What It's Like

"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, which combines rock, hip-hop and blues while incorporating characterization and empathy towards impoverished protagonists.

"What It's Like"
Single by Everlast
from the album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues
B-side"7 Years"
ReleasedJuly 1998 (1998-07)[1]
Genre
Length
  • 5:03 (album version)
  • 4:37 (video version)
  • 3:50 (radio edit)
LabelTommy Boy
Songwriter(s)Everlast
Producer(s)Everlast
Everlast singles chronology
"The Rhythm"
(1990)		 "What It's Like"
(1998)		 "Painkillers"
(1998)
Audio sample
"What It's Like"
  • file
  • help
Music video
What It's Like on YouTube

The song peaked at number one on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart for one week and on the Modern Rock Tracks chart for nine weeks. It also reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the singer's only solo top-40 hit on the US chart.[6] Outside the United States, the song reached number four in Iceland, number six in Canada, and the top 40 in Australia, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Song structure

Structurally, the song consists of three verses, a chorus, and a bridge. The last line of the chorus varies according to the particular situation faced by the character in the preceding verse. Each character is sympathetically presented 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 (We’ve all seen the man at the liquor store beggin’ for your change/The hair on his face is dirty, dreadlocked and full of mange); when asking for change from a man, he is rudely rejected (He asks the man for what he could spare with shame in his eyes/"Get a job, you fuckin' slob" is all he replies)
  • 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 approaches the entrance of the clinic, she is labeled a "killer," a "sinner," and a "whore."
  • A drug dealer named Max, a man with violent friends and an alcohol problem (I knew this kid named Max, he used to get fat stacks out on the corner with drugs/He liked to hang out late, he liked to get shit-faced and keep the pace with thugs) who dies a violent death (Until late one night there was a big gunfight and Max lost his head/He pulled out his chrome .45, talked some shit, and wound up dead).

The speaker attempts to build empathy 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/You know it comes that way, at least that's what they say when you play the game/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 outside.

Track listings

Charts

Release history
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States July 1998 Modern rock radio Tommy Boy [1]
November 2, 1998 Active rock radio [38]
January 12, 1999 Contemporary hit radio [39]
United Kingdom February 15, 1999
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [40]

References
  1. Borzillo, Carrie (August 29, 1998). "Everlast Tones Down Hip-Hop on Tommy Boy's 'Whitey Ford'" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 35. p. 26. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  2. Tehee, Joshua (September 16, 2015). "Everlast brings hip-hop country rock to Fulton 55". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  3. Wartofsky, Alona (October 25, 2000). "Everlast &". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  4. Wartofsky, Alona (February 14, 1999). "A B-Boy Changes His Tune, And Life". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  5. Simutis, David (February 11, 1999). "Heart-Attack Man". Broward-Palm Beach New Times. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  6. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 213.
  7. What It's Like (UK CD single liner notes). Everlast. Tommy Boy Records. 1999. TBCD 470.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. What It's Like (UK cassette single sleeve). Everlast. Tommy Boy Records. 1999. TBC 470.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. What It's Like (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Everlast. Tommy Boy Records. 1999. TBV 7470.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. What It's Like (European CD single liner notes). Everlast. Tommy Boy Records. 1999. TBCD 7470.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. What It's Like (Australian CD single liner notes). Everlast. Mushroom Records, Tommy Boy Records. 1999. MUSH01862.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. "Everlast – What It's Like". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  13. "Everlast – What It's Like" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  14. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 7350." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  15. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 8166." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  16. "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 7450." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  17. "Everlast – What It's Like" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  18. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (1.10–8.10. 1998)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). October 2, 1998. p. 10. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  19. "Everlast – What It's Like" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  20. "Everlast – What It's Like". Top 40 Singles.
  21. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  22. "Everlast – What It's Like". Swiss Singles Chart.
  23. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  24. "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  25. "Everlast Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  26. "Everlast Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  27. "Everlast Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  28. "Everlast Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  29. "Everlast Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  30. "Everlast Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  31. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 100 – Vinsælustu Lögin '98". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). January 2, 1999. p. 34. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  32. "RPM 1999 Top 100 Hit Tracks". RPM. Retrieved November 8, 2018 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  33. "Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 1999" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  34. "Billboard Top 100 – 1999". Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  35. "1999 – The Year in Music" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. 148. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  36. "1999 – The Year in Music" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. 138. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  37. "Greatest of All Time Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  38. "Adds for November 2 & 3". Gavin Report. No. 2229. October 22, 1998. p. 38.
  39. "New Releases". Radio & Records. No. 1281. January 8, 1999. p. 39.
  40. "New Releases – For Week Starting 15 February, 1999" (PDF). Music Week. February 13, 1999. p. 27. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
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