Lightning Crashes

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1994 single by Live

title: "Lightning Crashes" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["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"] description: "1994 single by Live" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_Crashes" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1994 single by Live ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

FieldValue
nameLightning Crashes
coverlive_lightning_crashes.png
captionArtwork for European retail releases
typesingle
artistLive
albumThrowing Copper
released
* Alternative rock{{cite webdate
* {{nowrappost-grunge{{cite web
* pop rock{{cite weblast
labelRadioactive
writerLive
prev_titleI Alone
prev_year1994
next_titleAll Over You
next_year1995
misc{{External music video
typesingle
headerMusic videos
1
::

| name = Lightning Crashes | cover = live_lightning_crashes.png | alt = | caption = Artwork for European retail releases | type = single | artist = Live | album = Throwing Copper | released = | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre =

"Lightning Crashes" is a song by the American rock band Live. It was serviced to US radio 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.

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 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. ::quote 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 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, 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. The identity of the female backing vocalist remains unknown.

Track listings

All songs were written by Live. Australian CD single

  1. "Lightning Crashes" (edit) – 4:24
  2. "The Dam at Otter Creek" (bootleg) – 5:35
  3. "Selling the Drama" (bootleg) – 3:35

European CD single

  1. "Lightning Crashes" (edit) – 4:26
  2. "Lightning Crashes" (live at Glastonbury '95) – 5:21

European maxi-CD single

  1. "Lightning Crashes" (edit) – 4:26
  2. "Lightning Crashes" (live at Glastonbury '95) – 5:21
  3. "The Beauty of Gray" (bootleg, live on tour in late 1994) – 4:43 UK CD1
  4. "Lightning Crashes" – 5:25
  5. "The Beauty of Gray" (bootleg version, live on tour in late 1994) – 4:44
  6. "T.B.D." (acoustic version) – 3:49

UK CD2

  1. "Lightning Crashes" – 5:25
  2. "Lightning Crashes" (live at Glastonbury '95) – 5:16
  3. "White, Discussion" (live at Glastonbury '95) – 5:22

UK cassette single

  1. "Lightning Crashes" – 5:25
  2. "Lightning Crashes" (live at Glastonbury '95) – 5:16

Charts

Weekly charts

::data[format=table title="Weekly chart performance for "Lightning Crashes""] | Chart (1994–1995) | Peak position | Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40) | Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade) | Quebec Airplay (ADISQ) | |---|---|---|---|---| | 8 | | | | | | 13 | | | | | | 45 | | | | | ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table title="Year-end chart performance for "Lightning Crashes""]

Chart (1995)PositionAustralia (ARIA)Canada Top Singles (RPM)Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)US Hot 100 Airplay (Billboard)US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard)US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)US Top 40/Mainstream (Billboard)
72
31
64
30
2
6
22
::

Certifications

Release history

::data[format=table title="Release dates and formats for "Lightning Crashes""]

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref.United StatesAustraliaEuropeUnited Kingdom
September 1994RadioRadioactive
June 26, 1995CD
January 2, 1996CD
::

In popular culture

"Lightning Crashes" was used at the end of episode 3 of Strange Luck, "Last Chance". It was also used at the beginning of the season 4 finale of One Tree Hill, as well as the Yellowjackets (TV series) episode "Burial". It was featured in the 2017 film Kodachrome and is included as a track on its soundtrack album. The song is also sung by Noah Reid in the second season of Outer Range.

References

References

  1. (August 18, 2014). "100 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1994".
  2. Erickson, Anne. (February 21, 2015). "Live frontman Ed Kowalczyk celebrates 'Throwing Copper'".
  3. Graves, Wren. (May 20, 2024). "50 Best Post-Grunge Songs".
  4. Waldman, Scott. (April 3, 2020). "10 Best Pop-Rock Songs of the '90s".
  5. Johnson, Josh. (June 3, 2021). "Shinedown named number-one artist on 'Billboard's' 40th anniversary Mainstream Rock chart".
  6. "Greatest of All Time Mainstream Rock Songs".
  7. Rutherford, Kevin. (September 7, 2023). "Alternative Airplay Chart's 35th Anniversary: Foo Fighters Remain No. 1 Act, 'Monsters' New Top Song".
  8. "Greatest of All Time Alternative Songs".
  9. "Lightning Crashes by Live". Songfacts.
  10. Scarisbrick, John. "Lightning Strikes." ''Spin Magazine'', June 1995, p. 52.
  11. White, Timothy. "Lightning Strikes".
  12. Michael Hirschorn. (September 1995). "[music]".
  13. Healy, Ryan. (September 24, 2021). "'Lightning Crashes': The Story Behind Live's Meditation on the Cycle of Life". [[UDiscover Music]].
  14. "Lightning Crashes by Live @ Song Key Finder".
  15. (1995). "Lightning Crashes". [[Radioactive Records]].
  16. (1995). "Lightning Crashes". Radioactive Records.
  17. (1995). "Lightning Crashes". Radioactive Records.
  18. (1995). "Lightning Crashes". Radioactive Records.
  19. (1995). "Lightning Crashes". Radioactive Records.
  20. (1995). "Lightning Crashes". Radioactive Records.
  21. (June 24, 1995). "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (25.6. '95 – 1.7. '95)". [[DV (newspaper).
  22. "Tipparade-lijst van week 2, 1996". [[Dutch Top 40]].
  23. "Palmarès de la chanson anglophone et allophone au Québec". [[Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
  24. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1995". [[Australian Recording Industry Association.
  25. "RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1995".
  26. (January 2, 1996). "Árslistinn 1995". Dagblaðið Vísir.
  27. (December 23, 1995). "The Year in Music: Hot 100 Singles Airplay".
  28. (December 23, 1995). "The Year in Music: Hot Album Rock Tracks".
  29. (December 23, 1995). "The Year in Music: Hot Modern Rock Tracks".
  30. (December 15, 1995). "The Year in Music 1995: Top 40/Mainstream Top Titles".
  31. "Strange Luck - Lightning Crashes - YouTube". [[YouTube]].
  32. "One Tree Hill Music – www.oth-music.com".
  33. "'Yellowjackets' Season 2 Soundtrack".
  34. "Kodachrome (Music From The Netflix Original Film".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1994-singles1994-songslive-(band)-songsmusic-videos-directed-by-jake-scott-(director)radioactive-records-singlessong-recordings-produced-by-jerry-harrisonsongs-about-death