"So Alive" is a song by British

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band Love and Rockets, released in 1989 as the second single from their self-titled fourth album. The song reached 1 in Canada and charted within the top 30 in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. In the US, it topped 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 ...

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 five weeks and was ranked No. 1 on that listing's year-end chart for 1989. The song's music video was directed by

Howard Greenhalgh Howard Douglas Greenhalgh (born 19 February 1963) is a British director of music videos and advertising. Biography Greenhalgh was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire and studied at the Royal College of Art, setting up the firm Why No ...

and produced by Pamela James.

Background

At a party one Saturday night, singer Daniel Ash saw a beautiful woman with long brown hair on the other side of a dark, shadowy room. He didn't go talk to her because he was married, but he was infatuated for the rest of the weekend. "It was like I'd known her in a different lifetime or something. It was just this thing that hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't stop thinking about her," he said. On Monday, he took a bottle of whiskey into the basement of

Blackwing Studios Blackwing Studios was an English recording studio in South East (London sub region), south-east London most notable for early 1980s recording by Depeche Mode and Yazoo (band), Yazoo. Background The Blackwing Studios complex was housed inside a d ...

in London, and put together chords and lyrics about the woman in 45 minutes. His bandmates provided bass and drums. Inspired by " Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed, the band brought in female backing singers the next day, and finished the song in under 24 hours.

Critical reception

'' magazine described "So Alive" as "delectable" as well as the "best T. Rex tune that

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex (band), T. Rex. Bolan strongly i ...

never wrote." Ned Raggett of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that the song was the only track on the album capable of receiving airplay and also noted the T. Rex similarities.

Chart performance

The single was Love and Rockets' biggest hit in the United States, peaking at No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 1 on the ''Billboard''

chart, where it stayed for five weeks, as well as achieving a peak of No. 9 on 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. It was the most successful

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

song of 1989 in the United States, ranking in at No. 1 on the chart's year-end edition. The song peaked at No. 1 on Canada's ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Singles chart for two weeks, finishing 1989 as Canada's sixth-best-performing single. "So Alive" also reached No. 79 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 24 on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

, and No. 16 on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

Track listings

* UK, US, and Canadian 7-inch single : UK and Canadian 12-inch single : UK and US cassette single :A. "So Alive" – 4:18 (4:15 in North America) :B. "Dreamtime" – 8:42 (8:40 in North America) * UK CD single # "So Alive" – 3:48 # "Dreamtime" – 8:42 # "Motorcycle" – 3:32 # "Bike" – 3:46 * European and Australasian 7-inch single :A. "So Alive" – 4:15 :B. "Bike" – 3:56 (3:46 in Australasia) * European and Australian 12-inch single :A1. "So Alive" – 4:15 :B1. "Bike" – 3:56 (3:46 in Australia) :B2. "Dreamtime" – 8:40

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs Beggars Banquet Records singles British dance-pop songs Funk rock songs Love and Rockets (band) songs Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh RCA Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Daniel Ash