{"id":5306,"date":"2026-09-01T13:11:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T17:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=5306"},"modified":"2026-09-01T13:11:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T17:11:04","slug":"the-tragic-death-that-inspired-sarah-mclachlan-to-write-angel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/the-tragic-death-that-inspired-sarah-mclachlan-to-write-angel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tragic Death That Inspired Sarah McLachlan to Write \u201cAngel\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are ballads that many find impossible to hear without crying. And few pop ballads can reliably bring on the tears like Sarah McLachlan\u2019s \u201cAngel\u201d. But more than McLachlan\u2019s lilting voice, or the way her melody falls against pensive chords, it\u2019s the young death that inspired \u201cAngel\u201d that makes her defining song so endlessly sad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>And the Infinite Sadness<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sarah McLachlan - Angel [Official Music Video]\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i1GmxMTwUgs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McLachlan\u2019s somber ballad is propelled by a quiet desperation. And in the track\u2019s sparse arrangement, her voice rises above the piano, attempting to fill some kind of void. And that void, the unexplainable abyss, is the space she tries to make sense of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The inspiration arrived after reading a <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> article about the death of The Smashing Pumpkins\u2019 touring keyboardist, Jonathan Melvoin. He had died in 1996 in a hotel room after overdosing on heroin. Melvoin, the brother of Wendy and Susannah Melvoin, was 34.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As she read the story, she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=42GOYTyLHJI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>, \u201cThere was this flood of emotion, of empathy, of recognition, of this feeling of isolation and desperation where you\u2019re just like, I need something to lift me out of this place I\u2019m in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Spend all your time waiting,<br>For that second chance,<br>For a break that would make it okay<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s the escape from whatever it is we are running from. And apart from Melvoin\u2019s tragedy, \u201cAngel\u201d is the presence of kindness as an elixir against despair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>In the arms of the angel,<br>Fly away from here.<br>From this dark, cold hotel room,<br>And the endlessness that you fear.<br>You are pulled from the wreckage,<br>Of your silent reverie.<br>You\u2019re in the arms of the angel,<br>May you find some comfort here<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u2018Surfacing\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAngel\u201d appears on McLachlan\u2019s 1997 album, <em>Surfacing<\/em>. The album title brings to mind form, taking shape, becoming clear. And with clarity comes security. We understand it, or at least, we come closer to understanding. There\u2019s a visible exterior. And it\u2019s how McLachlan made sense of Melvoin\u2019s lonely death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She wrote the song quickly, which wasn\u2019t her typical approach at the time. There was no labor, no second-guessing. Just an emotional gushing of notes and words landing in all the right ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When McLachlan met Wendy, years later at a Brandi Carlile concert, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/facts\/prince\/purple-rain\">the Revolution guitarist<\/a> told her that \u201cAngel\u201d helped her family endure the loss of Jonathan. For McLachlan, meeting Wendy was another surfacing. And it helped heal a broken family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo by Leon Bennett\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sarah McLachlan wrote &#8220;Angel&#8221; after reading about a young man&#8217;s death. Then her song helped heal a grieving family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":5308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"Photo by Leon Bennett\/Getty Images","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[36,515],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-5306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-pop-music","tag-sarah-mclachlan"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"pop music","term_id":36,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/pop-music\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Tragic Death That Inspired Sarah McLachlan to Write \u201cAngel\u201d - Songfacts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sarah McLachlan wrote &quot;Angel&quot; after reading about a young man&#039;s death. 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