Watch New Radicals Reunite For Biden Inauguration Virtual Parade
New Radicals reunited for the first time in 22 years for the virtual parade in honor of President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The band played their signature 1998 song “You Get What You Give,” performing it from a Philadelphia soundstage. Gregg Alexander brought his trusty bucket hat along for the ride. Unfortunately he did not sing the outro with lines like “Health insurance, rip off lying/ FDA, big bankers buying” and “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 asses.”
“If there’s one thing on Earth that would possibly make us get the band together, if only for a day, it is the hope that our song could be even the tiniest beacon of light in such a dark time,” Alexander said in a statement prior to the performance. “America knows in its heart that things will get bright again with a new administration and a real plan for vaccines on the way. That’s the message of the song… this world is gonna pull through.”
Alexander broke up the project shortly after the release of their one and only album, Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, and he’s spent most of that time out of the spotlight, working in England as a songwriter.
Biden has a personal affinity for “You Get What You Give”: His late son Beau Biden used the track as his “theme song” during his fight against cancer. “During breakfast, Beau would often make me listen to what I thought was his theme song, ‘You Get What You Give’ by the New Radicals,” Biden wrote in his 2017 memoir. “Even though Beau never stopped fighting and his will to live was stronger than most — I think he knew that this day might come. The words to the song are: This whole damn world can fall apart. You’ll be OK, follow your heart.”
Watch New Radicals reunite below.
We are honored that the New Radicals reunited for this moment (featuring one of @SecondGentleman Doug Emhoff's favorite songs!) #Inauguration2021 pic.twitter.com/UUHmyAwxQ0
— Biden Inaugural Committee (@BidenInaugural) January 20, 2021
We are feeling the good vibes from this "Dreams" skateboarding segment featuring @Doggface208 (aka Nathan Apodaca) and Americans across the country! #Inauguration2021 pic.twitter.com/4uibqQwsWO
— Biden Inaugural Committee (@BidenInaugural) January 20, 2021