sentences:  "Northern Lites" was written by singer Gruff Rhys about "the weather", and was particularly inspired by coverage of the "terrifying, worldwide, seven-year phenomenon" of the west Pacific El Niño climate pattern on "weather channels" in 1998.The song's title refers to the Aurora Borealis, a natural light display which can be observed particularly in the polar regions, and usually at night.The band were convinced that they had seen the lights before the track was written but, as no one else was present, they could not get confirmation that what they had witnessed was not simply a "Furry fantasy".