Everything You Want (Vertical Horizon song)

Composition

Lead vocalist Matt Scannell has cited "Everything You Want" as a great example of honest songwriting and added, "I still experience joy singing it because I know it came from a true place." The song's main theme deals with unrequited love, which Scannell discussed in a 2010 interview:

"...I was in love with this girl, and she was just a broken person. She kept turning to everyone except me for love and acceptance, and I wanted so much to help her. I wanted to be the one to give her everything she wanted, but I couldn't. She just couldn't accept it from me, and it was that pain, that led me to creating the song."

Appropriately, the pop-friendly, tightly produced track features a particularly sullen and moody atmosphere with an airy song structure. The acoustic guitar rhythm lies under a melody of delayed electronic notes, and its chorus swells with an anxious vocal harmony over rumbling guitar. An aggressive bridge suddenly ignites the mood with angst wailing before returning to a more placid verse.

Music video

A music video for the single was directed by Clark Eddy and gained significant rotations. It features dreary, grey tones and cloudy skies corresponding with the song's gloomy nature. Band members, principally Matt Scannell, are seen walking down streets and in a restaurant. Scannell frequently stops to read a business card which contains different text at each glimpse. Throughout the video, a split screen effect depicts two versions of Scannell acting differently in mirror environments. Lyrics flash across the screen as the band performs the song in a bright, illuminated room with black, vertical pinstripes. Couples are shown arguing with various messages appearing across the screen such as "every six seconds you think about sex" and "there are two sides to every story." Finally, the view blurs with a message reading "everything you want is not everything you need" as the video comes to a close.

In January 2000, the video was chosen as "Inside Track" of the month by VH1.

Appearances

The song is featured acoustically on the 2008 album Duo which features both Matt Scannell and pop rock singer/songwriter Richard Marx.

As a major radio hit, "Everything You Want" was included on various compilation albums such as Buzz Balads, Vol. 2, Totally Hits, Vol. 3, and Now That's What I Call the 1990s.

Fictional music group Alvin and the Chipmunks covered this song as a playable track for the 2007 video game Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Success

"Everything You Want" would be one of the most heavily played singles of 2000 and the 2000s decade. It became a staple of many alternative rock and pop-oriented radio stations. Its success was further manifested when Lead vocalist Matt Scannell's brother went backpacking in Nepal. During the trip, he visited numerous villages and came across a small hut where an old man was inside knitting sweaters. To his surprise, the old man was listening to a tiny radio playing Vertical Horizon's hit song.

Performances

Vertical Horizon performed the song live on nearly every major American late-night talk show. They played on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in April 2000 before performing for The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn the following month. In April, "Everything You Want" was performed on both Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien, both of which were filmed in New York.

Awards

2000 Billboard Music Awards - Top 40 Track of the Year

Track listing

US CD single

1. "Everything You Want" (Radio Mix) - 4:06
2. "The Man Who Would Be Santa (Live)" - 5:33

US 45 single

1. "Everything You Want" (Radio Mix) - 4:06
2. "You're A God" (Radio Mix) - 3:48

Europe CD Single

1. "Everything You Want" (Radio Mix) - 4:06
2. "The Man Who Would Be Santa (Live)" - 5:33
3. "Heart In Hand (Live)" - 5:46