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!
Where Do We Go From Here?
Live Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wanted a hurricane, you gave me a breeze
I wanted to run, made me stand there and breathe
I wanted to dream, you made me sleep
I wanted to touch the bottom, but it was too deep
I wanted a revolution, you said I was already free
Oh, yeah
Now the day is gone
How do we face our fears
With nothing in our hearts, baby?
Where do we go from here?
Now the night has come
I wanted to touch your mind and your heart
I wanted to find a new place to start
I wanted to kiss your every part
Oh, yeah
So baby, don't leave me now as you turn to the flag
They get shot through the holes, but you're still alive
Like you're too close to death to ever really die
Oh, yeah
Where do we go from here?
Now the day is gone
How do we face our fears
With nothing in our hearts, baby?
Where do we go from here?
Now the night has come
How do we face our fears
With nothing in our hearts?
Nothing
Why won't you listen to me?
I never meant you no harm
I only wanted to be free
All I want is to be free
Where do we go from here?
Now the day is gone
How do we face our fears
With nothing in our hearts, baby?
Where do we go from here?
Now the night has come
How do we face our fears?
Oh, yeah
Where do we go?
Where do we go?
Where do we go?
Where do we go?
Where do we go?
Where do we go?
The lyrics to Live's song Where Do We Go From Here? suggest a feeling of uncertainty and confusion in a relationship that seems to have lost direction. The singer describes feeling frustrated because they were seeking something big and powerful, but instead ended up with something much smaller and more manageable. They wanted a mountain or a hurricane, but instead were given a sea or a breeze. The use of nature as metaphor highlights the singer's desire for something grand and uncontainable, but they were given something calmer and more contained.
The chorus of the song is a plea for direction and guidance, as the singer asks "Where do we go from here?" They acknowledge that the day has passed and the night has come, indicating that they have been struggling with this sense of directionlessness for some time. They also recognize that there is "nothing in our hearts," suggesting a lack of passion or feeling that may have contributed to the relationship's decline.
The second verse seems to focus on the singer's desire for intimacy and connection with their partner. They wanted to touch their mind and heart and find a new place to start, but these desires may not have been fulfilled. The line "baby, don't leave me now as you turn to the flag" is unclear in meaning, but it could suggest that the partner is turning to something external, like patriotism or nationalism, instead of focusing on the relationship. The rest of the verse suggests that the partner has survived something traumatic (being shot through the holes), but still might not be fully present in the relationship because they are too close to death.
Overall, the lyrics to Where Do We Go From Here? suggest a relationship that is struggling to find direction and feeling, despite the singer's best efforts to cultivate connection and meaning. It's not entirely clear what has caused this sense of distance, but the singer seems to be pleading for guidance and a renewed sense of purpose.
Line by Line Meaning
I wanted a mountain, you gave me a sea
I had high expectations, but you didn't meet them
I wanted a hurricane, you gave me a breeze
I wanted something intense, but you gave me something mild
I wanted to run, made me stand there and breathe
I wanted to be active, but you forced me to take a break
I wanted to dream, you made me sleep
I wanted to be imaginative, but you made me rest
I wanted to touch the bottom, but it was too deep
I wanted to go as far as possible, but it was beyond my limits
I wanted a revolution, you said I was already free
I wanted change, but you said I didn't need it
Where do we go from here?
Now the day is gone
How do we face our fears
With nothing in our hearts, baby?
What's our next move with nothing inspiring us?
I wanted to touch your mind and your heart
I wanted to find a new place to start
I wanted to kiss your every part
Oh, yeah
I wanted to connect with you, start fresh, and love every aspect of you
So baby, don't leave me now as you turn to the flag
They get shot through the holes, but you're still alive
Like you're too close to death to ever really die
Oh, yeah
Don't leave me now, even though you've been through so much and still survive like you're invincible
Why won't you listen to me?
I never meant you no harm
I only wanted to be free
All I want is to be free
I want to be heard, but I have no ill intentions, just a desire for freedom
Where do we go?
Where do we go?
Where do we go?
Where do we move forward to?
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: EDWARD JOEL KOWALCZYK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kieran O'Doherty
I'm shocked when I noticed not alot of people have heard or appreciate the brilliance which is LIVE before. The lyrics are so well written and meaningful. Ed Kowalczyk is a legend!
Spirited Woman
Wow, I'm blown away by this song! I swear the best songs can be found by accident. Came here searching for an 80's end of the New Wave era song with the lyric line "where do we go from here" in it but don't think its the title. This is going on my "Hot Damn" playlist.
Danny Hite
Fuck yes
Joseph Naps
The EK show featuring some band hidden collectively behind a glass cage.
Joseph Naps
@gckbowers411 Oh they weren't physically hiding
gckbowers411
how do you hide behind glass
Troels Bjørn Pedersen
Dis are the Best album of the year
saosen1988
sounds like R.E.M
Joseph Naps
3:20 a little too Bang and Blame