"Live Life" is a track from

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

' 1978 album, ''

Misfits MiSFiTS was the acronym for the ''Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy''. This organization has now changed its name to GPS, an acronym for Geek Partnership Society. It was founded in 1999 and was the parent non-profit org ...

''. The track was written by

' primary songwriter,

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the Rock music, rock band the Kinks, which he led, with his younger brother Dave Davies, Dave pro ...

About

The lyrics of the song, in a similar theme to many other tracks written by

, say that, no matter what's happening in the world, you must pick yourself up (since no one else is going to help you). The track also makes references to "the fascists and the left wing militants", "crooked politicians and the unemployment queues", and the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

, who, at the time, used illegal methods to attempt breaking away from Britain. The track also features Ron Lawrence playing bass guitar instead of

Andy Pyle Andy Pyle (born 15 July 1946) is a British bassist who is best known for playing with The Kinks from 1976 to 1978. Prior to that, he was in Blodwyn Pig (1968–1972) and Savoy Brown (1972–1974). Later, he played with Wishbone Ash (1986–19 ...

John Dalton John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist and meteorologist. He introduced the atomic theory into chemistry. He also researched Color blindness, colour blindness; as a result, the umbrella term ...

(the bassists that were members of the band at one point of the album's recording). Session drummer

Clem Cattini Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini (born 20 August 1937) is an English rock and roll drummer of the late 1950s and 60s, who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician. He is one of the most prolifi ...

performs drums.

Dave Davies's opinion

Dave Davies David Russell Gordon Davies ( '; born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, led by his older brother (and principal writer and singer) ...

has since praised the song on his Facebook account saying, "I love it - its one of my favorite tracks." He also praised Cattini's drums, saying, "Clem Cattini did a great job playing drums on this."

Release

"Live Life" had multiple appearances on

' records. It first appeared on ''

'', where it was the third track (except in Britain, where a longer version of the track was instead seventh in the running order). On the Remastered CD version of the album, however, the U.K. version of the album became the listing that was used, with the non-U.K. version of "Live Life" being added as a bonus track. To add, "Live Life" replaced "Artificial Light" as the B-side of the "

A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" is the lead single and fourth track from The Kinks' 1978 album '' Misfits''. Written by Ray Davies, the song was inspired by the band's then-tumultuous state at the time, with two members leaving the band during the re ...

" single in America. Then, on 14 July 1978, it was released as the second single from ''

'', backed with "In a Foreign Land" in Britain and " Black Messiah" in America. It didn't chart.

References

{{authority control 1978 songs The Kinks songs Songs written by Ray Davies Arista Records singles