Song · Alice In Chains
“What The Hell Have I” by Alice In Chains
Released 1993
“What The Hell Have I” by Alice In Chains appears on 9 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1994 and 2021. It was first released in 1993. Its best result is #9 on the KISW 25 Greatest Soundtrack Songs in Rock. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,835 alternative song of all time.
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"What the Hell Have I" was Alice in Chains' contribution to the soundtrack of Last Action Hero, John McTiernan's 1993 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle, but it was really a leftover: Jerry Cantrell had written it, words and music, for Dirt, and the band shelved it there before handing it to Hollywood. Released as a single in 1993, it climbed to 19 on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks.
That eerie, Eastern-tinged opening riff isn't a sitar, whatever people assumed. Cantrell tried one, couldn't work out how to play it, and got the sound from a guitar-sitar instead. Toby Wright recorded the track and Andy Wallace mixed it. It later resurfaced on Nothing Safe: Best of the Box, with a remix on the Music Bank box set.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 1000 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) | 1000 |
| 1995 | 747 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) | 1000 |
| 1996 | 776 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) | 1000 |
| 1998 | 725 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) | 1000 |
| 1999 | 355 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 1999 | 609 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) | 998 |
| 2002 | 649 | KISW | KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) | 999 |
| 2002 | 911 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2021 | 9 | KISW | KISW 25 Greatest Soundtrack Songs in Rock | 25 |
Also listed as: What the Hell Have I.
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