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What It's Like

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = What It's Like

| cover = Everlast-WhatIt'sLike.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Everlast

| album = Whitey Ford Sings the Blues

| B-side = 7 Years

| released =

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = {{hlist|Blues rock|folk blues|alternative rock|}}

| length =

* 5:03 (album version)

* 4:37 (video version)

* 3:50 (radio edit)

| label = Tommy Boy

| writer = Everlast

| producer = Everlast

| prev_title = The Rhythm

| prev_year = 1990

| next_title = Painkillers

| next_year = 1998

| misc =

}}

"'What It's Like'" is a song by American musician Everlast. It was released in July 1998 as the lead single from his second studio album, 'Whitey Ford Sings the Blues' (1998). The song is typical of the style Everlast embraced after leaving hip hop trio House of Pain, being a combination of rock, hip-hop and blues incorporating characterization and empathy towards impoverished protagonists.

The song went to number one on the US 'Billboard' Mainstream Rock chart for one week and number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart for nine weeks. It also peaked at number 13 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, becoming the singer's only solo top 40 hit on the US chart to date.Whitburn, Joel (2004). 'The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 213. Outside the United States, the song reached number four in Iceland, number six in Canada, and the top 30 in Australia, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

Song structure



Structurally, the song consists of three verses, a chorus, and a bridge. The last line of the chorus varies in accordance with the particular situation faced by the character in the preceding verse. Each character is presented in a sympathetic light as a victim of circumstance and as being an object of derision. Each verse ends with the line 'God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his/her shoes' (in the third verse, "'...you ever had to wake up to hear the news'") and 'Cause then you really might know what it's like to', with the action varying depending on what the character has to do ("sing the blues," "have to choose," and "have to lose," respectively).

The characters are:

* A beggar ('the man at the liquor store beggin' for your change'); when asking for change from a man he's turned down rudely ('Get a job, you fuckin' slob)

* Mary, a pregnant girl who decides to have an abortion ('Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom who said he was in love'); when she goes through the door of the clinic, she gets called a "killer," a "sinner," and a "whore."

* A drug dealer named Max, a man with violent friends and an alcohol problem ('He liked to hang out late, he liked to get shit-faced and keep the pace with thugs') who dies a violent death ('He pulled out his chrome .45 talked some shit and wound up dead').

The speaker attempts to build sympathy for each character's struggle through the phrase "God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his/her shoes, 'cause then you really might know what it's like". The third verse changes the angle slightly to focus on the family left behind: "Now his wife and his kids are caught in the midst of all of his pain ... God forbid you ever had to wake up to hear the news, 'cause then you really might know what it's like to have to lose".

Music video



The music video was directed by Frank Sacramento in Los Angeles. Everlast is shown singing underwater while the three characters depicted in his song drown. Later they are crowded around a window (possibly dead) behind which an idyllic family is enjoying dinner, oblivious to the less fortunate who are outside.

Track listings



'US promo CD'

# "What It's Like" (no curses, no drugs, no guns, time edit with scratches) 4:35

# "What It's Like" (no curses, no drugs, no guns, time edit with drop outs) 4:35

# "What It's Like" (no curses, time edit with scratches) 4:35

# "What It's Like" (no curses, time edit with drop outs) 4:35

# "What It's Like" (no curses, no drugs, no guns, album length with scratches) 5:03

# "What It's Like" (no curses, no drugs, no guns, album length with drop outs) 5:06

# "What It's Like" (album version) 5:03

'UK 7-inch single'

:A. "What It's Like" (original album version) 5:03

:B. "7 Years" 4:04

'UK CD and cassette single'

# "What It's Like" (radio edit) 3:49

# "What It's Like" (original album version) 5:03

'European and Australian CD single'

# "What It's Like" (radio edit) 3:49

# "What It's Like" (original album version) 5:03

# "7 Years" 4:04

Charts



Weekly charts



Year-end charts



Release history



References



Category:1998 singles

Category:1998 songs

Category:Everlast (musician) songs

Category:Mushroom Records singles

Category:Songs about abortion

Category:Tommy Boy Records singles

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