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"Lightning Crashes"
Artwork for European retail releases
Single by Live
from the album Throwing Copper
Released	September 24, 1994
Recorded	1993
Genre	Alternative rock[1] post-grunge[2] pop rock[3]
Length	5:27
Label	Radioactive
Songwriter(s)	Live
Producer(s)	Jerry Harrison, Live
Live singles chronology
"I Alone" (1994) "Lightning Crashes" (1994) "All Over You" (1994)

"Lightning Crashes" is a song by American rock band Live. It was released in September 1994 as the third single from their second studio album, Throwing Copper. Although the track was not released as a single in the United States, it received enough radio airplay to peak at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart in 1995. The song also topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart for 10 weeks and the Modern Rock Tracks chart for nine weeks. Internationally, the song reached No. 3 in Canada, No. 8 in Iceland, and No. 13 in Australia.

Composition[edit]

The song is written in the key of C major but recorded a half step lower in B major.[4]

Song meaning[edit]

The band dedicated the song to a high school friend, Barbara Lewis, who was killed by a drunk driver in 1993.[5]

Lead singer Ed Kowalczyk said, "I wrote 'Lightning Crashes' on an acoustic guitar in my brother's bedroom shortly before I had moved out of my parents' house and gotten my first place of my own." Kowalczyk says that the video for "Lightning Crashes" has caused misinterpretations of the song's intent.

While the clip is shot in a home environment, I envisioned it taking place in a hospital, where all these simultaneous deaths and births are going on, one family mourning the loss of a woman while a screaming baby emerges from a young mother in another room. Nobody's dying in the act of childbirth, as some viewers think. What you're seeing is actually a happy ending based on a kind of transference of life.[6]

New York magazine described the band as "deeply mystical" and claimed that the song was, "The story of a...connection between an old lady dying and a new mother at the moment of giving birth."[7][8] Just a few years before, Kowalczyk discovered the writings of Indian spiritualist Jiddu Krishnamurti, whose philosophy of living life from a place of selflessness and humility influenced the singer’s songwriting process, as well as the band’s creative philosophy.[9]

Formats and track listings[edit]

All songs written by Live.

European single

1. "Lightning Crashes" [Edit] – 4:29
2. "Lightning Crashes" (Glastonbury '95) [Live] – 5:15
3. "The Beauty of Gray" (Bootleg Version) [Live] – 4:45

German single

1. "Lightning Crashes" [Edit] – 4:25
2. "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)" – 3:18
3. "Good Pain" – 5:39
4. "Heaven Wore a Shirt" – 3:38
5. "Negation" – 3:38

UK CD single 1 (RAXTD 23)

1. "Lightning Crashes" – 5:26
2. "The Beauty of Gray" (Bootleg Version) [Live] – 4:45
3. "T.B.D." (Acoustic Version) – 3:49

UK CD single 2 (RAXXD 23)

1. "Lightning Crashes" – 5:26
2. "Lightning Crashes" (Glastonbury '95) [Live] – 5:16
3. "White, Discussion" (Glastonbury '95) [Live] – 5:22

UK cassette single

1. "Lightning Crashes" – 5:26
2. "Lightning Crashes" (Glastonbury '95) [Live] – 5:16

Charts[edit]

In popular culture[edit]

"Lightning Crashes" was used at the end of episode 3 of Strange Luck, "Last Chance"[23]

"Lightning Crashes" was used in Part II of The OA.

"Lightning Crashes" was used at the beginning of the season 4 finale of One Tree Hill.[24]

"Lightning Crashes" was used prominently in the plot line, and consequently, the soundtrack, for the Netflix original film, Kodachrome, starring Jason Sudeikis and Elizabeth Olsen.[25]

References[edit]

1. ^ "100 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1994". Spin. August 18, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
2. ^ Erickson, Anne (February 21, 2015). "Live frontman Ed Kowalczyk celebrates 'Throwing Copper'". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
3. ^ Waldman, Scott (April 3, 2020). "10 Best Pop-Rock Songs of the '90s". Loudwire. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
4. ^ Live "Lightning Crashes" Sheet Music musicnotes.com
5. ^ "Lightning Crashes by Live". Songfacts. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
6. ^ Scarisbrick,John. "Lightning Strikes." Spin Magazine, June 1995, p. 52.
7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 25, 1998. Retrieved February 27, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. ^ Michael Hirschorn (September 1995), "[music]", New York, p. 35
9. ^ Healy, Ryan (September 24, 2021). "'Lightning Crashes': The Story Behind Live's Meditation On The Cycle Of Life". udiscovermusic. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
10. ^ "Live – Lightning Crashes". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
11. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9008." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
12. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (25.6. '95 – 1.7. '95)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). June 24, 1995. p. 26. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
13. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
14. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
15. ^ "Live Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
16. ^ "Live Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
17. ^ "Live Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
18. ^ "Live Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
19. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1995". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved August 13, 2016.
20. ^ "RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1995". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
21. ^ "Árslistinn 1995". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). January 2, 1996. p. 25. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
22. ^ "The Year in Music: Hot 100 Singles Airplay" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 107. December 23, 1995. p. Y-32. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
23. ^ "Strange Luck - Lightning Crashes - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
24. ^ "One Tree Hill Music – www.oth-music.com". www.oth-music.com. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
25. ^ "Kodachrome (2017) - IMDb". IMDb.

External links[edit]

• Official band website
• Music video on YouTube

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