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"
Released	July 1998 (1998-07)[1]
Genre	Blues rock[2] folk blues[3] alternative rock[4] alternative hip hop[5]
Length	5:03 (album version) 4:37 (video version) 3:50 (radio edit)
Label	Tommy Boy
Songwriter	Everlast
Producer	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 Tracks 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.

In September 2023, for the 35th anniversary of the Modern Rock Tracks chart (which by then had been renamed to Alternative Airplay),^[7] Billboard published a list of the top 100 most successful songs in the chart's history; "What It's Like" was ranked at number 52.^[8]

Song structure

The verses describe three situations of people facing hardship:

• A homeless man outside a liquor store, who begs for change from passers-by but receives only scornful replies.
• A woman whose boyfriend abandons her after she becomes pregnant by him. Deciding to have an abortion, she draws condemnation from protesters outside the clinic.
• The grieving wife and children of a drug dealer who has been shot and killed.

Each verse ends with the narrator's urging that the listeners put themselves in the characters' situation in order to better understand their troubles. During the bridge, he comments on the difficulties he has witnessed in others' lives and experienced in his own, saying, "I've seen the good side of bad and the down side of up and everything in between."

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

UK CD and cassette single[9][10] "What It's Like" (radio edit) – 3:49 "What It's Like" (original album version) – 5:03 UK 7-inch single[11] A. "What It's Like" (original album version) – 5:03 B. "7 Years" – 4:04

European and Australian CD single[12][13] "What It's Like" (radio edit) – 3:49 "What It's Like" (original album version) – 5:03 "7 Years" – 4:04

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1998–1999) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[14] 26 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[15] 17 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[16] 6 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[17] 33 Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[18] 14 Germany (GfK)[19] 17 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[20] 4 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] 58 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[22] 31 Scotland Singles (OCC)[23] 33 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 20 UK Singles (OCC)[25] 34 UK Indie (OCC)[26] 7 US Billboard Hot 100[27] 13 US Adult Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[28] 13 US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[29] 9 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[30] 1 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[31] 1 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[32] 4

Year-end charts Chart (1998) Position Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[33] 26 US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[34] 89 Chart (1999) Position Canada Top Singles (RPM)[35] 29 Germany (Media Control)[36] 81 US Billboard Hot 100[37] 28 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[38] 24 US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)[39] 4 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[40] 15 US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[39] 2

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		[41]
	January 12, 1999	Contemporary hit radio		[42]
United Kingdom	February 15, 1999	7-inch vinyl CD cassette		[43]

Legacy

In April 2015, "What It's Like" was heard playing on the car radio in the dashcam recording during the killing of Walter Scott by Charleston, South Carolina police officer Michael Slager. Everlast said that he was shocked by hearing the song connected to the tragedy and called it "fucked up" and "ironic" considering its lyrical themes of empathy.^[44]