Alive

Album

Satellite

Label

Atlantic Records

Genre

Nu Metal

Entered Chart

Nov 3, 2001

Peak Date

Jan 5, 2002

Released

July 31, 2001

Recorded

Studio Bay 7 (Valley Village, California) Sparky Dark (Calabasas, California)

Catalog #

Atlantic Album Cut

B-Side

School of Hard Knocks"

This song is about not taking anything for granted, living each day as if it was your last. P.O.D. lead singer Sonny Sandoval, who wrote the lyrics, told Songfacts how it came together: "We were recording in Valley Village, and I was going back home for the weekends to San Diego. So I'd literally leave late Friday night and then come back late Sunday night. And then hit the studio on Monday. But it was my turn to start laying down vocals. And my daughter was very young - she was not even one yet. And so here I was supposed to record the song 'Alive' on Monday, and I hadn't even finished the lyrics yet. So it's a funny story. My wife's driving so I can sit and just kind of concentrate. I always know what I want to say, and I work better under pressure. So here we are, it's nighttime, we're driving late Sunday on the 405 freeway. It's dark, and from the traffic light, I look back and I look at my daughter. And I don't know if you have kids or not, but you always hear people say, 'He looks just like you,' and 'She looks just like you.' And like forever I never saw that. And everybody's like, 'Oh, she's the spitting image, she looks exactly like you.' And I just didn't see it, because it's just my little baby. And for some reason with the traffic light shining in, I look at her and for the first time I see myself in her. I can finally see it now. And it was like, wow. That was just the moment. That's almost completely what the song's about. For the very first time I see myself in my daughter. It was a beautiful moment. I see me." Sonny Sandoval is a Christian who speaks openly about his faith. While this song was inspired by a specific incident in his life, he sees it as having a universal theme. In his Songfacts interview, Sandoval said, "It's just whatever moment that is for anybody. If I'm talking of faith, it has to do with my faith in God. We always keep it open for interpretation, because I never want to sound religious or preachy. It's kind of like a painting: 20 people can look at a piece of art and have 20 different interpretations. I believe it's supposed to speak to your soul. So the same thing with our music. I've had kids come up to me and tell me what my songs mean to them, and I'm like Wow. You know what, you just spoke to me, because I'm blown away right now. That's amazing. But it's the way they heard it. It's their life, it's their situation. It could be one or two words, it could be a phrase." P.O.D. writes their music first, and before they added lyrics to this track, they referred to it as "Beautiful," since that's how the music made them feel. Sandoval wrote appropriately upbeat words to match the music. This was the first single from P.O.D.'s album Satellite, which was released on September 11, 2001. Albums are traditionally released on Tuesdays, and the day of the World Trade Center attacks was a popular one for album releases. The music video, directed by Francis Lawrence, depicts an accident on the Los Angeles freeway where a bus crashes into the protagonist's car, with the band playing nearby. Lawrence killed off the character, but was forced to bring him back to life when the label thought the original ending was too dark. The crew also encountered some real-life violence when a driver who was upset the freeway was closed for the shoot pulled a gun, but thankfully drove away. Lawrence is also a film director who helmed three of The Hunger Games movies.

Everyday is a new day
I'm thankful for every breath I take
I won't take it for granted
So I learn from my mistakes
It's beyond my control, sometimes it?s best to let go
Whatever happens in this lifetime
So I trust in love
You have given me peace of mind

[Chorus:]
I feel so alive for the very first time
I can't deny you
I feel so alive
I feel so alive for the very first time
And I think I can fly

Sunshine upon my face
A new song for me to sing
Tell the world how I feel inside
Even though it might cost me everything
Now that I know this, so beyond, I can't hold this
I can never turn my back away
Now that I've seen you
I can never look away

[chorus]
[bridge:]
Now that I know you (I could never turn my back away)
Now that I see you (I could never look away)
Now that I know you (I could never turn my back away)
Now that I see you (I believe no matter what they say)

[chorus x 2]