In 1994, Live releasedThrowing Copper and became omnipresent on MTV. These days they probably wish they had never dropped their original band name Public Affection, but that blockbuster third album came a few decades before the York, PA alt-rockers had to worry about SEO. Its singles remain hits on rock radio to this day, none more so than "Lightning Crashes." Perhaps you remember its lyric "her placenta falls to the floor"? Or when the confusion sets in during its video ("Nobody's dying in the act of childbirth," frontman Ed Kowalczyk later clarified in Spin).
Live had some jams. I saw them on that Throwing Copper tour, with Veruca Salt and PJ Harvey (!) opening. Christina Ricci, however, is not a fan, based on two interviews released in the past couple of days.
Ricci co-stars in Yellowjackets, Showtime’s campy teen cannibal series that just had its third season premiere last week. A lot of ‘90s alternative rock is featured on the show and "Lightning Crashes" was memorably used in diegetic and non-diegetic fashion in the seventh episode of the second season. In the present day timeline of that episode, the song is playing when the adult Yellowjackets are at Lottie’s (Simone Kessler) farm when Van (Lauren Ambrose) says "I love this song" and turns the music up. Later in the episode, it’s synced to a violent flashback scene of young Lottie (Courtney Eaton) and young Shauna (Sophie Nélisse).
This embed is a big spoiler FYI:
On the latest Yellowjackets press tour, cast members were of course questioned about ‘90s music. Ricci was asked by Absolute Radio what song she’d want used for a fan edit of her character (adult Misty) in season three. "As long as it’s not another Live song," she answered. "I really hate that song. They had to lie to me halfway though filming that scene because they kept making fun of it, in the performance, and they were like, ‘We’re not sure we’re gonna use this song so please stop singing it, in that voice.' And they were lying to me, to get me to stop making fun of it."
And here’s Ricci in another cast Q&A, this one for InStyle:
"Some of these songs that we have to fucking listen to. I’m sorry, but Live was never cool. And when it came out in high school — when I was in high school — and that Live song… everyone was like, ‘Dorks all love Live.’ And then we come to shoot that scene and everyone’s like ‘I love this song, it’s so amazing!’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ Do I have amnesia?"
"I love that song," Melanie Lynskey (who plays adult Shauna) offered. "No. You don’t," Ricci corrected her.
Not the lightning crashes by live slander omg she just called me a loser... pic.twitter.com/Oy9CJu6jJb
— thirteen 🦂 yellowjackets spoilers (@cherruph) February 19, 2025
Goo Goo Dolls catching strays!
Speaking of the Yellowjackets premiere, because I am one of those people that pauses whenever a TV show shows a concert poster or something, shoutout to the set designer who put old Tuscadero and Team Dresch tickets in Natalie’s storage unit:
You can catch Live at the just-announced Summer Of '99 And Beyond Festival 😬 this summer and check out our recent interview with Shudder To Think's Craig Wedren, who co-wrote the Yellowjackets theme song "No Return," here.
UPDATE: Live respond, in the comments of Stereogum’s Instagram…
