Is The New Radicals’ ‘You Get What You Give’ The Best Song U2 Never Wrote?

The New Radicals’ power rock song “You Get What You Give” is considered the teenage anthem of the late ’90s. At the inauguration of Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris last year, the Los Angeles Band brought him back on stage by special request. Now the track gets another high honor.

In a podcast for the industry publication The Hollywood Reporter, Bono and The Edge described it, with a touch of self-irony, as “the greatest song we didn’t write ourselves”.

Speaking to host Scott Feinberg, The Edge said: “When I first heard it on the radio, we were working our way through the studio. I just thought: ‘What is that?’. And immediately set about trying a hook of my own that I thought was influenced by it. After about an hour of fiddling, everyone was wondering what the hell I was doing? Because I stole the whole thing from the New Radicals. So that thing never saw the light of day.” Bono added, “Oh yeah, really great songwriting. Great!”

Gregg Alexander, who co-wrote the song with Rick Knowles, couldn’t help but be flattered. Compared to the “Billboard” he just said “Wow! Feels like getting compliments from The Beatles”

The talk with Edge and Bono took place in advance of the release of the animated film “Sing 2”. Bono lends his voice to the character Clay Calloway. The U2 song “Your Song Saved My Life” also used there is also nominated for an Oscar. The New Radicals singer responded politely. “Brilliant melody, great song. They’ve also written a dozen other songs that have saved many lives.”