LIFE IS A CELEBRATION    
(words and music by Rick Springfield)          

I was lost on a winding road 
I thought that life had nothing left to give 
Then you came and showed me that just to live 
Was the greatest gift of all

And you showed me
Life is a celebration 
And Lord, I'm gonna celebrate 
Don't you know that life is a celebration
So come on now and celebrate, celebrate 
Life is a celebration 
Look it's a revelation 
So celebrate now, celebrate life, yeah
Celebrate now, celebrate life, yeah

How could I have been so blind? 
Just to think that we were living to die 
You came along and I was no longer alone 
And you lead me to the light

And you showed me
Life is a celebration 
And Lord, I'm gonna celebrate 
Don't you know that life is a celebration
So come on now and celebrate, celebrate 
Life is a celebration 
Look it's a revelation 
So celebrate now, celebrate life, yeah
Celebrate now, celebrate life, yeah
Celebrate now, celebrate life, yeah

And you showed me life is a celebration 
And Lord, I'm gonna celebrate 
Don't you know that life is a celebration
So come on now and celebrate, celebrate

Life is a celebration 
Look it's a revelation 
So celebrate now, celebrate life, yeah
Celebrate now, celebrate life, yeah
Celebrate now, celebrate life, yeah
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate, celebrate 
Celebrate, celebrate life

(total playing time: 3:06 )

Song Facts: This can be found on Wait for Night.

According to US

Since I *discovered* this album in my teens, this song came to me at a perfect time. It was because of this album that I delved further into finding out about Rick's career before WCD. It also made me curious to dig into the past of some of my other favorite artists, and opened up a whole new world of music to me. For that I will be forever grateful. I'm not sure if this was THE song that made me do that, but I do know that it did make me see Rick in a whole different light. It made me want to know more, and learn more about him. Maybe it made me the lifelong fan that I am now, maybe not - but it did have a big impact.

I said this song had perfect timing as I was experiencing all the difficulties of being a teen and living in a tumultuous household on top of that. Music was my escape into a world all of my own. My mother would force us (my siblings & I) to attend meetings at church, and tried to get us involved there, as an effort on her part to try to ease what was happening at home. So I would sit there and think blah, blah, blah - none of this is going to help, nothing will. Then this youth director showed up who was "cool". He really got us motivated into doing things like little plays, and listening to current music -- totally in my ballpark now. One day we were told to find a song that we felt was inspirational that we could share with our group. I had owned WFN for about 6 months now, so I knew this song would be the perfect one for me to bring. 

Until then, I was very cynical about my religion. I took it basically at face value and had no interest into looking any deeper, as it wasn't "doing" anything for me. Same thing with this song. I knew it was saying all the right words that our youth group leader wanted to hear, and I would be praised for that. It didn't really *touch* me in any way though. I will also admit now that he was kind of cute, so I had other motives of wanting to be singled out, for him to notice me. I also felt this was my chance of bringing Rick into another part of my life.

Imagine my surprise when after listening to this song, the object of my affection was familiar with it! However, I was even more surprised when he took the words, and gave them a different meaning for me. Since I'm not one to preach to people about anything including religion, I'm not going to spell out here what I learned that day. I will say though, that the line "You came along and I was no longer alone and you lead me to the light" suddenly had a double meaning for me. I came to my own realization about my religion that day, and not to compare Rick to God - but I felt that Rick brought me there, "to the light".

I use this song to this day as sort of my own prayer. When I'm having a bad day and listening to Karma is just not cutting it in terms of making me feel better, I'll pop WFN in. By the time I get to this song, I'm reminded once again "that just to live is the greatest gift of all". - Michelle P.

I like the verses in the song ok, but I really don't like the chorus. It kind of reminds me more of a Broadway type song, or a song that Up With People would perform at a halftime show, especially at the very end.

What I do find interesting is that he managed to get this song out of him. Seemingly, this wouldn't have been the most positive of times in his life. He had two previously records that didn't do very well, he had been over in the US for over 5 years and still hadn't come close to the kind of success he had been reaching for. But then maybe things were starting to happen and he could see some kind of light. On the other side, 30 years later, he's had a fairly successful career, things seem to be going fairly well, he's doing EFX and making more money than he's probably ever made in his life, and we get "Every Night I wake Up Screaming"........ There's just no accounting for inspiration, I guess. - rlh

This is one of my two favorite songs on this CD. This song gives me  such an uplifting feeling, and makes we want to hit repeat. I can  see the spiritual side of this song, but I equate this song to more  of a strong love in his life that made him realize the importance of  the life he's living. Which makes me happy because he is usually 
writes about the darker side of love. - Charlotte P.

Okay, so this one is a little tricky for me because I know what I am thinking about the song, but it is hard to explain. I think this is an anti-sin anthem of sorts, the sin being suicide. I think we have a very depressed Rick trying to pick himself up and convince himself that life is worth living.

However, I think it is a bit of smoke and mirrors as well. You know the phrase “I think he doth protest too much”, on this song, I always find myself thinking, I think he doth celebrate too much. I think he is absolutely well intended, and I think he wants to convince himself that life is good and rosy, but the underlying theme that it took someone else to make him see this makes me think his joy was temporary. 

I believe strongly that no one can save a troubled soul except the soul in trouble, and no one can bring you happiness until you bring it to yourself. I think others can make us temporarily happy and content, but for the feeling to really last, it has to come from within. So, the idea that someone came along and led him to the light is lovely and wonderful on the surface, but since this is such a positive departure from the pessimistic Rick we all know and love, I tend to think that he was really trying desperately (too desperately?) to force himself to believe in this salvation rather than really feeling it. 

Again, I do see the religious overtones here, and if he is singing about religion rather than a woman, my opinion would change completely, but I tend to see this as more of a secular song overall.

Having said all that, since I am basing my entire theory here on the fact that I used to write poems about a boy I knew in school and how I credited him with my happiness and with releasing me from my depression only to discover a few short months later that the boy was gone but not the depression, I could be completely full of crap.

I do like the song very much, I think it is filled with beautifully optimistic sentiments, but I don’t think the attitude he expresses in it stayed with him very long. Of course, if I am even close to the mark on this, that is very sad, indeed. - Anna C.