The scratchy vinyl record sound came from a Victrola gramophone that belonged to engineer Billy Bush's grandfather. Drummer Butch Vig used three different snare drums, each hit consecutively and each processed (one through a flanger, one pitch shifted down and one gated), and made into a loop and matched with the Nord for that opening sequence. For the intro, the band routed a Nord synthesizer through a guitar pedal and distorted the sound in a 48-track ProTools set up. 'When I Grow Up' was written and recorded at Smart Studios during the 1997 sessions for Version 2.0. In North America, 'When I Grow Up' served as one of two singles (along with Sheryl Crow's cover version of ' Sweet Child o' Mine') released from the soundtrack of the Adam Sandler comedy film Big Daddy.

'When I Grow Up' proved to be a charting hit in both United Kingdom and Spain, before going on to become Garbage's most successful single release in Australia and New Zealand at that point in their career. 'When I Grow Up' was the first split-single release in Europe for Garbage, in some countries, ' The Trick Is to Keep Breathing' was released in its place. The song was released as the fourth international single to be taken from the band's multi-platinum second album Version 2.0 over the course of the following year. ' When I Grow Up' is a 1998 song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock band Garbage.

When you grow up song