I Wanna (All-American Rejects Song)
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"I Wanna" is a song by American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
the All-American Rejects The All-American Rejects is an American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999.When the World Comes Down ''When the World Comes Down'' is the third studio album by American rock band The All-American Rejects, released December 16, 2008, by Interscope Records. Following on from touring and promotion for their previous album, The All-American Rejects ...
'' on June 8, 2009.


Background

"I Wanna" was written by Nick Wheeler and
Tyson Ritter Tyson Jay Ritter (born April 24, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and model. He is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, pianist, and songwriter of the multi-RIAA certification, platinum selling American alternative ...
in Florida, United States and was one of the first songs to be written and recorded for ''When the World Comes Down'' within a six-month time period both in the studio and the band's tour bus and was refined by Ritter numerous times before recording began. In an interview with
Take 40 Australia ''Take 40 Australia'' was Australia's first and longest-running music countdown. It counted down the official top 40 singles on the ARIA chart on a weekly basis. It was broadcast nationally each week to over 1.2 million listeners. Starting in ...
, Wheeler said "Tyson came up with the idea on the road while we were touring ''Move Along''. Two years straight on the road, barely going home. And when all you see is planes, buses, cars, insides of venues, dressing rooms and hotels... it starts to feel like a prison. That's kinda what the song's about... you're locked away in this hole and all you wanna do is touch somebody."


Reception


Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews from music critics. The Impressive Inklings praised the song as an album opener and praised Ritter's vocal work as "impressive", while Marshall Lately stated that the track is "a playful opener on the junior effort" and "is repetitive without being annoying, which is seldom found in pop ditties, tshows lyrically that they know where they came from, but also where they’re going."
Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...
were more negative, stating "'I Wanna' has enough cringe-inducing lyrics to fill a
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
song and Ritter’s delivery is bored, at best. It feels as though AAR is tired with this same old song-and-dance routine."


Chart performance

Worldwide, "I Wanna" achieved moderate success, peaking at #42 and #45 in Austria and Germany respectively and #84 in the United Kingdom. In Australia, the song became the All-American Rejects' second-highest charting single in that territory - following "
Gives You Hell "Gives You Hell" is a song by American rock band the All-American Rejects, released as the lead single from their third studio album, ''When the World Comes Down'' on September 30, 2008. The song is The All-American Rejects' most successful son ...
" - peaking at #15. It also charted in the country's year-end Top 100 Singles at #88. In the United States, "I Wanna" charted at #32 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...
and #23 on the
Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...
charts respectively in late August 2009, it eventually reached #95 on the
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
the following month.


Music video

A music video for "I Wanna" was directed by
Rich Lee Richard "Rich" Lee is an American music video and commercial director. He has directed music videos for Eminem, Lana Del Rey, Maroon 5, The Black Eyed Peas, Norah Jones, Michael Bublé and The All-American Rejects. Rich Lee started his professio ...
and was shot in June 2009 and was released a month later in mid-July. It primarily features the band performing the song on the set of their ''I Wanna Rock Tour'' stage set-up with neon lights, while scenes of a couple listening to music and sitting in a car are overlapped through the video, leading to them performing sexual intercourse. A second version, directed by
Paul Hunter Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004, recovering from a deficit in the final to win 10–9 on a ...
, was released October 13, 2009. It revolves around a house party with the band where lead singer and bassist Tyson Ritter encounters his ex-girlfriend (played by
Julianna Guill Julianna Guill (born 1987) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Bree in the 2009 film ''Friday the 13th'', Madison Penrose in ''My Super Psycho Sweet 16'', Scarlet Hauksson in the web series '' My Alibi'', Becca Riley in Bravo's ...
) with a new boyfriend (played by
Landon Ashworth Landon Ashworth is an American actor, producer, television, movie and musical writer, film and commercial director, pilot, and golfer who is a notable celebrity in the autism spectrum disorder community. Landon is a graduate of Embry Riddle Aeron ...
). Throughout the video, a series of videos and transitions are shown on LG cell phones that show the video both through them and how Ritter and his girlfriend broke up. Towards the end, the All-American Rejects are seen performing in front of their party guests with Ritter and the ex-girlfriend crowd surfing towards each other in the audience and ultimately renewing their relationship when they reach each other.


Appearances in popular culture

"I Wanna" is featured in the film ''
The House Bunny ''The House Bunny'' is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Fred Wolf, written by Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz, and starring Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, and Emma Stone. It tells the story of a former Playboy bunny who signs up to be t ...
'', which also stars Ritter as the character of Colby.


Track listing


Charts and certifications


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References

{{authority control 2008 songs 2009 singles The All-American Rejects songs Music videos directed by Paul Hunter (director) Interscope Records singles Song recordings produced by Eric Valentine Songs written by Tyson Ritter Songs written by Nick Wheeler Music videos directed by Rich Lee hu:I Wanna fi:I Wanna sv:I Wanna tr:I Wanna