Lightning Crashes
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Lightning Crashes" is a song by American rock band
Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...
. It was released in June 1995 as the third single from their second studio album, ''
Throwing Copper ''Throwing Copper'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Live, released on April 26, 1994, on former MCA Records subsidiary Radioactive Records. It was produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and was recorded at Pac ...
''. Although the track was not released as a single in the United States, it received enough radio airplay to peak at 12 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until July 1993) is released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout the United States ...
chart in 1995. The song also topped the ''Billboard''
Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...
chart for 10 weeks and the
Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...
chart for nine weeks. Internationally, the song reached No. 3 in Canada, No. 8 in Iceland, and No. 13 in Australia. In 2021, ''Billboard'' ranked "Lightning Crashes" as the 70th-biggest hit in the history of the Mainstream Rock chart; the same publication ranked the song as the 22nd-biggest hit in the history of Alternative Airplay two years later.


Song meaning

The band dedicated the song to a high-school friend, Barbara Lewis, who was killed by a drunk driver in 1993. Lead singer
Ed Kowalczyk Edward Joel Kowalczyk (; ; born July 16, 1971)"Edward Kowalczyk IMDb entry"
''Inte ...
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.
''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
'' 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." Just a few years before, Kowalczyk discovered the writings of Indian spiritualist
Jiddu Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti ( ; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was an Indian Philosophy, philosopher, speaker, writer, and Spirituality, spiritual figure. Adopted by members of the Theosophy, Theosophical tradition as a child, he was raised to fill ...
, 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.


Composition

The song is written in the key of
B major B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its enharmonic equi ...
. The identity of the female backing vocalist remains unknown.


Track listings

All songs were written by Live. Australian CD single # "Lightning Crashes" (edit) – 4:24 # "The Dam at Otter Creek" (bootleg) – 5:35 # " Selling the Drama" (bootleg) – 3:35 European CD single # "Lightning Crashes" (edit) – 4:26 # "Lightning Crashes" (live at
Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...
'95) – 5:21 European maxi-CD single # "Lightning Crashes" (edit) – 4:26 # "Lightning Crashes" (live at Glastonbury '95) – 5:21 # "The Beauty of Gray" (bootleg, live on tour in late 1994) – 4:43 UK CD1 # "Lightning Crashes" – 5:25 # "The Beauty of Gray" (bootleg version, live on tour in late 1994) – 4:44 # "T.B.D." (acoustic version) – 3:49 UK CD2 # "Lightning Crashes" – 5:25 # "Lightning Crashes" (live at Glastonbury '95) – 5:16 # "White, Discussion" (live at Glastonbury '95) – 5:22 UK cassette single # "Lightning Crashes" – 5:25 # "Lightning Crashes" (live at Glastonbury '95) – 5:16


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Release history


In popular culture

"Lightning Crashes" was used at the end of episode 3 of ''
Strange Luck ''Strange Luck'' is an American television series that aired on Fox, created by Karl Schaefer and starring D. B. Sweeney in the role of Chance Harper who constantly stumbles into unusual situations. The series aired on Fox from 1995 to 1996. A ...
'', "Last Chance". It was also used at the beginning of the
season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...
finale of '' One Tree Hill'', as well as the ''
Yellowjackets (TV series) ''Yellowjackets'' is an American Thriller film, thriller Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson. It premiered on Showtime (TV network), Showtime on November 14, 2021. The series follows t ...
'' episode "Burial". It was featured in the 2017 film ''
Kodachrome Kodachrome is the brand name for a color reversal film introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1935. It was one of the first successful color materials and was used for both cinematography and still photography. For many years, Kodachrome was widely used ...
'' and is included as a track on its soundtrack album. The song is also sung by
Noah Reid Noah Nicholas Reid (born May 29, 1987) is a Canadian-American actor and musician, best known for his work on the television series ''Franklin'' and ''Schitt's Creek''. In 2016, he received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Original Song ...
in the second season of ''
Outer Range ''Outer Range'' is an American science fiction neo-Western television series created by Brian Watkins. It features an ensemble cast that includes Josh Brolin, Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor, Tom Pelphrey, Tamara Podemski and Lewis Pullman. The ser ...
''.


References


External links


Official band website
* {{Authority control 1994 singles 1994 songs Live (band) songs Music videos directed by Jake Scott (director) Radioactive Records singles Song recordings produced by Jerry Harrison Songs about death