‘Alive and Kicking’ is a song released by the Scottish rock band Simple Minds as the lead single from their seventh album, Once Upon a Time. The song reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number four in Canada; it peaked within the top five of several European countries including Italy, where the song reached number one.
Following on from the success of previous non-album single, ‘Don't You (Forget About Me)’, ‘Alive and Kicking’ was released as a single, reaching number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Top Rock Tracks chart. The song also reached number 4 in Canada. In Europe, the song topped the charts in Italy for one week, reached number 2 in Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands, and peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1992, when re-released as a double A-side with ‘Love Song’ to promote the band's compilation album Glittering Prize 81/92, it managed to reach a new peak of number 6. Elsewhere, ‘Alive and Kicking’ reached number 5 in New Zealand, number 16 in South Africa, and just missed the top 20 in Australia, peaking at number 21.
Lead singer Jim Kerr, who wrote the lyric, had reason to celebrate on a personal level as well: He married Chrissie Hynde in 1984 and the couple had a daughter, Yasmin, the next year. Simple Minds were working in America when they came up with the music for this song. The jaunty tune inspired a similarly upbeat lyric from Jim Kerr, when interviewed, said: "We were in New York, it was summer, Manhattan. We could feel the band was really on the verge of something, and I think that positivity and that idea of hope formed the lyrics."
Both ‘Alive and Kicking’ and its predecessor ‘Don't You (Forget About Me)’ end in a sing-along, a trick Kerr says they borrowed from The Beatles' ‘Hey Jude.’ "It's almost like a hymn at the beginning," he reflected to Billboard about ‘Alive and Kicking.’ "And just when you think you've heard it all, the 'la la la' comes in at the end - which, coincidentally, 'Don't You' had, too." "The great thing about those choruses is anyone in the world can sing "la la la,'" Kerr added with a chuckle. "You can sing it in Japan, you can sing it in Oslo. That's the most intelligent lyric we ever wrote. Think about it. The whole world can sing that."
Labels – A&M, Virgin
Songwriters – Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Mick MacNeil
Producers – Bob Clearmountain, Jimmy Iovine
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]You turn me on, you lift me up
And like the sweetest cup, I'd share with you
You lift me up, don't you ever stop, I'm here with you
Now it's all or nothing
'Cause you said you'll follow through
You follow me, and I,-I-I follow you
[Pre-Chorus]
What you gonna do when things go wrong?
What you gonna do when it all cracks up?
What you gonna do when the love burns down?
What you gonna do when the flames go up?
Who is gonna come and turn the tide?
What's it gonna take to make a dream survive?
Who's got the touch to calm the storm inside?
Who's gonna save you?
[Chorus]
Alive and kicking
Stay until your love is alive and kicking
Stay until your love is, until your love is alive
[Verse 2]
Oh, you lift me up to the crucial top, so I can see
Oh, you lead me on till the feelings come
And the lights that shine on
But if that don't mean nothing
Like if someday it should fall through
You'll take me home where the magic's from
And I'll be with you
[Pre-Chorus]
What you gonna do when things go wrong?
What you gonna do when it all cracks up?
What you gonna do when the Love burns down?
What you gonna do when the flames go up?
Who is gonna come and turn the tide?
What's it gonna take to make a dream survive?
Who's got the touch to calm the storm inside?
Don't say goodbye, don't say goodbye
In the final seconds who's gonna save you?
[Chorus]
Oh, alive and kicking
Stay until your love is, love is, alive and kicking
Oh, alive and kicking
Stay until your love is, love is, alive and kicking