What I Got

A band composition with lyrics by lead singer Brad Nowell, this song is an anthem for the spiritually free but financially downtrodden. Nowell finds himself getting up in the morning, smoking his special cigarette, and wondering how he ended up broke. Then things start to look up as he reframes his life and sees all the good things about it: he has a dog, he can get high, and he's never gone to war. Instead of focusing on what he doesn't have (money) he sees what he does have (love), and realizes that's all he needs if he can keep a good attitude and not let problems bring him down. The song became far more poignant when Nowell died of a drug overdose on May 25, 1996.

Many elements of this song, including the "Loving, is what I got" chorus, are based on a 1986 song called "Loving" by the Jamaican dancehall singer Half Pint (which can be found on the Skunk Records release of his album Recollection). At first, Sublime didn't share the love - Half Pint got no credit on "What I Got" when the song was released. Once the song took off, however, Half Pint was listed as a co-writer and awarded the subsequent royalties. It ended up all good; Sublime bass player Eric Wilson explained in his Songfacts interview: "Half Pint wanted to get paid for it, so then we got a relationship through that, and when we did the Dub Allstars, Half Pint went on the road with us for a summer, and I got to know him really well and play with him every day. That was a blessing in itself."

This song is key to Sublime's success - the first one all but their earliest fans heard. It has a strange an convoluted recording and release history, spanning two producers and two labels. The first version of the song was released in America as a 12" single in 1996 on Sublime's independent label, Skunk Records. It's likely that this single was issued before Nowell died. When the band signed to MCA Records, two versions were included on their self-titled label debut album, which was released two months after Nowell's passing: one produced by David Kahne, and a "reprise" produced by Paul Leary. MCA sent these two versions, along with their "clean" edits to radio stations, many of which put the song in rotation (usually the Kahne version). In October, the song made #29 on the Billboard Airplay chart. MCA didn't release Sublime singles for sale, but kept sending them to radio stations: "Santeria" (#43, April 1997), "Wrong Way" (#47, August 1997), "Doin' Time" (#87, January 1998). Securing airplay for an unknown band without a living lead singer was no small feat, especially since radio stations often expected acts to make station appearances and play listener showcases in exchange for airplay. The album became one of the best sellers of 1997, with over 5 million copies sold. Many fans had no idea that their lead singer had died - Brad Nowell's father Jim recalls getting lots of fanmail for his son around this time. Sublimes back catalog also started selling, with their first album, originally released in 1992, going Platinum. The remaining members of Sublime formed the Long Beach Dub Allstars, which later morphed into Sublime With Rome when they took on lead singer Rome Ramirez.