I'm Alive (Life Sounds Like) by Michael Franti & Spearhead

Album: All People (2013)

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Ostensibly a love song about finding the one person in the world who just gets him, the tune also acts as a metaphor for the bigger issues that are going on in the world today. "This is the song that was really just an expression of gratitude for being alive and wanting to live every minute to the fullest," Franti said in a 2014 Songfacts interview. "I guess I wanted to get the sound of what it means to be alive rather than the ideas of what it means to be alive. That's why right before the chorus it sounds like, 'Whooaaa,' and then just turns into a melody after that."
On the All People album, Franti worked extensively with outside songwriters for the first time. This song he wrote with the Australian songwriter/producer Adrian Newman, who worked with Franti on three other cuts as well: "Closer To You," "Say Goodbye" and "Long Ride Home."

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