- Source: Live Is Life
"Live Is Life" is a 1984 song by Austrian pop rock band Opus. It was released as the first single from their first live album, Live Is Life (1984), and was also included on the US version of their fourth studio album, Up and Down (1984). The song was a European number-one hit in the summer of 1985, and also reached number one in Canada and the top 40 in the US in 1986. It has been covered by many artists. The title is sometimes mistaken as "Life Is Life": German phonology has final-obstruent devoicing, so that the word "live" sounds like "life".
Background and chart performance
After having released several singles, "Live Is Life" achieved huge success in 1985, topping the charts of many countries, including Austria (eight weeks), West Germany, France (seven weeks) and Sweden (four weeks).
The song was created during a concert in Oberwart, on 2 September 1984, while the group celebrated its eleventh anniversary. It was recorded in a live version with the audience singing along in the verses. In the lyrics, the song expresses "the enthusiastic attachment of the group to the stage". The song was performed during the 1985 charity campaign, "Austria für Afrika".
It will be re-recorded as the theme song of the 2024 European Women's Handball Championship in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland to mark the fortieth anniversary of the original song.
Maradona's warm up
On 19 April 1989, during the warming up in Munich before the UEFA Cup semi-final return between FC Bayern Munich and S.S.C. Napoli, Diego Maradona performed an impromptu keepie uppie exhibition synchronized to the rhythm of "Live Is Life", as the song happened to be playing over the stadium's loudspeakers during warm-ups.
Some confusion persists by those who dispute that it took place in Munich. Among others, Jürgen Klinsmann claimed that it happened during the final in Stuttgart:
There were 70,000 people in the stadium and Maradona went on the field. We’re on the other side of the field, warming up like Germans: seriously, focused. There's music playing, the song "Live is Life", and to the rhythm of the song Maradona started juggling the ball. So we stopped our warm-up. What's this guy doing? He's juggling off his shoulders. And we couldn't warm up anymore because we had to watch this guy.
Belgian sports anchor Frank Raes, who edited the video and distributed it via YouTube, has asserted that this warm up took place just before the semifinal in Munich. By 2013, Raes' video clip had garnered almost two million views on YouTube. The 25th anniversary of Maradona's warming up was noted internationally, with newspapers commenting on his skills and on the transformative effect he had on Napoli and southern Italy.
Personnel
Herwig Rüdisser – lead vocals
Ewald Pfleger – guitar, vocals
Niki Gruber – bass, vocals
Kurt-René Plisnier – keyboard, vocals
Günter Grasmuck – drums
Günter Timischl – percussion, vocals
Track listings
Charts and sales
= Certifications
=
Hermes House Band version
The Hermes House Band and DJ Ötzi released a version of the song in 2002. The single had its highest peak position in France, where it reached number two for five weeks. The song was used as a soundtrack for the German youth film Das Jahr der ersten Küsse. As of August 2014, the song was the 23rd best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 537,000 units sold.
= Track listings
=
CD single
"Live Is Life (Here We Go)" (Here We Go/video mix) – 3:30
"Live Is Life (Here We Go)" (jump mix) – 3:33
CD maxi
"Live Is Life (Here We Go)" (Here We Go/video mix) – 3:30
"Live Is Life (Here We Go)" (jump mix) – 3:33
"Football's Coming Home" (three lions) (radio) by Hermes House Band – 3:48
"Everytime You Touch Me" (fireplace mix) by Hermes House Band – 3:21
"Hey Mama" by Hermes House Band – 3:10
Enhanced Multimediatrack : "Live Is Life" – 3:30
= Charts and sales
=
Other cover versions
The Slovenian art collective Laibach recorded two retitled versions of the song for their 1987 album Opus Dei, one in English which was used as the album's title track, and the other in German under the name "Leben heisst Leben", with guitar solo included. Both were arranged in a distinctly darker and militaristic style typical of the group's music. The song, along with their cover of Queen's "One Vision" on the same LP, gained the band mainstream airplay on outlets including MTV and The Chart Show.
The song was covered by Stargo, whose version reached number 10 in France in 1985. Sofia Carson's "Love Is the Name" features an interpolation of "Live Is Life".
The song was also adapted by Liverpool F.C. fans as a football chant about their then manager Jürgen Klopp early in his tenure at the club.
See also
List of number-one hits of 1985 (Germany)
List of number-one singles of 1985 (France)
List of number-one singles of 1985 (Spain)
List of number-one singles and albums in Sweden
References
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