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Cover of Wither Blister Burn + Peel by Stabbing Westward
Cover: Wither Blister Burn + Peel

Song · Stabbing Westward

“What Do I Have To Do?” by Stabbing Westward

From the album Wither Blister Burn + Peel (1996)

“What Do I Have To Do?” by Stabbing Westward appears on 28 radio countdowns from 11 stations between 1996 and 2022. It was first released in 1996 on the album Wither Blister Burn + Peel. Its best result is #9 on the Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #39 alternative song of 1996, #2,293 alternative song of all time and #412 of the '90s.

28countdowns
11stations
#9best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1996–2022years charted

Watch

Stabbing Westward - What Do I Have To Do?

Video from YouTube (StabbingWestwardVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"What Do I Have to Do?" kicked the door open for Stabbing Westward in 1996, the first single from Wither Blister Burn & Peel and the one that finally broke the Columbia industrial rockers through, with its video landing on MTV. It's a pleading, clenched-jaw thing: machine-tight verses that build into a chorus of pure, raw-throated desperation, grinding guitars and synths stacked up like a wall.

Singer Christopher Hall later described it as a song of frustration, about being willing to do anything to win back someone who has stopped loving you, and admitted that the grim truth is that nothing works. He even pointed to Lyle Lovett's "She's Already Made Up Her Mind" as the last word on the subject.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1996 61 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1996 107
1996 9 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996 101
1996 30 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996 99
1996 27 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1996 107
1996 61 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of 1996 104
1996 37 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 96 Songs of 1996 96

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1998 820 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 198 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 840 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 1500 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 751 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2000 1500 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1507 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1505 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 706 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2003 1509 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 1509 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1508 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 591 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2007 446 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 1847 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1837 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1870 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1924 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1999 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2020 357 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2021 397 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 464 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500

Also listed as: What Do I Have to Do?; What Do I Have to Do; What Do I Have To Do.

Charting alongside it in 1996

Best songs of 1996 →
  1. 1Down311
  2. 2PepperButthole Surfers
  3. 3Where It's AtBeck
  4. 4SpiderwebsNo Doubt
  5. 5What I GotSublime
  6. 6MachineheadBush

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