Songfacts®:

• "Some people will tell you whatever you want to keep you in your place," Neil Finn sings on "Whatever You Want," the first new music from Crowded House since their 2010 album Intriguer. Finn said the song is about "waking up with the fear after last night's revelry."
  
  The song was released on October 28, 2020, a week before the election in the United States. Finn spent much of the coronavirus pandemic locked down in Los Angeles, where he did frequent broadcasts via his Fangradio channel. He didn't mention Trump by name, but it was clear he was vexed and befuddled by the American president. In this song, there seem to be many allusions to Trump and his supporters:
  
  Some will fall upon their swords
  In order that they might serve the greater good
  But don't believe a word of it...
  
  Hear the lying every day
  I see the same expressions on them...
  
  this man is a fake
  But they will follow him down to the edge of the cliff
  And if he tells them to jump,
  They will jump right in
• By this time, the Crowded House lineup was Neil Finn, his sons Liam and Elroy, Mitchell Froom, and Nick Seymour. Original member, drummer Paul Hester, died in 2005, leaving Finn and Seymour the only ones left from the start.
• The music video stars the singer Mac DeMarco, who is alone in a big house - at least he thinks he is until various statues and nicknacks start talking to him. They send mixed messages: a rubber tuck says, "You were really funny last night," but a taxidermied gazelle (with think it's a gazelle) tells him, "You need help."
  
  It was directed by Nina Ljeti, who also did Phoebe Bridgers' video for "Kyoto."
• Neil Finn and Crowded House were back in New Zealand when this song was released - a good place to be because the country was mostly COVID-free. They announced a tour of the country for early 2021, which they could do because there were no restrictions on gatherings.