"Livin' on the Edge" is a song by American hard rock bandAerosmith. The song was written by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Mark Hudson. It was released in 1993 as the first single from the band's commercially successful album Get a Grip. The single reached number 18 on the BillboardHot 100 chart, number three on the Cash Box Top 100, and number one on the BillboardAlbum Rock Tracks chart, where it remained for nine weeks, making it Aerosmith's most successful single on that chart. In the UK, the song peaked at number 19 on the British pop chart in April 1993.
Background
According to the band's autobiography , the song was inspired by the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Steven Tyler also mentions in the book that the song features the sound of a bass drum he stole from his high school; four loud beats are heard from that drum in a pause between the final verse and chorus.
"Livin' on the Edge" has been a staple at Aerosmith concerts ever since its release. When performed live, renditions can last as long as 45 minutes. During the Get a Grip Tour, the band performed a portion of "She Cried" as the intro to "Livin' on the Edge". Performances often involved Tyler screaming "There ain't no life nowhere" and then breathing heavily over a bright light during the brief interlude. "Livin' on the Edge" was performed at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, the 36th Grammy Awards, and at Woodstock '94. Additionally, the band performed the song as part of its set at the benefit concert, held in Washington, D.C. shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Reception
"Livin' on the Edge" met with dismissive reactions from music critics. Reviewing Get a Grip for Rolling Stone, Mark Coleman cited "Livin' on the Edge" as an example of the album "playing it safe according to strict late-Eighties directives", and added that it "ascends into a soaring, Bon Jovi-esque power chorale; only the gritty guitars on the bridge keep the damn thing grounded." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly also found the song was uncomfortably derivative of Bon Jovi, remarking that it "might have worked better if it didn’t sound like Bon Jovi trying hard to sound like Aerosmith." Both Browne and Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the song's lyrics as a halfhearted, ineffectual attempt at social commentary. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for the year 1993. The popular video for the song earned the band a Viewer's Choice award at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. The video was also voted "Best Video" by Metal Edge readers in the magazine's 1993 Readers' Choice Awards.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Covers and other versions
The song was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Livin' in the Fridge" on his Alapalooza album. Bob Rivers has done a version for his radio show as "Cleanin' Out the Fridge" on his website. Metalcore band Atreyu covered the song on their Covers of the Damned EP.
In other media
"Livin' on the Edge" was used as the theme song for the first four seasons of History's reality television showIce Road Truckers, from 2007 to 2011. The song is also playable on the video game and is available as DLC for Guitar Hero 5 and. The music video was featured in an earlier showing of the Beavis and Butt-Head episode "At the Sideshow", before being replaced by "Rock On" by Michael Damian and "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring. The song is also the theme song for Supertalk Mississippi's The JT Show. The song is also used as the theme song of a Pakistani dare show by the same name hosted by Waqar Zaka.
