Alive (P.O.D. song)

"Alive"
Single by P.O.D.
from the album Satellite
Released July 4, 2001 (2001-07-04)
Format CD single, Cassette single
Recorded 2001 at Bay 7 in Valley Village, California and Sparky Dark in Calabasas, California
Genre Nu metal
Length 3:23
Label Atlantic
Writer(s) P.O.D.
Producer(s) Howard Benson
P.O.D.
P.O.D. singles chronology
"School of Hard Knocks"
(2000)		 "Alive"
(2001)		 "Youth of the Nation"
(2001)

"Alive" is a song by P.O.D.. It was released in July 2001 as the lead single from their second major label studio album Satellite. It is arguably the band's most popular song and serves as an anthem of celebrating God. The "Alive" CD single was first released in 2001 and then again in 2002 with alternative cover art and tracks. A semi-acoustic remix was included as a bonus track on the special edition re-release of Satellite available August 27, 2002.

Background

The song debuted just prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks and benefited by offering a positive message during hard times.[1] As such, "Alive" went on to become one of MTV's and MTV2's most played videos of 2001 and became a huge pop hit. Guitarist Marcos Curiel mentioned the song's relevance in a 2008 interview: "There's just way too much negativity going on in our everyday lives. When you can hear something that's going to uplift you like 'Alive' or something that's going to bring out knowledge like 'Youth of the Nation,' we've done our jobs as an artist. We're trying to be relevant with the people."[2]

Vocalist Sonny Sandoval stated, "We didn't have a name for it, but we were calling it 'Beautiful' because it made us feel beautiful. And that drove the direction of the lyrical content, because we wanted people to go, 'Hey, this makes me feel good.' We recorded the chorus I don't know how many times, because it was like, 'Let's take it up a notch. Let's take it higher.'"[3]

Music video

Directed by Francis Lawrence with special effects by Pixel Envy, the "Alive" video made its television debut on August 20, 2001. It boasts a massive car wreck filmed under a freeway intersection in the San Fernando Valley in the summer of 2001. Lawrence had conceived the idea years prior but was unsuccessful in pitching it to bands. Upon filming "Alive," Lawrence stated "I'm so glad I didn't get those jobs, because this was so perfect." His idea developed further upon shooting the video by focusing on a wild day in the life of a teenager. Lawrence elaborate:

"I've done emotional videos before, but having kid stuff like – surfing, skating, making out – plus the visual punch of the car accident. It packs it all."

Lawrence also modified scenes from his original concept; the boy is shown emerging from the demolished car unscathed rather than not appearing at all, and he makes out with his girlfriend in a train tunnel rather than implying sex in a bedroom as Lawrence previously envisioned. All of the effects and work behind "Alive" were detailed in a retrospective MTV article in August 2002.[4][5]

While it did not win any, "Alive" was one of the most nominated videos at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony. However, it did win two other awards in addition to the five VMA nominations. The video was also No. 2 on TVU's 50 Best Videos of All Time list.[6]

An interesting note: in the video, the main character (driving the car), is wearing a "Mopar" T-shirt, and is driving 1966 Dodge Dart 2 door.

Performances

When the song became the most requested video on TRL in September 2001, rather than simply having the video aired, P.O.D. performed a live, hour-long set at Battery Park. This was despite Sandoval's battling a severe cold.[7]

The song was performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 5, 2001. It was originally planned for the prior month but rescheduled due to the September 11 attacks.[8]

Not including encores, "Alive" typically ends P.O.D.'s concert setlist.[9]

Track listing

First edition

  1. Alive
  2. Lie Down (Demo)
  3. Sabbath*

Second edition

  1. Alive (Album version)
  2. School of Hard Knocks (Non-LP)
  3. Lie Down (Demo-non-LP)
  4. Alive (Video)

Chart and sales

Chart (2001–2002) Peak
position
scope="row"Australia (ARIA)[10] 18
scope="row"Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[11] 11
scope="row"Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12] 40
scope="row"Denmark (Tracklisten)[13] 7
scope="row"Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[14] 9
scope="row"Germany (Official German Charts)[15] 16
Ireland (IRMA)[16] 15
scope="row"Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[17] 37
scope="row"New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[18] 42
scope="row"Norway (VG-lista)[19] 14
scope="row"Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 12
scope="row"Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 51
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[22] 19
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[23] 41
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[23] 4
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[24] 2

Awards

2001 San Diego Music Awards

2002 Grammy Awards

2002 MTV Video Music Awards

2002 MVPA Awards

References

  1. ↑ Weiss, Neal "Singles By P.O.D., Dave Matthews, Others Affected By Terrorist Attacks?" Yahoo! Music (September 17, 2001). Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  2. ↑ Blatt, Mitchell "P.O.D. Interview: Back Together, New Album in April" JuicedSportsBlog.com (2008). Retrieved on April 5, 2008.
  3. ↑ P.O.D. Profile BreatheCast.com. Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  4. ↑ Moss, Corey and Wiederhorn, Jon "VMA Lens Recap: The Story Behind P.O.D.'s 'Alive'" MTV.com (August 20, 2002). Retrieved on June 19, 2008.
  5. ↑ Rosen, Craig "P.O.D. Warriors Are 'Alive' In Force For Video Clip" Yahoo! Music (August 30, 2001). Retrieved on April 5, 2008.
  6. ↑ http://tvulive.com/50bestvideos.htm
  7. ↑ Wiederhorn, Jon "P.O.D. Set New York Alive With Free VMA Show" MTV.com (September 6, 2001). Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  8. ↑ Music News Archive – Thursday, September 27, 2001 JesusFreakHideout.com (September 27, 2001). Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  9. ↑ "P.O.D. / Blindside / Lacuna Coil / Hazen ST. May 4th, 2004" Epinions.com (January 3, 2005). Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  10. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – P.O.D. – Alive". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – P.O.D. – Alive" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Ultratop.be – P.O.D. – Youth of the Nation" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – P.O.D. – Alive". Tracklisten. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  14. ↑ "P.O.D.: Alive" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Musicline.de – P.O.D. Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Irish Singles Chart – Search for song". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – P.O.D. search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – P.O.D. – Alive". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – P.O.D. – Alive". VG-lista. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – P.O.D. – Alive". Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – P.O.D. – Alive". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Chart Stats – P.O.D. (UK)". chartstats.com. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
  23. 1 2 "P.O.D. > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  24. ↑ "P.O.D. Album & Song Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on November 30, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
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