When I Was a Boy

When I Was a Boy
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 3, 1993
RecordedJune 1991–January 1993
Mushroom Studios, Vancouver
Reaction Studios, Toronto
Westside Studios, London
GenreAmbient[1]
Synthpop[1]
Downtempo[1]
Length66:23
LabelReprise/Warner Bros. Records
26824
ProducerJane Siberry, Brian Eno (tracks 1 and 4), Michael Brook (track 3)
Jane Siberry chronology
Bound by the Beauty
(1989)
When I Was a Boy
(1993)
Maria
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[4]
Q[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
The Village VoiceB−[7]

When I Was a Boy is a 1993 album by Jane Siberry. Internationally, it is her most famous album. In Siberry's native Canada, however, the album was commercially successful but not as big a hit as her 1985 album The Speckless Sky.

The album includes Siberry's most famous song, "Calling All Angels", a duet with k.d. lang which appeared on two movie soundtracks, Until the End of the World in 1991 and Pay It Forward in 2000. The song was also sung by cast members of Six Feet Under in a scene from the episode "The Rainbow of Her Reasons." "Sail Across the Water" and "Temple" were the other singles from the album.

Several songs included electronic textures; "Temple" was Siberry's first song that was popular in dance clubs. The album was also Siberry's first to explore more spiritual themes, which would become a hallmark of her later music.[8]

On The Tragically Hip's 1997 live album Live Between Us, Gordon Downie sings the chorus from "Temple" in that album's track "Nautical Disaster".

  1. ^ a b c "When I Was a Boy". Discogs.
  2. ^ Parisien, Roch. "When I Was a Boy – Jane Siberry". AllMusic. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  3. ^ McCormick, Moira (November 25, 1993). "Celestial Standout". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  4. ^ Wood, Sam (August 31, 1993). "Jane Siberry sings angelic love songs, guitarists celebrate Wes Montgomery". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  5. ^ "Jane Siberry: When I Was a Boy". Q. No. 83. August 1993. p. 100.
  6. ^ Walls, Richard C. (November 25, 1993). "Jane Siberry: When I Was a Boy". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 18, 2003. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (April 5, 1994). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  8. ^ Scott Gray, "Sing a Little Sweeter" Archived 2009-02-08 at the Wayback Machine. Ascent.