Marilyn Manson says he wasn’t upset when the guy sang that “he’d kick my ass, I just don’t want to be used in the same sentence as Courtney Love.  I’ll crack his skull open if I see him.”  And yet You Get What You Give, which has received well over a million radio plays, has such a life-affirming message.

The guy in question is singer/songwriter Gregg Alexander, who was the one constant member of the Иew Radicals. His song reached Number 30 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart and Number 5 on the U.K. Chart in 1999. A short lived band, Иew Radicals released only one album, 1998’s (tantalizingly titled) Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, which contained  “radio-friendly” tracks intermixed with refreshingly strong criticism of corporate America.

According to Alexander, the section of today’s selection (sorry) that “enraged” Marilyn Manson was actually a test to see whether the media would focus on the major political issues of some of the earlier lines (Health insurance rip off lying/FDA big bankers buying, etc.), or the petty celebrity insults. As expected, while the more significant lines were largely ignored, the press focused mainly on the name-dropping.

The singer, Beck once said that Alexander actually apologized to him for the reference during a chance meeting in a supermarket.  “He came running up to me…saying,  ‘I hope you weren’t offended. It wasn’t supposed to be personal.’ I was kind of pleased, because he’s a big guy.”  Nothing reported about what kind of guy Courtney Love thought him to be, but the band, Hanson said they just figured it was a pop-culture reference and Alexander actually went on to work with them a few years later. “It was cool working with Gregg,” said drummer Zac Hanson, “…definitely a character but he’s a cool guy.”

LISTEN TO TODAY’S SELECTION – Friday 13 April

You Get What You Give

Wake up kids

We’ve got the dreamers disease

Age 14 we got you down on your knees

So polite, we’re busy still saying please

Frien-emies, who when you’re down ain’t your friend

Every night I smash a Mercedes-Benz

First we run and then we laugh till we cry

But when the night is falling

You cannot find the light, light

If you feel your dream is dying

Hold tight

You’ve got the music in you

Don’t let go

You’ve got the music in you

One dance left

This world is gonna pull through

Don’t give up

You’ve got a reason to live

Can’t forget

We only get what we give

 I’m coming home baby

You’re the tops

Give it to me now

 Four a. m. we ran a miracle mile

Were flat broke but hey we do it in style

The bad rich

God’s flying in for your trial

But when the night is falling

You cannot find a friend, friend

You feel your tree is breaking

Just bend

 You’ve got the music in you

Don’t let go

You’ve got the music in you

One dance left

This world is gonna pull through

Don’t give up

You’ve got a reason to live

Can’t forget

We only get what we give

This whole damn world can fall apart

You’ll be okay, follow your heart

You’re in harm’s way

I’m right behind

Now say you’re mine

 You’ve got the music in you

Don’t let go

You’ve got the music in you

One dance left

This world is gonna’ pull through

Don’t give up

We’ve got a reason to live

Can’t forget

We only get what we give

Don’t let go

I feel the music in you

Fly high

What’s real can’t die

You only get what you give

You’re gonna’ get what you give

Just don’t be afraid to live

Health insurance, rip off lying

FDA, big bankers buying

Fake computer crashes dining

Cloning while they’re multiplying

Fashion shoots

With Beck and Hanson

Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson

You’re all fakes

Run to your mansions

Come around

We’ll kick your ass in!

Don’t let go

One dance left

Don’t give up

Can’t forget….

{unsung lyrics from liner}

Championed by a soulless media misleading

People unaware they’re bleeding

No one with a brain’s believing

It’s so sad you lost the meaning

Never knew it anyway

Human natures so predictable

I’m a fool to do your dirty work

Whoa, whoa