"Livin' on the Edge" is a song by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

. The song was written by

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...

, Joe Perry, and Mark Hudson. It was released in March 1993 by

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

as the first single from the band's commercially successful eleventh album, ''

Get a Grip ''Get a Grip'' is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in April 1993 by Geffen Records. ''Get a Grip'' was the band's last studio album to be released by Geffen before they returned to Columbia Records. ''Get a ...

'' (1993). The single reached number 18 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, number three on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100, and number one on the ''Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks chart, where it remained for nine weeks. In the UK, the song peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1993.

Background

According to the band's autobiography '' Walk This Way'', the song was inspired by the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, United States, during April and May 1992. Unrest began in South Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after ...

. Tyler also mentions in the book that the song features the sound of a

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

he stole from his high school; four loud beats are heard from that drum in a pause between the final verse and chorus.

Music video

The music video for "Livin' on the Edge" was directed by American director

Marty Callner Martin Henry Callner (August 25, 1946 – March 17, 2025) was an American director who made music videos, comedy specials, concert specials and television shows. He was the creator of HBO's '' Hard Knocks'', and was nominated for numerous Prim ...

and features actor Edward Furlong. It depicts vandalism,

grand theft auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...

, joyriding, airbag crashing, unprotected sex, violence among school-aged youth, cross-dressing teachers, a naked Steven Tyler holding a zipper by his crotch with half his body painted black (to give the effect he pulled down a zipper, unzipping his body) and lead guitarist Joe Perry playing a lead guitar solo in front of an oncoming McCloud River Railroad freight train. The train scene was filmed on Lake Britton Bridge in Shasta County, California, the same bridge where '' Stand by Me'' filmed their famous train scene and employs the same Introvision technology.

Reception

"Livin' on the Edge" met with dismissive reactions from music critics. Reviewing ''Get a Grip'' for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', 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 Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

-esque power chorale; only the gritty guitars on the bridge keep the damn thing grounded." David Browne of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' 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 AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'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 The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011. The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Beginning in 2012, all solo or duo/group ...

for the year 1993. The 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.Metal Edge, June 1994

Live performances

"Livin' on the Edge" has been a staple at Aerosmith concerts ever since its release. During the Get a Grip Tour, the band performed a portion of " She Cried" (a song recorded by Jay and the Americans, among other artists) as the intro to "Livin' on the Edge". Performances often involved Tyler screaming "There ain't no life nowhere" (from the song " I Don't Live Today" by

The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

) 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 United We Stand benefit concert, held in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

shortly after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

Track listings

CD single US maxi-CD single Strictly limited-edition CD single German CD single

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control Aerosmith songs 1992 songs 1993 singles 1990s ballads Music videos directed by Marty Callner Geffen Records singles Song recordings produced by Bruce Fairbairn Songs based on actual events Songs written by Joe Perry (musician) Songs written by Mark Hudson (musician) Songs written by Steven Tyler Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal