What It's Like

"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

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]

References

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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. Rutherford, Kevin (September 7, 2023). "Alternative Airplay Chart's 35th Anniversary: Foo Fighters Remain No. 1 Act, 'Monsters' New Top Song". Billboard . Retrieved November 15, 2023.
8. "Greatest of All Time Alternative Songs". Billboard . Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
9. What It's Like (UK CD single liner notes). Everlast. Tommy Boy Records. 1999. TBCD 470.
10. What It's Like (UK cassette single sleeve). Everlast. Tommy Boy Records. 1999. TBC 470.
11. What It's Like (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Everlast. Tommy Boy Records. 1999. TBV 7470.
12. What It's Like (European CD single liner notes). Everlast. Tommy Boy Records. 1999. TBCD 7470.
13. What It's Like (Australian CD single liner notes). Everlast. Mushroom Records, Tommy Boy Records. 1999. MUSH01862.2.
14. "Everlast – What It's Like". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
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16. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 7350." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
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38. "1999 The Year in Music: Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. YE-100. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
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41. "Adds for November 2 & 3". Gavin Report . No. 2229. October 22, 1998. p. 38.
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44. Stutz, Colin (April 5, 2016). "Everlast Tells Trump to Stop Using 'Jump Around,' But He Won't Sue: That's a 'Scumbag Donald Trump Move'". Billboard . Retrieved 2025-05-25.