Top
Live Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning | Line by Line Meaning
What you are doing here
In the name of god and love
It's the distribution of fear
Pyramids healing wires analysts with fame
I haven't got your degree
And I forgot your name
Pick me up and put me on the ground
Set me up and spin me all around
No you are not the one I wish to see
This is not helping me at all
Where did we get this plan?
That you could give to me
What I might already have
Pyramids, healing wires, a musician's fame
I volunteered you my eyes
In place of facing me
Oh Hitler, in a robe of truth
My emptiness has built your altar
And I've worshiped myself in you forever
Until now!
The lyrics of the song Top by Live suggest a theme of disillusionment with the belief systems and institutions that have been built and propagated by society. The opening lines of the song express frustration with the idea that the distribution of fear is often disguised under the guise of religion and love. The use of pyramids and healing wires as symbols in the song could be referring to the practice of alternative medicine and pseudoscience that is marketed as a means of curing ailments.
The lyrics also touch upon the idea of fame and how it can be associated with success in society. The line "analysts with fame" could be referencing the prevalence of talk show hosts and media personalities who are promoted as experts in various fields despite not having the qualifications or expertise to back up their claims. The protagonist of the song appears to be questioning the legitimacy of these individuals and institutions.
Throughout the song, there is also a sense of frustration with the direction of society and how it has been steered towards a particular path. The line "where did we get this plan?" suggests that the protagonist feels lost and disconnected from the world around them. The song concludes with a powerful statement of self-realization where the protagonist rejects the idea of worshipping false idols such as Hitler and instead seeks to break free from the chains that have been holding them back.
Line by Line Meaning
This is not helping me at all
The current situation is not leading to any kind of positive outcome for me.
What you are doing here
Questioning the actions of the person causing the current situation.
In the name of god and love
The person causing the situation claims to be acting in the best interest of religion and affection.
It's the distribution of fear
The real motive behind the actions is the spread of fear and anxiety.
Pyramids healing wires analysts with fame
People with influence, such as spiritual leaders or medical professionals, are involved in the situation.
I haven't got your degree
The speaker is not qualified or educated like the people involved in the situation.
And I forgot your name
The speaker has forgotten the name of someone who contributes to the situation.
Pick me up and put me on the ground
The speaker wants a clear and stable understanding of the situation.
Set me up and spin me all around
The person causing the situation is manipulating and confusing the speaker.
No, you are not the one I wish to see
The speaker does not want to interact with the person causing the situation.
Where did we get this plan?
The speaker is questioning the origin of the situation.
That you could give to me
Asking for an explanation from the person causing the situation.
What I might already have
The speaker thinks they may have knowledge or understanding of the situation already.
A musician's fame
Celebrities or famous people are involved in the situation.
I volunteered you my eyes
The speaker trusted and relied on the person causing the situation for guidance and a better understanding.
In place of facing me
Rather than being honest and transparent with the speaker, the person causing the situation is avoiding them.
Oh Hitler, in a robe of truth
Comparing the person causing the situation to Hitler, who used lies and propaganda to manipulate people.
My emptiness has built your altar
The person causing the situation has taken advantage of the speaker's vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
And I've worshiped myself in you forever
The speaker has blindly followed and believed in the person causing the situation.
Until now!
The speaker is no longer willing to accept the situation and is ready to challenge it.
Lyrics © DistroKid, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHAD ALAN GRACEY, CHAD DAVID TAYLOR, EDWARD JOEL KOWALCZYK, PATRICK DAHLHEIMER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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!