The Living End got their first big break in 1995 when, after sending a t-shirt and a demo tape to Billie Joe Armstrong, they landed a support slot in Green Day's upcoming Australian tour. After the tour, the group went into the studio to record their debut EP Hellbound which received moderate support from community radio stations.
In November 1995, the band went back into the studio to record their second EP (It's for Your Own Good which they released several months later. This recording yielded their first major radio airplay with the song From Here On In, which was placed on high rotation on the youth radio network Triple J. Shortly after the release of the second EP, drummer Joe Piripitzi left the band and was replaced with Travis Dempsey who was soon playing with the band at major festivals such as Pushover and the Falls Festival. After a year touring Australia, The Living End again headed into the studio to record something new to sell at their now very popular shows. The result was the Second Solution / Prisoner of Society double single.
Prisoner of Society quickly became a national hit and the band signed on to Modular Recordings for the release of their debut self titled album, The Living End. The album was an instant hit with Australian audiences and resulted in six Australian singles (counting the "Second Solution" release as two because both songs received major airplay). The Living End became the second-highest-selling debut rock album in Australian music history, now five times platinum.
The Roll On album in 2000 was a more creative work, but did not manage to achieve the status of their earlier album. Cheney later stated that he was trying to prove to critics that The Living End were not a band simply defined by their hit Prisoner of Society, and the album showed this by displaying other influences, as well as their traditional fast-paced rockabilly music. The album even garnered comparison, by a few critics, to seminal punk band The Clash's creative breakthrough, London Calling.
The band hit a quiet period after that during which Chris Cheney had a tragic car accident on the Great Ocean Road, rendering him unable to play for a significant period of time. He had been on the road to the house of a member of fellow Australian band Bodyjar.
In 2003, after Chris's recovery and with new drummer Andy Strachan, the band made a comeback, releasing One Said to the Other, Who's Gonna Save Us? and getting air play once again. This was followed by heavy touring (including Big Day Out) and a release of Modern ARTillery.
In late 2004, the band has released a singles collection From Here on In: The Singles 1997-2004 as well as a DVD, which included all video clips and a "supergig", collections of the band's most famous songs performed in Australia, Japan and the USA. The DVD also features the band's history- documented in interviews and home footage.
Recently, Chris performed at the 2004 ARIA awards as part of the supergroup The Wrights, featuring members of many other Australian rock bands.
Chris Cheney and Scott Owen have won the Best Guitarist and Best Bassist awards for 2004 and 2005, in the Jack Awards.
The band performs regularly in Melbourne, one performance recently was for the Channel V Music Bus at Federation Square Melbourne, Australia (15th of December 2005) which saw a capacity crowd of between 4,500 and 5,000 people attend. The event saw many under 18's get the chance to see their idols for free, and for a lucky few, the chance to sing with Chris Cheney, unplanned of course.
The Living End's fourth album, titled State of Emergency, was released on February 4 2006 and was recorded in Byron Bay after they played in the Splendour in the Grass festival. They had finished the recording and the artwork for State of Emergency in mid December 2005. The single "What's on Your Radio was released on November 20, 2005, and debuted at #9 on the ARIA singles chart. The second single, "Wake Up" was released on February 19 and debuted at #5 on the ARIA singles chart. The group is currently signed to Adeline Records, owned and run by Billie Joe and Adrianne Armstrong.
In 2008 The Living End released their fifth studio album titled as White Noise, showing more hard rock influenced sound of The Living End. First single from the album was a double A-side single White Noise/How Do We Know which was released physically and digitally 5 July 2008. The second single Moment in the Sun was released 25 October 2008. The third single, Raise the Alarm, was released 22 December 2008. In 2009 The Living End started the Raise the Alarm Tour.
Heatwave
The Living End Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Above the sky is turning red
Pray that there will be a cool change
Before we all go up in flames
This is a desert land,
Where the sun burns on the sand
Will it ever rain?
But he don't need to tell me what I already know
And you wait and you wait and you wait
This is a heatwave
'Cause you can't get away, get away
This is a heatwave
This is a heatwave
This is a heatwave
Dark clouds threatening to break down
Faces hiding in the shade
Lightening twisted up like wire
Minor birds falling out of the sky
A nation melting in the sun
This is a desert land,
Where the sun burns on the sand
Will it ever rain?
The weatherman says it's getting hotter
But he don't need to tell me what I already know
And you wait and you wait and you wait
This is a heatwave
'Cause you can't get away, get away
This is a heatwave
A heatwave
A heatwave
A heatwave
A heatwave
I'm not waiting for the heat to drop, yeah!
And I'm not waiting for the bomb to drop, yeah!
Times up now too late what have you got?
And you wait and you wait and you wait
This is a heatwave
'Cause you can't get away, get away
This is a heatwave
And you wait and you wait and you wait
This is a heatwave
'Cause you can't get away, get away
This is a heatwave
This is a heatwave
This is a heatwave
Whoa
The Living End's song Heatwave is a powerful commentary on the extreme weather conditions in Australia, particularly in the desert areas where the sun beats down relentlessly on the ground. The opening line "The hot ground burns the soles of my feet" sets the tone for the song and conveys the intensity of the heatwave. The sky turning red and the threat of flames suggests that the situation is dire and urgent. The singer prays for a cool change, a sudden drop in temperature that would bring relief from the heat. The chorus echoes the powerlessness of people in the midst of a heatwave, unable to escape its grip, waiting for it to pass.
The second verse describes the ominous signs of an impending storm - dark clouds, lightning, and birds falling from the sky. The phrase "a nation melting in the sun" brings home the scale of the problem and its impact on people's lives. The bridge of the song suggests that waiting for the heat to drop or the bomb to drop (a metaphor for a catastrophic event) is not an option. Time is running out, and action needs to be taken.
Line by Line Meaning
The hot ground burns the soles of my feet
The ground is so hot that it is causing severe burning on the soles of my feet
Above the sky is turning red
The sky is turning red as if it's on fire
Pray that there will be a cool change
Hoping for some drop in temperature that will bring some relief from the heat
Before we all go up in flames
The extreme heat can cause a fire hazard, which might lead to destruction of all living beings
This is a desert land,
The place where the song is set is a barren desert
Where the sun burns on the sand
The sun shines with immense heat on the desert sand
Will it ever rain?
There is hardly any hope for rain in such a dry and arid place
The weatherman says it's getting hotter
The person responsible for weather forecasting warns about the increasing temperature
But he don't need to tell me what I already know
The heat is so intense that anyone can feel its impact without the need for a weather forecast
And you wait and you wait and you wait
Waiting for some respite from the heat, which seems never-ending
This is a heatwave
The extreme condition of heat that refuses to subside
'Cause you can't get away, get away
Escaping from the heat and getting away from the location is not an option
Dark clouds threatening to break down
Clouds that appear to signal rain are building up, but they might not last long enough to break and pour down water
Faces hiding in the shade
People's faces are hidden in the shade as they try to avoid sunburn
Lightening twisted up like wire
A metaphorical representation of how the lightning appears to be so severe and damaging, like barbed wire
Minor birds falling out of the sky
The intense heat is responsible for the death of small birds that fall from the sky
A nation melting in the sun
The whole nation and its people are struggling to cope with the relentless heat of the sun
I'm not waiting for the heat to drop, yeah!
The singer is unwilling to simply wait for the heat to go away, instead of actively trying to do something about it
And I'm not waiting for the bomb to drop, yeah!
The singer is not waiting for any sort of apocalypse or disaster to strike, but rather facing the present situation of extreme heat
Times up now too late what have you got?
Time is running out, and it might be too late to make any changes to save the situation
This is a heatwave
Repeated reference to the intense and unrelenting condition of heat
Whoa
An exclamation of feeling overwhelmed by the situation
Contributed by Mia W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
purplecatinabox
One of my favourites on the new album! :D Love the riff.
TLERocker
Sounds great live! Nice one boys!
Maybellini
One of my favs from the Safety Matches gigs, and the album. It's just one of those that's gonna go off live... :D
Bernie Zelvis
I worked on this. Was an awesome gig, the drum camera was breaking up but it only made things better!
ford811
thankyou for your service
TonyJ86
Awesome!!! Thanks for uploading! I was at the gig that night so I havn't seen these live videos yet. Will the rest be uploaded?
theidey
From an ex tour manager: FIRST, not having your backup guitarist in fron with everyone is fine. He is a backing guitarist. TLE is the 3 guys. Adding a rhythm guit adds complexity and more power to guitar driven songs. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. You can only do so much with one guitar.
ford811
great riff
Craig Palmer
Luv this song
James E
Incredible