#Live #Ed Kowalczyk #alternative rock #post-grunge #hard rock #funk rock #heavy pop rock #1990s #Throwing Copper Art by Peter Howson
This song is about the plight of poorly compensated factory workers who are treated like machines that only exist to make money. The band grew up in York, Pennsylvania, a working-class town which is home to the Harley Davidson motorcycle factory and other industrial plants that provided inspiration for the song. Kowalczyk credits the band for helping him escape a similar fate. "Most of the kids in our situation don't get fair shots because of the sheltered quality of life in a small town like York," he told The Washington Post in 1995. "Thank God for this band, because it was our ticket to see the world." York is also the subject of another unflattering ode on the album: "Shit Towne." In 1997, an Australian radio interviewer asked Kowalczyk if Michael Stipe of R.E.M. sang backing vocals at the end of the song. He replied, "No, that's just me trying as hard as I can to sound like Michael Stipe!" From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/live/pillar-of-davidson
The rock band Live got its start in 1985, when four teenage friends in York, Pennsylvania - vocalist Ed Kowalczyk, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer, drummer Chad Gracey, and guitarist Chad Taylor - began playing shows in their hometown area under the name Public Affection. Although the band name would change, the original lineup remained intact until 2011. The group gained more visibility and began touring more extensively after recording its self-released, cassette-only debut, "The Death of a Dictionary," in 1989. At the dawn of the 1990s, the band attracted interest from Radioactive Records, which signed the group, now known as Live, to a contract. "Mental Jewelry," the first album with the label, captured the band’s earnest hard rock sound that incorporated Eastern philosophy and unconventional rhythmic styles. As with many band’s debuts, "Mental Jewelry" revealed Live’s nascent talents but lacked a certain amount of confidence. The album didn’t have much impact on the mainstream rock audience, but “Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)” gained airplay, and the album eventually went on to sell well. It wasn’t until Live's second album, 1994’s "Throwing Copper," that the band exploded into the mainstream. Toning down the spiritual searching of Kowalczyk’s lyrics from "Mental Jewelry," Live looked to the sweeping musical energy of groups like Pearl Jam and U2 for inspiration. The result was an album that dominated the charts and launched five singles that spanned the gamut from the brooding “Lightning Crashes” to “I Alone,” which transitioned from a soft verse into an explosive chorus, a popular sonic style of the era's grunge artists. Rock critics accused Live of derivativeness, but audiences warmly embraced the band. From: https://www.liveabout.com/live-biography-and-profile-2898029
