The Song Meaning Wiki

Good Morning Spider

SparklehorseStudioJuly 20, 1998

About this Album

Good Morning Spider is the second studio album by Sparklehorse, released on July 20, 1998 by Capitol.[1] Mark Linkous produced it himself in a 16-track home studio in a farmhouse near Richmond, Virginia, with some material reworked in Memphis.[1]

It was made after Linkous nearly died in London in 1996, and critics hear it as an album of frustration, resignation, wonder and gratitude.[1] Only a few songs, such as "Pig" and "Saint Mary," clearly reflect the hospital period, while others predate it.[2] He assembled the sound from thrift-store keyboards, a cheap sampler and other discarded gear, giving it a lo-fi, "rural industrial" character.[2][3]

Reception was warm. The A.V. Club called it a great record, though spotty by design, that improves with each listen.[1] Songs include "Sunshine," "Painbirds" and "Hundreds of Sparrows."[4]

Songs

Hundreds of Sparrows

References

  1. Good Morning Spider, Wikipedia — Release date, home-studio recording, track credits, reception and the context of Linkous's 1996 overdose and recovery.
  2. Good Morning Spider Turns 20, Stereogum — Anniversary review covering the thrift-store gear, Linkous's recovery, which songs reflect it, and the character of this song.
  3. Revisit: Sparklehorse, Good Morning Spider, Spectrum Culture — Retrospective reading the song as a hopeful late-album track, plus details of the 1996 collapse and the album's imagery.
  4. Essentials: The Top 10 Sparklehorse Songs, Americana UK — Reads the song as a melancholic love song with a sense of threat and bodily detachment.