Hailing from York, Pennsylvania, the group is comprised of Ed Kowalczyk (lead vocals & guitar), Chad Taylor (lead guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass) and Chad Gracey (drums). Since approximately 1999, Live has toured with Ed’s younger brother, Adam Kowalczyk as a rhythm guitarist, and, previously, British keyboardist Michael “Railo” Railton.
Kowalczyk, Taylor, Dahlheimer, and Gracey first came together for a middle-school talent show in the Pennsylvania blue-collar town of York. The group remained together throughout high school, going through a handful of band names and new-wave covers before settling on the moniker Public Affection and recording a self-released cassette of originals, The Death of a Dictionary, in 1989. Frequent trips into New York to play at CBGB helped net the band a deal with Radioactive Records in 1991. With the new name Live, the band entered the studio with former Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison that year and began recording the EP Four Songs. The single “Operation spirit (the tyranny of tradition)” went to #9 on the Modern Rock chart, and paved the way for the band’s Harrison-produced, full-length debut, 1991’s Mental Jewelry (#73). The album lyrics, penned by Kowalczyk, were heavily inspired by Indian guru Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Fueled by heavy touring (including billing at Woodstock ‘94 and Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD tour) and a string of hit singles (“I Alone”, “All Over You” and the #1 Modern Rock hits “Selling the drama” and “Lightning crashes”), their next album, Throwing Copper, went to #1 in 1994. It is their best-selling, and often most highly regarded by fans and critics, album to date. The band was even asked to perform on Saturday Night Live where they performed their hits “I Alone” and “Selling the Drama” and to this day, they are the only band to receive a standing ovation at the party after the broadcast.[citation needed]
The momentum continued long enough to help 1997’s Secret Samadhi (coproduced by the band and Jay Healey) debut at #1. Deriving its name from a state of Hindu meditation, the album spawned four Modern Rock hit singles, but failed to match its predecessor’s success, with sales topping off at 2 million. The band performed “lakini’s juice” and “Heropsychodreamer” from this album on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
Harrison came back on board as coproducer for 1999’s The Distance to Here, which debuted at #4 and featured the minor US hit single “The Dolphin’s Cry.”
In September 2001, the more experimental V (originally scheduled to be titled “Ecstatic Fanatic”) was issued to mixed reviews, preceded by “Simple creed” as the first single. However, with the events of 9/11—which occurred a week before V ‘s release—the melancholic “Overcome” began receiving significant airplay, superseding “Simple Creed” and becoming V’s selling point. Unfortunately, Live’s commercial stock—compounded by their petering radio airplay—had fallen further since The Distance to Here, with V merely reaching #22 at home, failing to reach gold status.
Birds of Pray appeared in May 2003, bolstered by the unexpected success of “Heaven”, Live’s first US Hot 100-placing since “The Dolphin’s Cry.” Reaching #28, Birds of Pray ultimately outsold V, although it too received mixed reviews and failed to reach gold status.
In November 2004, Live released Awake: The Best of Live, a career-spanning compilation that included “We deal in dreams”, a previously unreleased song from the Throwing Copper sessions, and a cover of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk The Line”, as well as Birds of Pray’s “Run Away”, re-imagined with Shelby Lynne on co-lead vocals.
In 2005, Live signed with Sony BMG Music Entertainment’s Epic label, and released a new album entitled Songs From Black Mountain in June 2006, preceded by “The river” as lead single. Thus far, while the album has achieved international success, it has proven Live’s lowest-seller yet domestically, only reaching #52 in the US before quickly disappearing from the charts.
While Live remain only moderately popular in terms of record sales in the United States, much of their current sales come from places in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Ed Kowalczyk has said that “Holland is the center of the Live universe” [citation needed].
The group made news in January 2006 as three band members (Chad Taylor, Patrick Dahlheimer and touring rhythm guitar Adam Kowalczyk) and two members of the band’s road crew were on a United Airlines flight when smoke filled the cabin, requiring the pilot to make an emergency landing.
On season 5 of American Idol, finalist Chris Daughtry was accused of performing Live’s rendition of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” and calling it his own. This angered some Live fans, but one week later Daughtry acknowledged it was not his own rendition, even saying Live was one of his favorite bands. In May 2006, Live appeared on The Howard Stern Show and addressed this issue.
On May 24, 2006, the band and Chris Daughtry performed “Mystery” on the season finale of American Idol, and on June 7, a new version of “Mystery” was released on the Friends of Live website featuring Chris Daughtry on guest vocals.
The members of Live announced in June 2009 that the band would be taking a two-year hiatus as they work on other projects. On November 30, 2009, guitarist Chad Taylor confirmed that the hiatus of the band was most likely a permanent rift. See the Wikipedia page for more. During the first European tour of the new band of Taylor, Gracey and Dahlheimer (The Gracious Few), Taylor commented both on stage and in post-show discussions that he believes Live may still come back together, though he also stated that the chances of Kowalczyk joining them in this effort may be very small. In an exclusive blogpost[1] on website The Comet, Taylor confirmed that the remaining members of the band would be working on new material for Live in Nashville early July 2011.
The band returned from their nearly three-year hiatus on March 12, 2012, with Chris Shinn, formerly of Unified Theory, as their new lead singer. The new line-up performed before an invited audience at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in York. The band performed as a six-piece with The Gracious Few's Sean Hennesy on guitar and Alexander Lefever on keyboards
[1]: http://thecomet.com/posts/exclusive_blog_chad_taylor_talks_the_gracious_few_and_live
There's another band with the same name:
2. Live was a 70s-era Progressive Rock group from Germany. Formed in 1971, the outfit appeared to be a strangely named band indeed.
In October 1972 their guitarist Martin Knaden went to Curly Curve. Throughout their history only one member has remained, the multi-talented keyboards and flute player Norbert Aufmhof. Although in existence for a decade Live never got to record a proper studio album, or gain a contract, which surely they should have. Maybe the band name was a bit of a jinx?!
Their earlier history was originally just documented by a single. Only more recently did an LP surface collecting 1974 recordings. Quite obviously a collection of rehearsal session tapes, the LP reveals a band with promise albeit rather grottily recorded with often barely understandable muffled lyrics in English. Musically, there are nods to early Satin Whale and Jane, but with lots of classical touches, notably Grieg and Bach, and a penchant to meander rather nicely during the instrumentals.
Based on the ROCK OFFERS track "Sea Fever", they had blossomed and changed focus somewhat, as a much more sophisticated symphonic progressive of the Pancake and Jane type, typical of the mid/late-1970's.
In all, during their history, three different versions of Live existed, but eventually the band split in 1976. A full history of the band is included in the GEVELSBERG CD, which documents other oddments, sessions, and a live recording!
Dance With You
Live Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
the island king of love
deep in fijian seas
deep in some blissful dream
where the goddess finally sleeps
in the lap of her lover
subdued in all her rage
and I am aglow with the taste
and happily replaced
with the presence of real love
the only one who saves
I want to dance with you
I see a world where people live and die
with grace
the karmic ocean dried up and leave no
trace
I want to dance with you
I see a sky full of the stars that change
our minds
and lead us back to a world we would not
face
the stillness in your eyes
convinces me that I
I don't know a thing
and I been around the world and I've
tasted all the wines
a half a billion times
came sickened to your shores
you show me what this life is for
I want to dance with you
I see a world where people live and die
with grace
the karmic ocean dried up and leave no
trace
I want to dance with you
I see a sky full of the stars that change
our minds
and lead us back to a world we would not
face
in this altered state
full of so much pain and rage
you know we got to find a way to let it go
sittin' on the beach
the island king of love
deep in fijian seas
deep in the heart of it all
where the goddess finally sleeps
after eons of war and lifetimes
she smilin' and free, nothin' left
but a cracking voice and a song, oh lord
I want to dance with you
i see a world where people live and die
with grace
the karmic ocean dried up and leave no
trace
I want to dance with you
i see a sky full of the stars that change
our minds
and lead us back to a world we would not
face
we would not face
we would not face
we would not face
we would not face
we would not face
The lyrics to Live's song "Dance With You" describe the singer's idyllic state as he sits on a beach in Fiji, surrounded by the deep, blissful love that he feels for someone. He references the "island king of love" and a goddess who has finally found peace in the arms of her lover after a lifetime of war and conflict. The singer is overwhelmed with emotion as he experiences the taste of "real love" and the absence of the demons that once plagued him.
The chorus of the song expresses the singer's desire to dance with his love. He envisions a world where people live and die with grace, where the "karmic ocean" has dried up and left no trace. He sees a sky full of stars that can change our minds and lead us back to a world that we would not face otherwise. The stillness in his love's eyes convinces him that he doesn't know anything and that she has shown him what this life is for.
The final verse of the song acknowledges the pain and rage that we all carry inside, but the singer insists that we must find a way to let it go. He returns to the imagery of the goddess and her lover, who have found peace after so much turmoil, and he longs to dance with his love in their footsteps.
Line by Line Meaning
sittin' on the beach
I am presently sitting on a beach
the island king of love
I feel like royalty with love reigning supreme in my heart
deep in fijian seas
I am in the midst of the calming and peaceful Fijian waters
deep in some blissful dream
The surreal beauty of my surroundings feels like a dream come true
where the goddess finally sleeps
The feminine energy of the universe seems at peace
in the lap of her lover
Comforted by her chosen mate, the goddess is finally at rest
subdued in all her rage
No longer feeling the pain and anger after eons of strife
and I am aglow with the taste
I am experiencing a radiating sense of satisfaction
of the demons driven out
My inner struggles and negative emotions no longer control me
and happily replaced
Instead, I am filled with positive and joyous feelings
with the presence of real love
I am surrounded by genuine and enduring love
the only one who saves
Love is the savior that rescues me from internal darkness
I want to dance with you
I crave to share this joyous and peaceful moment with you
I see a world where people live and die with grace
I envision a world where people handle their lives with poise and elegance
the karmic ocean dried up and leave no trace
The universe's cycle of cause and effect has come to an end without any remnants
I see a sky full of the stars that change our minds
I peer at a sky where the ever-changing stars have the power to enrich our thoughts
and lead us back to a world we would not face
The stars guide us back to reality that we would typically avoid
the stillness in your eyes
The quietness of your eyes makes me feel that
convinces me that I
I'm assured that
I don't know a thing
I'm ignorant about everything
and I been around the world and I've tasted all the wines
Despite being a well-travelled person and having experienced all kinds of intoxicants
a half a billion times
An exaggeration to emphasize the many experiences that I've had
came sickened to your shores
I arrived at your place feeling overwhelmed and unwell
you show me what this life is for
You enlightened me on the purpose of this existence
in this altered state
While in a different state of mind
full of so much pain and rage
Despite the overwhelming feeling of suffering and anger
you know we got to find a way to let it go
We must find a solution to put our woes behind us
deep in the heart of it all
As I bathe in the essence of the magical island
after eons of war and lifetimes
After a long-standing struggle and years of living
she smilin' and free, nothin' left but a cracking voice and a song, oh lord
The goddess is happy and unburdened, with just a frail voice left to sing praises
we would not face
In the same vein as an earlier phrase, we consciously avoid aspects of our reality
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHAD ALAN GRACEY, CHAD DAVID TAYLOR, EDWARD JOEL KOWALCZYK, PATRICK DAHLHEIMER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind