Twenty-five years and my life is still / Trying to get up that great big hill of hope / For a destination
As we enter a new decade, waiting to hear what 2020 brings us musically, we are given an opportunity to reminisce on some of the great songs that served as our life’s soundtrack to this point. “What’s Up?” is definitely one of those songs for me. It’s likely the only song most people know from 4 Non Blondes, a San Francisco rock band fronted by Linda Perry. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, you may recognize her work. Linda is the songwriter of classics from Pink!, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, and Alicia Keys (google her). In fact, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015. So yeah, she can write a tune, and “What’s Up?” is no different.
I scream from the top of my lungs / What's going on?
You’ve come to this playlist because you want a soundtrack as you figure things out, and this track sits next to you on the couch, empathizing with your internal struggle. This is one of those songs you hear once and it sticks in your head the rest of the day, the distinct vocals and simple lyrics, leading up to the famous wail of:
And I say, hey yeah yeah, hey yeah yeah / I said hey, what's going on?
A classic addition to the playlist, inducted on the legends’ ballot. Enjoy!
You can learn more about 4 Non Blondes here:
About the Curator - Ben Young:
Ben Young lives a life of polarity. He has split his life between the coasts: half his life on the West (California) and half on the East (Georgia and Virginia). He has pursued careers in the art world (film school graduate) and the corporate world (executive with Fortune 500 companies). And he is Biracial, the personification of being two things at once.
Ben’s musical influences were formed by music loving parents, raised in a world of John Coltrane and John Lennon, James Taylor and James Ingram, Huey Lewis and the News and Prince and the Revolution. Saxophones, electric guitars, synthesizers, and breakbeats filled the air Ben breathed from birth. And being born one year after the birth of Hip Hop, Ben has been joined at the hip with the genre his entire life.
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