As promised, hitmakers from the 1990s, New Radicals, met for the first time in 22 years to sing their 1998 single “You Get What You Give” for the daytime part of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s Inauguration Day celebration.
Vocalist Gregg Alexander even wore a bucket hat for the occasion (he is famous for wearing one in the original music video for the song, and has since become something of a visual brand for the band).
Speaking for Rolling Stone about the meeting, Alexander talked about filming the meeting and cutting out the rap part of the song, which originally mentioned “health insurance, flight theft / FDA, buying big bankers” and “kicking[ing]“Marilyn Manson’s and Hanson’s“ asses ”.
“Actually, I had no problems with the artists that I mentioned in music rap,” said Alexander of the music rap segment.
“My main problem was with the corrupt bankers, the FDA and the types of health insurance, which was, in retrospect, a sadly prescient letter. But in the late 90s, no one wanted artists to metaphorically ‘spoil the party’ with such political lyrics during the CD boom! “
He continued: “Writing that ‘health insurance steal the FDA lie’ rap when I got to the part of trying to rhyme the words ‘mansion’ and ‘donkey’, but only words like Hanson, who are very talented BTW, were among the options that I had at the time! But for the opening and just four minutes to play, I couldn’t get to the rap part anyway. ”
Fans who watched from home reacted positively on social media. “I was shocked to find that this song has meaning for the Biden and Harris families – it helped me through the darkest days after 9/11 and again when I went through breast cancer,” wrote one person on Twitter.
“Still a banger after all these years !! It was born in the eighties, it grew in the nineties. THIS WAS AND IS MY JAM ”, wrote another fan.
“If there is anything on Earth that would possibly make us join the band, even if only for a day, it is the hope that our music could be the smallest beacon of light in such a dark time,” Alexander said in a statement when the meeting was announced earlier this week.
“America knows in its heart that things will be bright again with a new administration and a real vaccine plan on the way. That’s the message of the song … this world will survive. “
Music has also become a theme for the Biden family. As the 46th president wrote in his 2017 autobiography, Promise me dad, “Over breakfast, Beau used to make me hear what I thought was his theme song, ‘You Get What You Give’, by New Radicals.”
“Even though Beau never stopped fighting and his will to live was stronger than most – I think he knew that day could come. The words of the song are: This damn world can fall apart. You’ll be fine, follow your heart. “
Biden was sworn in on Wednesday morning. Lady Gaga sang the national anthem; Jennifer Lopez sang a medley for “This Land Is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful”; and the great country Garth Brooks sang “Amazing Grace”.
The evening part of the opening ceremony, hosted by Tom Hanks, featured performances by Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake and Ant Clemons, Foo Fighters and more.