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Cover of Whitey Ford Sings the Blues by Everlast
Cover: Whitey Ford Sings the Blues

Song · Everlast

“What It's Like” by Everlast

From the album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues (1998)

“What It's Like” by Everlast appears on 81 radio countdowns from 31 stations between 1998 and 2026. It was first released in 1998 on the album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues. Its best result is #2 on the K-Rock Top 92 Songs of 1999. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #22 alternative song of 1998, #407 alternative song of all time and #9 of the '90s.

81countdowns
31stations
#2best position
0#1 finishes
7top 10 finishes
1998–2026years charted

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What It's Like

Video from YouTube (Everlast - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"What It's Like" was the lead single from Everlast's second album, Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, out on Tommy Boy in 1998, and it's the song that showed the House of Pain veteran had a whole new act. It mixes rock, hip-hop and blues into something dusty and grave: a bluesy guitar figure, a slow, loping groove, and Everlast's gravelly voice telling stories of people ground down by poverty, drawn with real compassion rather than pity.

He plays the guitar himself and produced it with John Gamble and Dante Ross, with Gamble engineering and Jamie Staub mixing. Ben Bocardo is on bass, and a string section of Alen C. Agadhzhanyan and Jacqueline Suzuki on violin, John Wang on viola and Elizabeth Wright on cello lends the whole thing a mournful, cinematic hush.

Rock radio couldn't get enough. It topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks for a week and sat at number one on Modern Rock Tracks for nine, and it climbed to 13 on the Hot 100, his only solo hit to crack the top 40 there. When Billboard marked the Modern Rock chart's 35th anniversary in September 2023, it placed the song at 52 on its list of the chart's most successful songs.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1998 20 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1998 107
1998 5 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1998 91
1998 29 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1998 106
1998 32 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1998 101
1998 17 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1998 100
1998 12 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101.7 Songs of 1998 102
1998 7 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1998 107
1998 39 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 1998 100
1998 73 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 1998 103
1998 63 DC101 Washington, D.C. DC101 Top 101 Songs of 1998 101
1998 73 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 103 Songs of 1998 102
1999 26 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1999 107
1999 4 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1999 106
1999 6 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1999 101
1999 2 K-Rock New York, NY K-Rock Top 92 Songs of 1999 92
1999 6 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 99 Songs of 1999 99
1999 52 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1999 107
1999 79 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 1999 103
1999 76 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1999 100
1999 3 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 104 Songs of 1999 104

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 43 CRNC 90.1 CRNC Top 90.1 Songs of the '90s 91
1999 86 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 192 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 59 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 219 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 251 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 141 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 146 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 842 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
1999 590 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2000 34 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of the '90s (September 2000) 100
2000 23 DC101 DC101 Top 101 Rock Songs of the 90s 101
2000 1993 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1982 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 41 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 1965 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 23 The Buzz The Buzz Top Songs of All-Time (Labor Day 2002, partial) 144
2002 386 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2003 1893 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 258 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 1893 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 169 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2005 63 Live 105 Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of the '90s (August 2005) 106
2005 95 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the 90s 96
2005 1883 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 114 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 104 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of the '90s (December 2006) 107
2006 273 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 158 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2007 75 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2008 129 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2009 66 CFNY 102.1 The Edge The Top 200 Songs of the 90's According to 102.1 The Edge 200
2009 51 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 116 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009) 200
2014 49 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 49 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 108 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 50 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2020 78 DC101 Top DC101 of the 90's 101
2020 229 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2020 153 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2020 217 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 75 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2021 491 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 435 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 252 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 137 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 690 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 137 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2022 50 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2022 383 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2022 429 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2023 175 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2023 445 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 30 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2024 224 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2024 271 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2025 238 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 305 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400
2026 234 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500
2026 26 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: What it's Like.

Charting alongside it in 1998

Best songs of 1998 →
  1. 1IntergalacticBeastie Boys
  2. 2Flagpole SittaHarvey Danger
  3. 3Celebrity SkinHole
  4. 4Inside OutEve 6
  5. 5Closing TimeSemisonic
  6. 6Father of MineEverclear

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