Girish Mahajan (Editor)

What's Up (song)

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B-side
  
Piano version

Recorded
  
1992

Released
  
June 23, 1993

Genre
  
Alternative rock

Format
  
7" single, cassette, CD single, CD maxi

Length
  
4:55 (Album version) 4:15 (Single edit)

"What's Up?" is a song by American rock group 4 Non Blondes from their 1992 debut album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More!. It was released as the album's second single in 1993. It was very successful in Brazil and in several European countries, peaking at number one in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.

Contents

Background and writing

The title does not appear in the song's lyrics. However, the phrase "what's going on?" is prominently included in the chorus. The title was chosen to avoid confusion with Marvin Gaye's 1971 song "What's Going On." Linda Perry told Rolling Stone that she hated the song's production. The music video was directed by Morgan Lawley.

Critical reception and chart performances

"What's Up?" ranks number 94 on VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders, and ranks 86 on the MuchMore The Top 100 One Hit Wonders.

The recording received considerable airplay success. It reached number 14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and went gold, but peaked higher in many other countries, reaching number one in Germany and Ireland, while reaching number two in the United Kingdom and Australia.

On the other hand, "What's Up?" is regarded by some as one of the worst songs ever recorded.

Track listings

7" single / CD single
  1. "What's Up?" – 4:16
  2. "What's Up?" (piano version) – 4:09
CD maxi
  1. "What's Up?" (edit) – 4:16
  2. "What's Up?" (remix) – 4:51
  3. "Train" – 3:47
  4. "What's Up?" (piano version) – 4:09
Cassette
  1. "What's Up?" (LP version)
  2. "Train" (LP version)
  3. "What's Up?" (LP version)
  4. "Train" (LP version)

Personnel

  • Written by L. Perry
  • Mastered by Stephen Marcussen
  • Recorded, mixed and produced by David Tickle
  • Engineer: Laurent Tardy

    • Minnesota cover version

  • German eurodance group Minnesota covered the song as a dance version in late 1993. It reached number one on the dance chart in Canada and charted in Belgium and Switzerland.

    • Live cover performances

  • Pink covered the song on her Party Tour, on select European dates of her Try This Tour, and on her I'm Not Dead Tour. She performed it on select dates of The Funhouse Summer Carnival as well.
  • Lady Gaga covered the song on the November 2nd 2014 show of her artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball tour, in Vienna, Austria. Professional footage of the performance was soon after uploaded to her official YouTube channel She also performed it during her acceptance speech at the Songwriter Hall of Fame.

    • In 2005, a group of animators known as "Slackcircus" created a video called "Fabulous Secret Powers", featuring He-Man from Masters of the Universe singing their own cover of the song (and interpolating lyrics from Melissa Manchester's "Don't Cry Out Loud"). The video has since become an internet meme, with an edited version of the animation garnering over 88 million views on YouTube as of January 2017.

    The song appeared in the 2011 film Young Adult, starring Charlize Theron.

    The song appeared in the fourth episode of the Netflix web series Sense8.

    A master recording version of the song was used in Rock Band 4.

    A version of the song, sung in Spanish, appeared in the final episode of season one of the television series Zoo

    References

    What's Up? (song) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA