the matter, Chester said, "That was done, because I already released ‘Morning After’ on the Underworld soundtrack. I felt that if I put that on the record, it would kind of be cheating. So we basically took some songs that didn’t quite make the cut, and we’re reissuing, because the version that is on Underworld II is kind of a remix, it has some guitars taken out, and a more danceable beat to kind of fit the mode of the soundtrack a little more. This is more of a direct, straight rock version, and I believe that is actually going to be on the record if you get it as an import from Japan or some parts of Europe. So if people want that on the Dead By Sunrise record, [there’s] that, and we did a cover of the Misfits’ ‘20 Eyes’ like as extras."[3]
On the 2009 version that comes out to 3:29 in length, the vocals, drums, and guitar were rerecorded for a new arrangement, but some of the sound effects and keyboards remained the same in the song as the soundtrack version. Drums on the song were recorded by Mike Plotnikoff and Hatsukazu Inagaki instead of Elias Andra, who recorded drums on the rest of the album.
The Linkin Park Underground released a live acoustic recording of the song to fans for free to promote the album. This version was recorded during the band's acoustic set at the Steve Wyrick Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 04, 2009.
Remix
In January 2006, Chester and Julien-K (the backing band for Snow White Tan) contributed a studio version of "Morning After" to the Underworld: Evolution soundtrack.[4] The band was credited as "Chester Bennington vs. Julien-K". It was the first official release of the song. This version is 4:14 in length, over a minute longer than the acoustic version Chester performed live in 2001. It is commonly referred to as a remix by both the band and the fans, although on the soundtrack tracklisting it simply just says "Morning After". Elias Andra has also referred to this version as a Julien-K song.[5]
Amir said on the Julien-K website, "As many of you already know, Ryan and I have a side project with Chester of Linkin Park called Dead By Sunrise. We have already written and recorded an album's worth of material. This song was one of the first recorded during those sessions. While we were working with Chester on this project he was approached to submit an original track for the movie Underworld: Evolution. After seeing an early private screening of the movie and speaking to the director it seemed that "Morning After" was an appropriate fit because of the lyrical content and driving rhythm. We then went to work reinventing the song to create a unique version exclusively for the movie. The original version will appear on our DBS album at a later date."[6]
A remix of "Morning After" was created by Meat Beat Manifesto, another artist featured in the Underworld: Evolution soundtrack, but was left unreleased. The track has November 08, 2005 as its creation date. Fu said, "In the late 80s I became a huge fan of Meat Beat Manifesto with their (I think debut) release "Storm The Studio". Very edgy, noisy electronica with industrial and dub influences. They went on to be quite sucessful and ground breaking in the 90s, However, I'm not super sure they were a great pick to remix this Dead By Sunrise track. Something about the different styles don't find a successful overlap in my opinion, but I could be wrong. What do you think?"
Versions
Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.
Studio
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning After | Out Of Ashes | 3:29 | 2007-2009 | October 13, 2009 |
|
| Morning After | Demos | 3:39 |
|
Remix
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning After | Underworld: Evolution | 4:13 | 2005 | January 10, 2006 |
|
| Morning After - Meat Beat Manifesto Remix | 3:29 | 2005 |
|
Live
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning After (Acoustic Live) | Out Of Ashes (Record Store Day Vinyl) | 3:50 | July 04, 2009 | December 3, 2009 |
|
| Morning After (Acoustic 2017) | Acoustic Show 2017 Desk Recording | 3:26 | November 05, 2017 | April 26, 2023 |
|
Live
"Morning After" got its debut at the London stop on the US-to-Europe tour in 2001, being played as a solo, acoustic song by Chester as the first song in the encore. It was played once more in the Linkin Park sets, in Berlin, before it was dropped and never played at a Linkin Park show again.
"Morning After" was one of the few songs that Bucket Of Weenies, fronted by Chester, would perform, being played at all known shows by the band. It was played second at the Club Tattoo 10th Anniversary, second to last at the Etnies GvR event, and last at the Club Tattoo 11th Anniversary. Chester also performed it solo during one of his LPU chats.
Dead By Sunrise frequently played "Morning After" live. They first played it live at the Club Tattoo 13th Anniversary, after "Walking In Circles", and they used it to close the Club Tattoo Grand Opening performance, where it was played acoustically. The song returned to the sets when the band started their Out Of Ashes promotional tour, where it was played after "Condemned". When Dead By Sunrise started their 2010 Asian tour, "Morning After" stayed in its third song position, but was played after "Inside Of Me", a position it maintain throughout 2010. "Morning After" also opened Dead By Sunrise's performance at the 'Stars Of The Season' gala.
Julien-K performed an acoustic version of "Morning After" in November 2017 at their Time Capsule VIP Acoustic Show with guest vocalist Amber Snead.
Chester's first band Grey Daze was meant to perform a reunion show in September 2017, which never happened due to Chester's passing. Grey Daze and Julien-K came together to perform a tribute show for Chester, where they performed an acoustic version of the song.
Variations
Last Updated: August 25, 2018
| Type | Description | First Played | Last Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative | Acoustic Version | November 12, 2011 | November 12, 2011 |
Julien-K
Last Updated: August 25, 2018
| Type | Description | First Played | Last Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative | Acoustic Version | November 5, 2017 | November 5, 2017 |
Live Guests
Last Updated: August 25, 2018
- Amber Snead
Personnel
Dead By Sunrise
- Chester Bennington
- Ryan Shuck
- Amir Derakh
- Elias Andra
- Brandon Belsky
- Anthony "Fu" Valcic
Additional Musicians
- Mike Plotnikoff - live drums
- Hatsukazu Inagaki - live drums
Production
- Dead By Sunrise: producer, recorder
- Anthony "Fu" Valcic: mixer
Lyrics
Caught up against the wall again
Tied my chain to the ball again
It never seems to amaze my mind
So I just sleep, sleep, sleep
Please don't
Wake me 'til the morning after
Wake me 'til the morning after
Ah, ah
Cut and bruised by the fall again
Lick my wounds like a dog again
Is that a light at the end of the tunnel that I see, I see
Please let it be but don't
Wake me 'til the morning after
Wake me 'til the morning after
Wake me 'til the morning after
I'm so tired, there has got to be an end
To the pain I feel when I'm awake and alive, alive, alive
Alive and not dreaming
Ah, ah
Caught up against the wall again
Tied my chain to the ball again
It never seems to amaze my mind
So I just sleep, sleep, sleep
Please don't
Wake me 'til the morning after
Wake me 'til the morning after
Wake me 'til the morning after
I'm so tired, there has got to be an end
To the pain I feel when I'm awake and alive, alive, alive
Alive and not dreaming
Caught up against the wall again
Tied my chain to the ball again
It never seems to amaze my mind
So I just sleep / sleep / sleep
Sleep / sleep / sleep / please don't
Wake me 'til the morning after
Wake me 'til the morning after
Ah, ah
Cut and bruised by the fall again
Lick my wounds like a dog again
Is that a light at the end of the tunnel that I see / I see?
Please let it be but don't
Wake me 'til the morning after
Wake me 'til the morning after
Wake me 'til the morning after / I'm so tired
There has got to be an end
To the pain I feel when I'm awake and alive / alive / alive
Alive and not dreaming
Ah, ah
Caught up against the wall again
Tied my chain to the ball again
It never seems to amaze my mind
So I just sleep / sleep / sleep
Sleep / sleep / sleep / please don't
Wake me 'til the morning after
Wake me 'til the morning after
Ah, ah
Ah, ah
Wake me 'til the morning after / I'm so tired
There has got to be an end
To the pain I feel when I'm awake and alive / alive / alive
Alive and not dreaming
Gallery
-
Underworld: Evolution
-
Default artwork for remixes by Julien-K
-
Dead By Sunrise song board
In Other Media
- A remix of "Morning After" is featured in the 2006 film Underworld: Evolution and was included in its soundtrack album.
External Links
References
- ↑ Chester LPU Chat, 2002
- ↑ P h o e n i x - F a r r e l l .o r g /// Your phidelicious source for Dave "Phoenix" Farrell of Linkin Park made by his greatest fan ///, October 06, 2009
- ↑ Interview with Chester Bennington: Dead By Sunrise Thrive In The Moonlight – Page 2 – The Aquarian, October 13, 2009
- ↑ Linkin Park Can Get Back To Making Music After Settling Label Dispute | News | MTV, December 28, 2005
- ↑ Interview with Elias Andra - Linkin Park Live, February 14, 2010
- ↑ Julien-K // Morning After, 2007