Lightning Crashes (5:25)

“Lightning Crashes” is a song by alternative rock group Live from their 1994 album, Throwing Copper.

While it wasn’t officially released as a commercially purchasable single in the United States, the song received enough radio airplay to peak at the #12 position on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay music chart in 1995. The song also topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks (10 weeks) and Hot Modern Rock Tracks (9 weeks) charts also in 1995. Because it was not released as a commercial single in the United States, it was ineligible for the Billboard Hot 100. Despite this, the song is considered to be the biggest hit of Live’s career.

The song was also a top 40 hit in the United Kingdom. The U.K. single was released in several formats and versions.

The band dedicated the song to Barbara Lewis, a 19 year-old friend of the band who was killed in 1993 by a drunk driver who was fleeing from the police after a robbery in York, Pennsylvania. Barbara had many of her organs donated including a liver to a 10 month old baby, and the song lyrics reflect how her death enabled others to continue living.