Live Is Life

Background and chart performance

"Live Is Life" is their second single, released in 1985, and achieved huge success, topping the charts of many countries, including Austria (eight weeks), Germany, France (seven weeks) and Sweden (four weeks). In France, the song is the 149th best-selling single of all time with about 857,000 units sold.

The song was created during a concert in Oberwart, on 2 September 1984, while the group celebrated its eleventh anniversary. It is recorded in a live version with the audience singing along in the verses. In the lyrics, the song expresses "the enthusiastic attachment of the group to the stage". The song was performed during the 1985 charity campaign, "Austria für Afrika".

In 1994, on the occasion of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Opus published another version of "Live Is Life", which made it again into the top ten in Austria. The song was re-recorded once more by the group in 2008, both in a solo version and featuring Jerry.

Maradona's warming up

On 19 April 1989, during the warming up in Munich before the UEFA Cup semi-final return between FC Bayern Munich and S.S.C. Napoli, Diego Maradona did a keepie uppie exhibition while the song was heard on the stadium's loudspeakers. This has become a classic among football fans.

Some confusion persists by those who dispute that it took place in Munich. Among others, Jürgen Klinsmann claimed that it happened during the final in Stuttgart:

There were 70,000 people in the stadium and Maradona went on the field. We’re on the other side of the field, warming up like Germans: seriously, focused. There's music playing, the song "Live is Life", and to the rhythm of the song Maradona started juggling the ball. So we stopped our warm-up. What's this guy doing? He's juggling off his shoulders. And we couldn't warm up anymore because we had to watch this guy.

Belgian sports anchor Frank Raes, who edited the video and distributed it via YouTube, always asserted that this warm up took place just before the semifinal in Munich. According to Raes, this can easily be verified by visual cues in the clip, such as the advertisements around the pitch, for example the numerous Commodore boards which were one of Bayern's main sponsors at the time.

By 2013, Frank Raes' Maradona video clip had garnered almost two million views on YouTube. The 25th anniversary of Maradona's warming up was noted internationally, with newspapers commenting on his skills and on the transformative effect he had on Napoli and southern Italy.

1985 release

1. "Live Is Life" – 4:15
2. "Again and Again" – 3:51

1. "Live Is Life" – 4:15
2. "Up and Down" – 3:49

1994 release

1. "The Power of Live Is Life" (Bingoboys radio mix) – 3:58
2. "Live Is Life" (original version) – 5:06
3. "The Power of Live Is Life" (Bingoboys club mix) – 6:33
4. "Live Is Life" (radio version) – 3:16

2008 release

1. "Live Is Life 08" (reggae version) – 4:17
2. "Live Is Life 08" (rock version) – 3:38

1. "Live Is Life 08" (reggae version) – 4:17
2. "Live Is Life 08" (rock version) – 3:38
3. "Live Is Life 08" (reggaeton version) – 3:56
4. "Touch the Sky" by Opus – 3:47

Laibach versions

Slovenian avant-garde band Laibach recorded two martial-style covers of the song in their 1987 album Opus Dei. The first version, "Leben Heißt Leben" was sung in German. The second version, "Opus Dei", was promoted as a single, and its promotional video (which used the title "Life is Life") was played extensively on American cable channel MTV. Opus Dei retained some of the original song's English lyrics, but was delivered in a musical style that left the meaning of the lyrics open to further interpretation. Laibach's subversive interpretation turned the feel-good anthem into a triumphant, rolling military march. With the exception of the promotional video, the refrain is at one instance translated into German, giving an example of the sensitivity of its lyrics to context.

Hermes House Band version

The Hermes House Band and DJ Ötzi released a version of the song in 2002. The single had his highest peak position in France, where it reached number two for five weeks. The song was used as a soundtrack for the German youth film Das Jahr der ersten Küsse. As of August 2014, the song was the 23rd best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 537,000 units sold.

Track listings

1. "Live Is Life (Here We Go)" (Here We Go/video mix) – 3:30
2. "Live Is Life (Here We Go)" (jump mix) – 3:33

1. "Live Is Life (Here We Go)" (Here We Go/video mix) – 3:30
2. "Live Is Life (Here We Go)" (jump mix) – 3:33
3. "Football's Coming Home" (three lions) (radio) by Hermes House Band – 3:48
4. "Everytime You Touch Me" (fireplace mix) by Hermes House Band – 3:21
5. "Hey Mama" by Hermes House Band – 3:10
6. Enhanced Multimediatrack : "Live Is Life" – 3:30

Charts and sales