Gotthard, a hard-rock band from Lugano in the Italian part of Switzerland a… Read Full Bio ↴Gotthard, a hard-rock band from Lugano in the Italian part of Switzerland and Bern in the German part, was founded in 1990 by mentor and co songwriter Chris von Rohr, best known as Krokus' bass player. Gotthard is definitely one of the most famous and successful Swiss artists ever and almost every album has topped the Swiss charts since 1990.

With 2 million albums sold (1 million of which were sold in Switzerland, which only has 7 million habitants), they managed to get multi-platinum awards in different parts of the world.

Influences include Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Whitesnake, Deep Purple and Aerosmith. Singer Steve Lee is especially fond of Whitesnake and has based his singing style on their lead singer David Coverdale.

Gotthard also performed "Immigrant Song" (originally by Led Zeppelin) live and it featured exclusively on a CD by Classic Rock (a long running monthly UK rock magazine). "Hush" was also performed live and can be found on Made In Switzerland album.

Another cover of a song they have recorded is "The Mighty Quinn", originally called Quinn The Eskimo, by Bob Dylan.

Singer Steve Lee was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 5th 2010. A truck struck him while he was stopped on the side of a desert road in Nevada (USA), putting on rain gear.

Current line-up:

Nic Maeder: Vocals
Leo Leoni: Lead Guitar
Freddy Scherer: Rhythm Guitar
Marc Lynn: Bass
Hena Habegger: Drums

Free and Alive
Gotthard Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Don't You Realize
You Get Up Every Morning
And Your Children's Fine
Too Busy Making Money
To Notice That The Sun Has Rised Again, Oh Yeah
But It's In The Human Nature
To Complain
When We Should Understand

Some Others Live A Live Not Half As Good
Just Waiting For Their End

But I'm Free And Alive
I'm Free And Alive

Don't You Realize
You're Living In A Place You Call Home
And You're Never Satisfied
'cause The Neighbour Has
What You Where Dreaming Of ... For Long

There Are Times
When I Can't Take It Anymore
Why Don't We Understand
The Simple Things In Live
Can Give Us More, More Than We Pretend

But I'm Free And Alive
I'm Free And Alive

But I'm Free And Alive
I'm Free And Alive

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Gotthard's song Free and Alive tackle the common human tendency to take life for granted, to focus on material wealth and to overlook the beauty around us. The first verse points out how people can get caught up in the day-to-day routine of making money and forget to appreciate the simple things in life like the sun rising every day. The singer suggests that complaining is often the default reaction, but we should be more aware of those who have less and are not as fortunate as us.

The second verse addresses how people are often dissatisfied with what they have and envious of others, focusing on what they lack instead of what they have. The singer challenges this mentality by suggesting that simple things in life can actually bring more joy than we pretend. The chorus of the song is a declaration of freedom and being alive, emphasizing that the singer is aware of the blessings of life and has a different approach to living.

The song carries an inspiring and positive message that urges people to stop and appreciate what they have, and to have a more positive outlook on life. It encourages listeners to focus on the important things in life that are often overlooked in the pursuit of success and material wealth. Overall, the song is a reminder to live fully, to be grateful, and to embrace every moment of life.

Line by Line Meaning

Don't You Realize
Do you not understand?

You Get Up Every Morning
You wake up every day

And Your Children's Fine
And your children are doing well

Too Busy Making Money
You are too focused on earning money

To Notice That The Sun Has Rised Again, Oh Yeah
To notice that a new day has begun

But It's In The Human Nature
It is part of human nature

To Complain
To express dissatisfaction

When We Should Understand
When we should realize

Some Others Live A Live Not Half As Good
That some people are living in worse conditions

Just Waiting For Their End
Simply waiting for their life to be over

But I'm Free And Alive
But I am feeling free and alive