Have you ever stayed up late watching television for whatever reason? Then you just happened to come across that sad, heartbreaking commercial where all the animals are in cages. The Music starts playing with the familiar lyrics of “In the arms of an angel”, then you proceed to cry yourself to sleep because you want to rescue you all those animals and you’re forever traumatized. No?… Well, I was.
That song is called “Angel” by West Vancouver resident, Sarah McLachlan. I can attest to being one of the many audience members that would be sad and want to have all those dogs and cats removed from those cages, so they wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. I would shut off the TV and that commercial would be ingrained in my mind for days.
With an interview with cinemablend.com, McLachlan would go on saying how difficult doing those commercials were for her,” it was brutal doing those ads. It was like, ‘Can you just be a little sadder and a little more this and little more that.’ [And now] I can’t watch them, it kills me.”
The commercial was a smashing success, and it opened the avenue of a newfound audience and fanbase for McLachlan. She would constantly get stopped at grocery stores by old women who would tell her that they donated to their local animal charity because of her commercial.
Music can work in so many ways and be the symbolisation for so many things. Whenever I listen to “Angel”, I will always picture my younger self, staying up way past my bedtime, and seeing sad animals on my tv screen. Maybe it’s one of the reasons why I jumped at the opportunity to get my beautiful rescue cat Kaleo. Thank you Sarah McLachlan for teaching me to love and rescue animals… I’m going to go cry now!
If you would like to donate to any local animal charties, here’s a list to choose from: