Peak
36
Weeks
20
Score
1,726
Chart Year
1999
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.
This uplifting '90s hit became an anthem for young dreamers ready to take on the world with music on their side. The title is kind of a mantra: you'll get back in life what you give to others. The song also rails against big business and the forces of oppression, sounding at times like a Bernie Sanders rally as it rails against the health care and banking industries: Health insurance, rip off lying FDA, big bankers buying The New Radicals is Gregg Alexander, a singer-songwriter famously averse to celebrity, which he makes clear near the end of the song when he calls out Marilyn Monroe, Beck, Courtney Love, and Hanson, accusing them of being fakes and threatening to "kick their ass in." Alexander was raised in Michigan but came to Los Angeles as a teenager and quickly secured a record deal with A&M, which issued his debut album in 1989 and then dropped him. He moved on to Epic, which issued his second album in 1992 and then dropped him. Along the way, he learned how artists were expected to follow trends and kowtow to the industry machine, which he found degrading. He cobbled together a third album - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed, Too - which included "You Get What You Give," and somehow got a third record deal, this time with MCA. Released in October 1998, the song caught on in early 1999, so a touring band was assembled and they hit the road, doing the kind of radio station promotions Alexander loathed. In April, they toured as opening act for Goo Goo Dolls, then on July 12, Alexander pulled the plug on The New Radicals, issuing a press release stating, "I'd lost interest in fronting a one-hit wonder to the point that I was wearing a hat while performing so that people wouldn't see my lack of enthusiasm." He turned to producing and songwriting, but kept a low profile. His biggest hit in this capacity was the Santana (featuring Michelle Branch) song "The Game Of Love," which he co-wrote under the name Alex Ander. He also wrote songs for Sophie Ellis Bextor, Ronan Keating, Mel C and Enrique Iglesias. The closing lyrics that rattle off the list of celebrities caused some controversy, with Marilyn Manson threatening to crack Gregg Alexander's skull open, not because of the "kick your ass" line, but because he didn't like being mentioned next to Courtney Love. Alexander put that list in as an experiment to see if the media would focus on the real issues addressed in the song, or just glom to the famous names. It proved decisively that Marilyn Manson gets more heat than the health care crisis. He told MTV: "There's this whole hysteria and curiosity over peripheral stupidity instead of focusing on real issues, and a lot of people I talked to asked me about those real things, while a lot of rock media tried to turn it into a cat fight." Not all of the artists mentioned in the song held a grudge: Hanson collaborated with Gregg Alexander on their 2004 song "Lost Without Each Other." Directed by Evan Bernard, the video was shot at the Staten Island Mall in New York because Gregg Alexander felt it epitomized the culture of materialism. "You Get What You Give" had been used in a number of movies and TV series, notably in the end credits of the 2006 Adam Sandler film Click, and in the 2012 season 3 finale of Glee. Other uses include the movies Surf's Up (2007), Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000). In the September 25, 2006 edition of Time magazine, U2 guitarist The Edge said that this is the song he is most jealous of. This is the first hit song to use the word "frenemies" in the lyric: "Frenemies, who when you're down ain't your friend." The word started showing up in the late '90s to explain those weird relationships where you could be both friends and enemies with someone at the same time, depending on the situation. "Frenemies" became the title of a book in 2007 and a movie in 2012, but many of us heard it for the first time courtesy of The New Radicals. A version by Mackenzie Graham, who uses the stage name Mack, was used in a 2018 commercial for the University of Phoenix. On January 20, 2021, Gregg Alexander re-fired The New Radicals to perform this song at Joe Biden's inauguration concert. The song is very important to Biden because his son, Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in 2015, often played it. Alexander stated: "Performing the song again after such a long time is a huge honor because we all have deep respect for Beau's military service and such high hopes for the unity and normalcy Joe and Kamala will bring our country again in this time of crisis." Gregg Alexander knew what he was letting himself in for when he penned such a catchy single. "I enjoy watching it climb up the chart," he told Billboard magazine on November 14th 1998. "I'm ready to be carted around like a piece of meat. You have to cut a deal with the machine and be thrown to the wolves."
1, 2, 1, 2, 3 Wake up kids We've got the dreamers disease Age 14 we got you down on your knees So polite, you're busy still saying please Frienemies, who when you're down ain't your friend Every night we smash their Mercedes-Benz First we run, and then we laugh 'til we cry But when the night is falling You cannot find the light You feel your dreams are dying Hold tight You've got the music in you Don't let go You've got the music in you One dance left This world is gonna pull through Don't give up You've got a reason to live Can't forget We only get what we give I'm comin' home baby You're tops, Give it to me now Four a.m. We ran a miracle mile We're flat broke, But hey we do it in style The bad rich God's flying in for your trial But when the night is falling You cannot find a friend (friend) You feel your tree is breaking Just then You've got the music in you Don't let go You've got the music in you One dance left This world is gonna pull through Don't give up You've got a reason to live Can't forget We only get what we give This whole damn world, could fall apart You'll be ok, follow your heart You're in harms way, I'm right behind Now say you're mine You've got the music in you Don't let go You've got the music in you One dance left This world is gonna pull through Don't give up You've got a reason to live Can't forget We only get what we give Don't let go I feel the music in you Don't let go Fly high, high What's real, can't die You only get what you give You only get what you give Don't give up Just don't be afraid to leave 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 Don't let go One dance left Don't give up Can't forget
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 5, 1998 | 64 | 62 |
| 2 | Dec 12, 1998 | 60 | 66 |
| 3 | Dec 19, 1998 | 47 | 79 |
| 4 | Dec 26, 1998 | 52 | 74 |
| 5 | Jan 2, 1999 | 50 | 76 |
| 6 | Jan 9, 1999 | 46 | 80 |
| 7 | Jan 16, 1999 | 38 | 88 |
| 8 | Jan 23, 1999 | 37 | 89 |
| 9 | Jan 30, 1999 | 36 | 90 |
| 10 | Feb 6, 1999 | 38 | 88 |
| 11 | Feb 13, 1999 | 43 | 83 |
| 12 | Feb 20, 1999 | 47 | 79 |
| 13 | Feb 27, 1999 | 51 | 75 |
| 14 | Mar 6, 1999 | 51 | 75 |
| 15 | Mar 13, 1999 | 55 | 71 |
| 16 | Mar 20, 1999 | 58 | 68 |
| 17 | Mar 27, 1999 | 62 | 64 |
| 18 | Apr 3, 1999 | 77 | 49 |
| 19 | Apr 10, 1999 | 90 | 36 |
| 22 | May 1, 1999 | 97 | 29 |