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4 Non Blondes - What's Up



Here are times when we just need to take a deep breath and scream from the top of our lungs, "What's going on!?"


That's how 4 Non Blondes frontwoman Linda Perry felt when she wrote this very cathartic song. "It's like, 'Why does it always seem like either I'm struggling, or there's some f--king political mess happening? Why is this all happening in the world?'" she said on the Backstory Song podcast.


The phrase "what's up" doesn't appear in the lyric. The chorus refrain is "what's going on," but that's the name of a 1971 Marvin Gaye R&B classic.


The song was influenced by the political climate of the time (George H. W. Bush was president), but there are no political references in the lyric, which makes it malleable and gives it staying power. "If you look at the lyrics, they don't mean anything," 4 Non Blondes bass player Christa Hillhouse told Songfacts. "It's the way the song makes certain people feel. In Europe where they're not speaking English, they know every broken-English word, and that song makes them feel something. I knew right when we played it, the song made the whole room feel this thing. It's a connection to humanity. Certain simple songs, that's what they do. There's an honesty there that breaks through that people can relate to. Then of course they played that song to death and a lot of people are really sick of it." "It also had to deal with, 'We're living, we're broke, all we do is play music,'" she added. "It was a weird time, the late '80s. We were living pretty raw, but when you're an artist and you're living that raw existence, you're so much more open and exposed with your feelings. We definitely weren't poseur types, we've always been pretty honest as individuals. The song was an expression of something she [Linda Perry] was feeling, and it ended up being a pretty universal experience. There's just something there that's pure, that you almost can't define, and that's the thing. We were just living as honest a life as we could, and I think the music that came out of it had heart."



Lyrics


25 years and my life is still


Tryin' to get up that great big hill of hope


For a destination



I realized quickly when I knew I should


That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man


For whatever that means



And so I cry sometimes when I'm lying in bed


Just to get it all out what's in my head


And I, I am feeling a little peculiar



And so I wake in the morning and I step outside


And I take a deep breath and I get real high


And I scream from the top of my lungs


"What's going on?"



And I say, hey-ey-ey


Hey-ey-ey


I said "Hey, a-what's going on?"


And I say, hey-ey-ey


Hey-ey-ey


I said "Hey, a-what's going on?"



Ooh, ooh


Ooh


Ooh, uh huh


Ooh, ooh


Ooh


Ooh, uh huh



And I try


Oh my God, do I try


I try all the time


In this institution



And I pray


Oh my God, do I pray


I pray every single day


For revolution



And so I cry sometimes when I'm lying in bed


Just to get it all out, what's in my head


And I, I am feeling a little peculiar



And so I wake in the morning and I step outside


And I take a deep breath and I get real high


And I scream from the top of my lungs


"What's going on?"



And I say, hey-ey-ey


Hey-ey-ey


I said "Hey, what's going on?"


And I say, hey-ey-ey


Hey-ey-ey


I said "Hey, a-what's going on?"


And I say, hey-ey-ey


(Wake in the morning and step outside)


Hey-ey-ey


(Take a deep breath and I get real high)


(And I scream)


I said "Hey, a-what's going on?"


And I say, hey-ey-ey


(Wake in the morning and step outside)


Hey-ey, yeah yeah yeah


(Take a deep breath and I get real high)


(And I scream)


I said "Hey, a-what's going on?"



Ooh, ooh


Ooh


Ooh, uh huh



25 years and my life is still


Tryin' to get up that great big hill of hope


For a destination, mmm

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