Ongoing History Daily: The story of Live’s “Lightning Crashes”
The biggest song in Live’s catalogue is “Lightning Crashes” from their 1994 album Throwing Copper. The inspiration was the death of a close high school friend named Barb Cooper.
She was killed by a drunk driver who was fleeing after robbing a bank. The whole song is something of an analogy because Barb donated her heart and several other organs for transplant. She’s envisioned as the “angel down the hall” with the “pale blue eyes” in the song. While the song tells of mothers giving birth, its inspiration is Barb giving life by donating part of herself so someone else could live.
The last I heard, the man who received Barb’s heart is still very much alive.
Yesterday’s Ongoing History Daily post involved a weird Weezer songwriting session.
