Lightning Crashes
Encyclopedia
"Lightning Crashes" is a song by the rock band Live
, from their 1994 album, Throwing Copper
.
The track wasn't released as a single in the US, but received enough radio airplay to peak at #12 on the Billboard
Hot 100 Airplay
chart in 1995. The song also topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks (10 weeks) and Hot Modern Rock Tracks (9 weeks) charts. The song was also a top 40 hit in the UK, where the single was released in several different formats.
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."
Live (band)
Live is an American rock band from York, Pennsylvania, composed of Chad Taylor , Patrick Dahlheimer , and Chad Gracey . Lead singer and principal songwriter Ed Kowalczyk left the band in November 2009....
, from their 1994 album, Throwing Copper
Throwing Copper
-Outtakes and B-sides:*"Hold Me Up"*"Susquehanna"*"We Deal in Dreams" -Album:-End-of-decade charts:-Singles:-Personnel:*Ed Kowalczyk: Vocals, Rhythm Guitar*Chad Taylor: Lead Guitar, Backing Vocal...
.
The track wasn't released as a single in the US, but received enough radio airplay to peak at #12 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100 Airplay
Hot 100 Airplay
The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard...
chart in 1995. The song also topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks (10 weeks) and Hot Modern Rock Tracks (9 weeks) charts. The song was also a top 40 hit in the UK, where the single was released in several different formats.
Song meaning
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.New York Magazine
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
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."
European single
- "Lightning Crashes" [Edit] – 4:29
- "Lightning Crashes" (Glastonbury '95) [Live] – 5:15
- "The Beauty of Gray" (BootlegBootleg recordingA bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
Version) [Live] – 4:45
German single
- "Lightning Crashes" [Edit] – 4:25
- "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)" – 3:18
- "Good Pain" – 5:39
- "Heaven Wore a Shirt" – 3:38
- "Negation" – 3:38
U.K. CD single 1 (RAXTD 23)
- "Lightning Crashes" – 5:26
- "The Beauty of Gray" (Bootleg Version) [Live] – 4:45
- "T.B.D." (Acoustic Version) – 3:49
U.K. CD single 2 (RAXXD 23)
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U.K. cassette single
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Charts
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
13 |
| Canadian RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... Singles Chart |
3 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
33 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |