Life (Our Lady Peace song)
Encyclopedia
"Life" is a song by Canadian rock
group Our Lady Peace
. It was the second single released from their fourth studio album, Spiritual Machines
and the most successful from that album. The song was nominated for "Best Single" at the 2002 Juno Awards, losing to Nickelback's "How You Remind Me
".
. While directly following the track "In Repair" on the studio album, on the band's 2006 compilation album, A Decade
, the track is immediately preceded by a spoken excerpt by Ray Kurzweil titled "R.K. Jack" that was recorded during the Spiritual Machines sessions and previously unreleased.
and the Craig Kilborn
Show. The song can also be briefly heard in Trailer Park Boys: The Movie in which J-Roc remixes the "do do do" part with his own rap.
, Maida said of the lyrics for "Life": "That song to me was such a simple premise. It's really about positive energy. Everybody deals with simple things that get people down, like money problems. You just have to deal with stuff and turn any negative energy into positive energy. That's the way to get through life."
's Mirabel Airport in January 2001, was never released due to the band's creative differences with the director.
Two versions of the Marcos Siega
directed music video for "Life" were released, one in the United States and the other for Canada. The Canadian version premiered on Muchmusic
on April 5, 2001 and hit #1 on the Muchmusic Countdown on August 3 of that year. It is the original and features the band playing in an all white room. Various scenes with distressed people are shown throughout the video. In the American version, released on April 20, 2001, the scenes with the people are cut out. Both videos begin with the Chinese representation of "Our Lady Peace" and the Chinese symbol for life which then appears to be painted on the side of Raine Maida's head.
Canadian rock
Canadian rock describes a wide and diverse variety of music produced by Canadians, beginning with American style rock 'n' roll in the mid-20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern popular music called rock...
group Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Headed by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band additionally consists of Jeremy Taggart on percussion, Duncan Coutts on bass, and Steve Mazur as lead guitarist...
. It was the second single released from their fourth studio album, Spiritual Machines
Spiritual Machines
Spiritual Machines is the fourth studio album by the Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released by Columbia Records in December 2000. Although not initially intended, the project evolved into a conceptual interpretation of futurist and inventor Raymond Kurzweil's 1999 book The Age of...
and the most successful from that album. The song was nominated for "Best Single" at the 2002 Juno Awards, losing to Nickelback's "How You Remind Me
How You Remind Me
"How You Remind Me" is a single from rock band Nickelback's 2001 album, Silver Side Up. A "Gold Mix" was made for latter editions of the single with the heavier guitars edited out of the chorus. This single would be the last rock single to be #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 until Maroon 5's song "Makes...
".
Song information
This song like the rest on the album, was partially inspired by Ray Kurzweil's book The Age of Spiritual MachinesThe Age of Spiritual Machines
The Age of Spiritual Machines is a book by futurist Ray Kurzweil about the future course of humanity, particularly relating to the development of artificial intelligence and its impact on human consciousness...
. While directly following the track "In Repair" on the studio album, on the band's 2006 compilation album, A Decade
A Decade
-See also:*Our Lady Peace discography*The Very Best of Our Lady Peace...
, the track is immediately preceded by a spoken excerpt by Ray Kurzweil titled "R.K. Jack" that was recorded during the Spiritual Machines sessions and previously unreleased.
Kurzweil narration (R.K. Jack)
The band has performed "Life" live on The Conan O'Brien ShowLate Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
and the Craig Kilborn
Craig Kilborn
Craig Kilborn is an American actor and talk show host. He was the original host of The Daily Show, a former anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter, and Tom Snyder's successor on CBS' The Late Late Show. On June 28, 2010, he launched The Kilborn File after a six-year absence from television...
Show. The song can also be briefly heard in Trailer Park Boys: The Movie in which J-Roc remixes the "do do do" part with his own rap.
Lyrics
In a 2001 interview in BillboardBillboard (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...
, Maida said of the lyrics for "Life": "That song to me was such a simple premise. It's really about positive energy. Everybody deals with simple things that get people down, like money problems. You just have to deal with stuff and turn any negative energy into positive energy. That's the way to get through life."
Music videos
The first video for "Life", shot at MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
's Mirabel Airport in January 2001, was never released due to the band's creative differences with the director.
Two versions of the Marcos Siega
Marcos Siega
Marcos Siega is a film, television, commercial, and music video director. He has also worked as a producer and a musician....
directed music video for "Life" were released, one in the United States and the other for Canada. The Canadian version premiered on Muchmusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
on April 5, 2001 and hit #1 on the Muchmusic Countdown on August 3 of that year. It is the original and features the band playing in an all white room. Various scenes with distressed people are shown throughout the video. In the American version, released on April 20, 2001, the scenes with the people are cut out. Both videos begin with the Chinese representation of "Our Lady Peace" and the Chinese symbol for life which then appears to be painted on the side of Raine Maida's head.
Australian CD Single
Epic EPK 6718742- "Life" - 4:23
- "Is Anybody Home?"
- "Clumsy (Live & Unreleased)" - 4:25
- "Car Crash (Live & Unreleased)" - 5:52