Collective Soul is an American rock band from Stockbridge, Georgia.
Prior to forming Collective Soul, Ed Roland studied songwriting/composing and guitar at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Ed began working at “Real 2 Reel Studios” in Stockbridge during the 1980s and of early 1990s, which was owned by Will Turpin’s father. Ed did production and engineering work for local Atlanta artists. He also recorded his own demos and his independent solo album “Ed-E Roland” in 1991. Ed had been in garage bands and did some performing of his own. He had a pre-Collective Soul band in the late 80′s/early 90′s called “Marching Two-Step” which also included Shane Evans; they were a legitimate band for about 3 years.
Around 1992, Ed started to shift focus and began trying to secure contracts for his songwriting and publishing. However, these early attempts ended in rejection. That would change in 1993 when his song “Shine” from the Rising Storm label release of “Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid” became an underground hit on a College radio station in Orlando. It was around this time that Ed brought along Shane Evans, his brother Dean Roland, Will Turpin and Ross Childress. This would become the official line-up.
Ed Roland was reading Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead and come across the phrase “collective soul.” Although author Ayn Rand actually uses the phrase in a negative connotation, using the “collective soul” as a threat to the main character’s sense of individualism, Ed is quick to point out, “…we’re not preaching Ayn Rand, objectivism, egoism, or anything…we just dug the name…” and “it [the band's name] could’ve come out of a Motorcycle Magazine.
Shine
“Shine” is a song by the American post-grunge band Collective Soul. It served as the lead single from their 1993 debut album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid. “Shine” would remain the band’s most well known song and a hallmark of 1990s alternative rock.
Due to the song’s lyrical themes, particularly the mention of “heaven”, Collective Soul was often early on regarded as a Christian band. Frontman Ed Roland elaborated, “I remember around the time ["Shine" came out] getting into an argument with a writer who said, ‘You’re a Christian band.’ I said, ‘No, we’re not.’ ‘Well, you have the word heaven in your song.’ And I said, ‘Well, so does Led Zeppelin. I don’t remember anyone saying they were a Christian band.’” He went on to stress that such classification would unite the bandmates’ beliefs and that a particular doctrine cannot speak for all its members. Roland did note, however, his religious background and the fact that his father is a Southern Baptist minister, but that this does not justify a Christian label.
Collective Soul rhythm guitarist Dean Roland has called the song’s chorus “basically a prayer” and noted that the uplifting single was released during an odd time amidst heavy grunge. He noted that, despite the song’s unique feel, this circumstance wrongfully pigeonholed the band as being grunge.
“Shine” features guitar with a slight distortion and mellow atmosphere throughout the verses. Its chorus pounds with staccato riffs before brightening up with the lyrics “Heaven let your light shine down.” Later, the song’s bridge modulates into double-time behind a hard rock guitar solo before returning to its previous state of calmness.
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Give me a word
Give me a sign
Show me where to look
Tell me what will I find (What will I find?)~
Lay me on the ground
Fly me in the sky
Show me where to look
Tell me what will I find (What will I find?)Yea, Yea, Yea
Oh, Heaven let your light shine down
Oh, Heaven let your light shine down
Oh, Heaven let your light shine down
Oh, Heaven let your light shine downLove is in the water
Love is in the air
Show me where to look
Tell me will love be there (Will love be there?)
Teach me how to speak
Teach me how to share
Teach me where to go
Tell me will love be there (Will love be there?)Yea, Yea, Yea
Oh, Heaven let your light shine down
Oh, Heaven let your light shine down
Oh, Heaven let your light shine down
Oh, Heaven let your light shine downGive me a word
Give me a sign
Show me where to look
Tell me what will I find (What will I find?)~
Lay me on the ground
Fly me in the sky
Show me where to look
Tell me what will I find (What will I find?)Yea, Yea, Yea
Oh, Heaven let your light shine down
Oh, Heaven let your light shine down
Oh, Heaven let your light shine down
Oh, Heaven let your light shine downI’m going to let it shine
I’m going to let it shine
Heavens little light gonna shine on me
Yea yea heavens little light gonna shine on me
shine, shine on me
shine, come on and shine
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- Audio from the 1993 album, Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid:
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