"Everything You Want" is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

Vertical Horizon Vertical Horizon is an American alternative rock band, formed in Washington, D.C. Vocalists and guitarists Matt Scannell and Keith Kane started the band in 1991 when they were students at Georgetown University. The band have undergone multip ...

, the title track and second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from their third studio album. First released to alternative radio in October 1999, the single reached the top of the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on July 15, 2000, following a commercial release on June 27, 2000. It also peaked atop the ''Billboard''

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

and was ''Billboard''s "Most Played Single" of 2000. It remains the band's most successful single.

Composition

In 2009, lead vocalist

Matt Scannell Matthew B. Scannell (born February 10, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Scannell is the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and founding member of the alternative rock band Vertical Hor ...

said he "still experience joy" singing "Everything You Want" because he knew "it came from a true place". The song deals with

unrequited love Unrequited love or one-sided love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer's deep and pure affection, or may consciously reject it. The Merriam Webster Online Dict ...

, and Scannell explained its background 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.Interview with Lead Singer of Vertical Horizon Matt Scannell
Out and About in Jax (November 18, 2010). Retrieved June 30, 2011.

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the single was directed by Clark Eddy in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Throughout the video, a

split screen Split screen may refer to: * Split screen (computing) Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into adjacent (and possibly overlapping) parts, typically as two or four rectangular ...

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.Rogovoy, Set
Vertical Horizon: Pittsfield native cracks Billboard's Top 20 by Seth Rogovoy
The Beat (March 31, 2000). Retrieved June 30, 2011.

Track listings

US CD single # "Everything You Want" (radio mix) – 4:06 # "The Man Who Would Be Santa" (live) – 5:33 US 7-inch single :A. "Everything You Want" (radio mix) – 4:06 :B. " You're a God" (radio mix) – 3:48 European and Australian CD single # "Everything You Want" (modern rock mix) – 4:06 # "The Man Who Would Be Santa" (live edit version) – 5:33 # "Heart in Hand" (live edit version) – 5:46

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1999 singles 1999 songs Bertelsmann Music Group singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles RCA Records singles Songs about heartache Songs written by Matt Scannell Vertical Horizon songs