You Get What You Give (song)

"You Get What You Give" has been described as an alternative rock,{{cite web|date=October 25, 2018|title=88 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1998|url=https://www.spin.com/featured/best-alternative-rock-songs-1998/10/|access-date=April 3, 2021|website=Spin|page=10}} power pop,{{cite web|last=Horton|first=Matthew|date=April 19, 2012|title=15 Actually-Quite-Amazing One Hit Wonders|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/15-actually-quite-amazing-one-hit-wonders-762239|access-date=July 12, 2021|website=NME}}{{cite web|last=Hoffman|first=Jordan|date=January 18, 2021|title=Biden's America: New Radicals Reunite For Inaugural|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/01/bidens-america-new-radicals-reunite-for-inaugural|access-date=April 3, 2021|website=Vanity Fair}} and pop rock song.{{cite magazine|date=July 2, 2012|title=Where Are They Now? 1999's Biggest Pop Acts|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/where-are-they-now-1999s-biggest-pop-acts-10989/new-radicals-41528/|access-date=June 18, 2021|magazine=Rolling Stone}} It is written in the key of D major with a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute.{{cite web|url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0063957|title=You Get What You Give by the New Radicals – Digital Sheet Music|website=Musicnotes.com|date=March 20, 2008 |id=MN0063957|access-date=January 14, 2022}} Gregg Alexander said the central theme of the song was "remembering to fly high and be completely off your head in a world where you can't control all elements".{{cite magazine |last=Bambarger |first=Bradley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HwoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA85 |title=The Modern Age |magazine=Billboard |page=85 |date=November 14, 1997 |issn=0006-2510 |access-date=March 5, 2019}} Alexander wrote the song after having a dream in which he heard music coming from a house and walked in to find Joni Mitchell, who told him, "Have a seat." Mitchell would later, in real life, go on to praise the song as one of her favourites.{{cite news |last1=Simpson |first1=Dave |title='In January, it was the most heard song on Earth!': the amazing story behind Murder on the Dancefloor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/04/murder-on-the-dancefloor-gregg-alexander-saltburn-obamas-joni-mitchell |access-date=2 October 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=4 March 2024}}

Much of the media attention that "You Get What You Give" received centered on the closing lyrics:

:"Health insurance, rip-off lying

:FDA, big bankers buying

:Fake computer crashes dining

:Cloning while they're multiplying

:Fashion shoots with Beck and Hanson,

:Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson

:You're all fakes, run to your mansions

:Come around, we'll kick your ass in."

Alexander wrote this section for the song as a test to see whether the media would focus on the important political issues of the first few lines or the petty celebrity-dissing. As suspected, a considerable amount of press began to appear about the name-dropping, and the other political issues were largely ignored.{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/513079/new-radicals-court-controversy.jhtml|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629221722/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/513079/new-radicals-court-controversy.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 29, 2013|title=New Radicals Song Misunderstood, Singer Says|last=Sibilla|first=Gianni|date=March 25, 1999|publisher=MTV|access-date=April 24, 2013}}

Marilyn Manson commented that he was "not mad he said he'd kick my ass, I just don't want to be used in the same sentence with Courtney Love... I'll crack his [Alexander's] skull open if I see him."{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430072/19981202/story.jhtml |title=New Radicals Discuss Slighting Marilyn Manson And Courtney Love, Manson Responds |publisher=MTV |access-date=August 6, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060523095918/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430072/19981202/story.jhtml |archive-date=May 23, 2006 }} Beck reported that Alexander personally apologized for the line when they met each other by chance in a supermarket, claiming that it was never meant to be personal.{{cite news|url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/style/article539297.ece |title=No turning Beck |work=The Sunday Times |date=July 10, 2005 |access-date=September 11, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809102951/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/style/article539297.ece |archive-date=August 9, 2011 }} Alexander collaborated with Hanson, whose drummer, Zac Hanson, called him "a bit of a character, but a cool guy."{{cite news|last=Fuoco |first=Christina |title=liveDaily Interview: Zac Hanson of Hanson |url=http://www.livedaily.com/news/6813.html?t=98 |publisher=Live Daily News |date=July 19, 2004 |access-date=December 30, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040811141102/http://www.livedaily.com/news/6813.html?t=98 |archive-date=August 11, 2004 }}

Although the lines were used for the band's Top of the Pops appearance, it was truncated at "kick you".{{cite episode|title=One-Hit Wonders at the BBC|network=BBC Four|airdate=April 17, 2015}}

Larry Flick from Billboard gave a mixed review of the song, saying that it was a "chugging, Wham!-style pop song with slightly cheesy lyrics", but that the ending lyrics were "interesting".{{cite magazine|first=Larry|last=Flick|date=September 19, 1998|title='You Get What You Give' review|magazine=Billboard|page=25|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GwoEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22t+graham+brown%22+%22wine+into+water%22&pg=PA25|author-link=Larry Flick}} Daily Record wrote, "This anthem sounds like The Waterboys at their best and has meaningful lyrics.""Chartslot". Daily Record. April 9, 1999. They also added, "It may sound like Bruce Springsteen, but that's no bad thing. This upbeat anthem will be played in all the good bars of the land.""Chartslot". Daily Record. April 2, 1999. A reviewer from The Mirror called it a "gold nugget of a single"."Music: CD Releases: Out This Week". The Mirror. April 2, 1999.

In the liner notes to her 2004 compilation Artist's Choice, the Canadian songwriter Joni Mitchell praised "You Get What You Give" for "rising from the swamp of 'McMusic' like a flower of hope".{{cite web|url=http://www.popmatters.com/shorttakes/2005_02_27_archive.shtml |title=PopMatters Short Takes: Brief Reviews of New Music |publisher=Popmatters.com |date=February 28, 2005 |access-date=May 20, 2012}} In 2006, Ice-T was asked on Late Night with Conan O'Brien about what he has heard, besides rap music, in the last few years that really grabbed him and his only reply was "You Get What You Give". In a Time interview, U2 lead guitarist the Edge is quoted saying "You Get What You Give" is the song he is "most jealous of. I really would love to have written that."{{Cite web |date=2006-12-28 |title=TIME.com: 10 Questions for The Edge -- Sep. 25, 2006 -- Page 1 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1535826-1,00.html |access-date=2024-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061228233522/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1535826-1,00.html |archive-date=December 28, 2006 }}

The accompanying music video for "You Get What You Give" was filmed in the Staten Island Mall in New York and directed by Evan Bernard. The New Radicals' frontman Gregg Alexander said he chose this setting because he sees the shopping mall as a metaphor for society—a fake, controlled environment engineered to encourage spending. The video showed a group of teenagers, led by Alexander, going through the mall wreaking havoc—tossing nets on security guards, placing businessmen in animal cages, knocking over merchandise, hijacking Lambrettas, and moshing in the food court.{{cite web|last=Gregg Alexander & Rick Nowels|title=You Get What You Give|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL7-CKirWZE|website=Music Video|date=October 8, 2009 |publisher=MCA Records|access-date=June 29, 2011}}

In 2002, VH1 voted it as the 64th greatest one-hit wonder of all time. In 2007, the song was voted number 90 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s".{{cite web|url=http://blog.vh1.com/2007-12-13/top-100-songs-of-the-90s/ |title=100 Greatest Songs of the '90s |publisher=Blog.vh1.com |date=December 13, 2007 |access-date=May 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214035830/http://blog.vh1.com/2007-12-13/top-100-songs-of-the-90s |archive-date=February 14, 2012 }} It was listed number 440 on Blender's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".{{cite web|title=The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: 401–450 |url=http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1759 |website=Blender |access-date=November 23, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061019115124/http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1759 |archive-date=October 19, 2006 }} In 2010 it was number 106 on Pitchfork's "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s".{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7850-the-top-200-tracks-of-the-1990s-150-101/5/ |title=Pitchfork Top 200 Tracks of the 90s |publisher=Pitchfork.com |date=August 31, 2010 |access-date=May 20, 2012 |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413150138/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7850-the-top-200-tracks-of-the-1990s-150-101/5/ |url-status=dead }} In 2011, VH1 ranked it as 11th on "40 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 90s". Annie Zaleski for The A.V. Club wrote that the song was "surprisingly influential on popular music, just in a non-obvious, almost obscured way", and that it was "both a nostalgic artifact and a song that transcends any era".{{cite news |last=Annie Zaleski |date=July 28, 2015 |title=New Radicals' only hit, "You Get What You Give," was secretly influential |url=http://www.avclub.com/article/new-radicals-only-hit-you-get-what-you-give-was-se-222559 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150730131937/http://www.avclub.com/article/new-radicals-only-hit-you-get-what-you-give-was-se-222559 |archive-date=July 30, 2015 |newspaper=The A.V. Club}} BBC Radio ranked the song at number 38 on its list of the "Most Heard Recordings in Britain of the Last 75 Years".{{cite magazine|title=Gregg Alexander|magazine=Billboard|date=October 3, 2009|page=145|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EX4yD1pJCxUC&q=%22You+Get+What+You+Give%22+%22new+radicals%22&pg=RA11-PA145|access-date=July 27, 2017}}

On January 20, 2021, New Radicals reunited for the first time in 22 years to perform the song during an inauguration performance on the day Joe Biden was sworn in as president. The song was a favorite of President Biden's son Beau Biden, who died in 2015. At his funeral, his sister Ashley recited the lyrics in her eulogy. The band had rejected offers to perform over the past 22 years but wanted to honor this day and honor Beau Biden, who was a military veteran. The band's Gregg Alexander said prior to their performance, "We pledged if Joe [Biden] won, we'd get together and play our little song both in memory and in honor of our new president's patriot son Beau and also with the prayer of Joe being able to bring our country together again with compassion, honesty and justice for a change".{{cite news|title=Exclusive: Watch the Complete New Radicals 'You Get What You Give' Inauguration Performance|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/new-radicals-you-get-what-you-give-inauguration-1116957/|last=Greene|first=Andy|date=January 20, 2021|work=Rolling Stone}}

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• UK CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=You Get What You Give|others=New Radicals|year=1999|type=UK CD single liner notes|publisher=MCA Records|id=MCSTD 48111}}

1. "You Get What You Give" – 4:42
2. "To Think I Thought" – 2:46
3. "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too" – 5:21

• UK cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=You Get What You Give|others=New Radicals|year=1999|type=UK cassette single sleeve|publisher=MCA Records|id=MCSC-48111}}

1. "You Get What You Give" – 4:42
2. "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too" – 5:21

• European CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=You Get What You Give|others=New Radicals|year=1999|type=European CD single liner notes|publisher=MCA Records|id=MCD-49103, 149 103-2}}

1. "You Get What You Give" – 4:42
2. "To Think I Thought" – 2:46

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• Australian CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=You Get What You Give|others=New Radicals|year=1999|type=Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=MCA Records|id=MCD-49093}}

1. "You Get What You Give" – 4:42
2. "To Think I Thought" – 2:46
3. "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too" – 5:21
4. "You Get What You Give" (album version) – 5:02

• Japanese CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=You Get What You Give|others=New Radicals|year=1998|type=Japanese CD single liner notes|publisher=MCA Records|id=MVCE-9012}}

1. "You Get What You Give" – 4:08
2. "You Get What You Give" (album version) – 5:00
3. "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too" (album version) – 5:20

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• Gregg Alexander – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Rusty Anderson – lead guitar
• John Pierce – bass guitar
• Rick Nowels – keyboard, backing vocals
• Gary Ferguson – drums
• Juliet Prater – percussion
• Richie Podler – additional vocal arrangement
• Michael Brauer – mixing

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|artist=New Radicals|title=You Get What You Give|award=Gold|relyear=1999|certyear=2024|id=11972|access-date=February 13, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|award=Platinum|number=2|artist=New Radicals|title=You Get What You Give|relyear=1999|certyear=2022|type=single|source=radioscope|refname="RMNZ"|access-date=February 6, 2025}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=New Radicals|title=You Get What You Give|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1999|certyear=2024|id=8405-1866-1|access-date=June 29, 2024}}

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In 2017, Felix Cartal released a cover version (entitled "Get What You Give") for his album Next Season, which received two nominations at the 2018 Juno Awards for Producer of the Year and Dance Recording of the Year.{{Cite web|title=Junos 2018: the complete list of winners|url=https://www.cbc.ca/music/junos/news/junos-2018-the-complete-list-of-winners-1.4579405|website=cbc.ca| date=March 25, 2018 }}{{Cite magazine |last=Shouneyia |first=Alexa |date=March 24, 2017 |title=Felix Cartal Drops Infectious Track 'Get What You Give': Premiere |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/felix-cartal-get-what-you-give-new-song-listen-7735750/ |access-date=August 24, 2023 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}

In 2012, the TV show Glee covered the song in "Goodbye", the 22nd episode of the third season. It was released as a part of the soundtrack Glee: The Music, The Graduation Album.

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{{New Radicals}}

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Category:1998 singles

Category:1998 songs

Category:1999 singles

Category:MCA Records singles

Category:New Radicals songs

Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand

Category:Protest songs

Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Gregg Alexander

Category:Songs written by Gregg Alexander

Category:Songs written by Rick Nowels

Category:American power pop songs

Category:American pop rock songs

Category:Music videos shot in the United States