Limp Bizkit released “Re-Arranged” as a European CD single on October 12, 1999. Taken from their second album, Significant Other, the song grew from an exchange between guitarist Wes Borland and bassist Sam Rivers during soundcheck. Its recording also benefited from a less visible collaboration: Scott Weiland helping Fred Durst develop his singing.
Rivers remembered Borland trying a tapped guitar figure while the band checked its equipment. He joined in, finding the bassline almost immediately as they jammed. “By the end of the soundcheck we had the whole song down,” Rivers recalled in the January 2014 issue of Bass Guitar Magazine, later republished by Guitar World. He noted the sixteenth notes running through the line and acknowledged that hearing everything clearly in that setting could be difficult. Nevertheless, the exchange produced something worth keeping. It reflected his approach to playing with Borland: listening for opportunities to move around the guitar while knowing when to stay with the drums.
Weiland became involved after recording was underway. In a December 2000 interview with EQ, the Stone Temple Pilots singer explained that Terry Date was already working as engineer and co-producer when he was called in. Weiland saw his own strengths in melody, arrangement and song structure. He believed Limp Bizkit wanted to demonstrate a broader musical range, and that several songs achieved it. Of those tracks, he singled out “Re-Arranged” as one that also received the attention of a radio single.
“That was a song where I definitely got Fred inspired to sing a bit more melodically,” Weiland said. The finished recording credited Date and Limp Bizkit as producers, Weiland with additional production, and Brendan O’Brien with the mix. Weiland’s contribution was part of the work behind Durst’s vocal performance, alongside the instrumental foundation the band had developed together.
Durst gave the music a separate public meaning through its video. He directed a fictional trial addressing accusations surrounding Limp Bizkit’s Woodstock ’99 performance. The clip was already circulating in September, before the European CD edition arrived. Rather than depicting a recording session or a straightforward performance, it placed the musicians in prison cells and made their festival appearance evidence against them.
MTV presenter Matt Pinfield played the judge. The courtroom watched footage of the band, while invented newspaper headlines reinforced the accusations. The punishment led to an execution chamber that filled with liquid as people in suits watched from outside. The musicians kept playing. In Teri vanHorn’s contemporary SonicNet report, Durst explained that the concept reflected his frustration at being blamed for events surrounding the show.
After the chamber emptied, a copy of Significant Other remained behind. The band then appeared floating against a white background, with Borland wondering whether they had reached heaven and Durst responding with a joke about Method Man. The elaborate punishment ended with the musicians still sharing a gag.
“Re-Arranged” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart dated December 18, 1999. It climbed from No. 4 the previous week, reaching the top in its 11th week on the chart.
