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!
Mystery
Live Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My inhibitions, they fall like the weight from a stone
You lead my heart away like a homeless, dusted fool
Somehow this dime store ring still shines like a diamond to you
Oh, how it deepens
Oh, how it deepens
Keeps on turnin' me on
Your mystery
Thought I knew the rules, thought I held it in my hand
Thought I was bulletproof till the blood pooled up in the sand
Are you a satellite, a shooting star or a dove?
Did we put you way up there or did God send you down from above?
Oh, how it deepens
Oh, how it deepens
Your mystery
Keeps on turnin' me on
Your mystery
Burns me up like the sun
Your mystery
Mine eyes have seen the glory of a love that does transcend
Mine eyes have seen the worst inside of man
And fear is like a fallen bridge broken from an edge
And the proof is in the bloodshot eyes of the one who failed to see
The lyrics to Live's song Mystery explore the powerful and unpredictable nature of love. The first verse depicts the singer as being unarmed and vulnerable, with his defenses lowered in the presence of the person he loves. He is amazed at how this person has the ability to charm and woo him, despite their flaws and shortcomings. The second verse touches on the singer's belief that he understood the game of love, but has now been proven wrong as his heart is exposed and bleeding. The chorus emphasizes the central theme of the song by highlighting how the mystery of this person's character and intentions is both alluring and dangerous.
The third verse is particularly poignant as it touches on the darker aspects of love. The singer reflects on how he has experienced the best and the worst of humanity through his relationship. He acknowledges how fear and uncertainty can cause one's world to crumble and how the consequences of failing to recognize the true nature of someone can be catastrophic.
Overall, the lyrics to Mystery are a meditation on the complexity and fragility of the human heart, and how love can both empower and destroy us.
Line by Line Meaning
My ammunition won't load into my gun
I am ill-prepared to fight for your love.
My inhibitions, they fall like the weight from a stone
You make me feel liberated and unburdened.
You lead my heart away like a homeless, dusted fool
I follow you blindly even though I'm lost and vulnerable.
Somehow this dime store ring still shines like a diamond to you
You perceive me and my feelings with much more value than others do.
Oh, how it deepens
My love for you grows stronger.
Your mystery
Your enigmatic identity and allure.
Keeps on turnin' me on
You keep me constantly fascinated and enamored.
Thought I knew the rules, thought I held it in my hand
I thought I had control over things until I met you.
Thought I was bulletproof till the blood pooled up in the sand
I was overconfident until I faced adversities and heartbreaks.
Are you a satellite, a shooting star or a dove?
I can't comprehend if you are a mystical or natural gift.
Did we put you way up there or did God send you down from above?
I can't fathom whether you were my own creation or divine providence.
Burns me up like the sun
Your mystery entices and excites me like nothing else does and scorches me like the blazing sun.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of a love that does transcend
I have experienced a profound and powerful love.
Mine eyes have seen the worst inside of man
I have also seen the darkest side of humanity and its flaws.
And fear is like a fallen bridge broken from an edge
The fear we encounter is like a broken bridge ruined from the edge.
And the proof is in the bloodshot eyes of the one who failed to see
The result is evident in the eyes of someone who has failed to see life for what it is.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: EDWARD JOEL KOWALCZYK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Allure810
Love Live! Love this song!
liverocks62
love the lyrics
Mark Hudson
From the the band that keeps on giving! Love their music!
B. O'pal
10 years on and this song still makes me cry. I love my wife so much.
gonças Nuno
just great....one of my favorite bands since child!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Joy van den Berg
great song, great band :)
Denalynnnful
Awesome always liked this one
AzTriCaL
Awesome!
Cara Mason
Beautiful
Pieter Heijnen
Wow.