"Just Like Anyone" is a 1995 song by the 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 Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Soul Asylum Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their 1993 hit "Runaway Train (Soul Asylum song), Runaway Train" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The band was originally called Loud Fast Rule ...

from its seventh album, ''

Let Your Dim Light Shine ''Let Your Dim Light Shine'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Soul Asylum, released June 6, 1995 on Columbia Records. Critically, it suffered in comparison to its predecessor, '' Grave Dancers Union'', the band's breakout release ...

''. Written by the lead singer,

Dave Pirner David Anthony Pirner (born April 16, 1964) is an American songwriter, singer, and producer best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for the alternative rock band Soul Asylum. Early life and work Pirner was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin and gr ...

, and produced by the band with

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...

, the song was the second single released as the album. It entered the singles charts in Canada and the United Kingdom, and reached the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart in the United States. The song was included on the band's 2000 greatest hits album, '' Black Gold: The Best of Soul Asylum'', and a live version appears on the band's 2004 '' After the Flood: Live from the Grand Forks Prom, June 28, 1997'' album.

Track listing

CD1

#Just Like Anyone #Get On Out (Live at

Paradise Rock Club The Paradise Rock Club (formerly known as the Paradise Theater) is a 933-capacity music venue in Boston, Massachusetts. Due to its relatively small size, it appeals to top local alternative rock performers as well as American and British bands vi ...

, 04/06/1995) #

Do Anything You Wanna Do "Do Anything You Wanna Do" is a song written by Eddie and the Hot Rods' manager Ed Hollis (the brother of Talk Talk's Mark Hollis) and guitarist Graeme Douglas and recorded by the band, although the actual record label credited Rods as the artist ...

CD2

#Just Like Anyone #Fearless Leader #You'll Leave For Now

Music video

A music video for the song was filmed in Los Angeles during summer 1995. Directed by

P.J. Hogan Paul John "P. J." Hogan (born 30 November 1962) is an AACTA Award-winning Australian film director and writer. Early life Hogan was born in Brisbane, Queensland. As a teenager, he lived on the North Coast of New South Wales and attended Mt St ...

and produced by Michelle Alexander, the video features the actress

Claire Danes Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, ''Time'' named her one of the 100 most influentia ...

, who plays a high school student who is rejected and taunted by other students because she has two noticeable bumps on her back. Hidden beneath the bumps are angel wings, which are revealed later as she takes flight during a school dance. The video was shown on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

, reaching the most-played charts on both networks.

Reception

"Just Like Anyone" peaked at number 52 in the UK and number 55 in Canada, where it also reached number 12 on the Alternative chart. In the U.S., the song was not released as a commercial single, but it received enough radio airplay to peak at number 11 on ''Billboard'''s

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart and number 19 on the

chart. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.My So-Called Life ''My So-Called Life'' is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995. It is distributed by The Bed ...

''," in which Danes also starred.

Charts

References

External links

Watch the "Just Like Anyone" video
on ''YouTube''
"Just Like Anyone" lyrics
{{Authority control 1995 singles Soul Asylum songs Song recordings produced by Butch Vig Songs written by Dave Pirner