"I Just Wanna Live" is the second single from American rock band
Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of twin brothers Joel Madden (lead vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar and vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Martin (g ...
's third studio album, ''
The Chronicles of Life and Death
''The Chronicles of Life and Death'' is the third studio album by American rock band Good Charlotte. Following the release of ''The Young and the Hopeless'' (2002), the group spent two years touring. By the second half of 2003, they had begun wr ...
'', Officially released on January 17, 2005, "I Just Wanna Live" was one of the songs that
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
paid radio stations to play in the 2005
payola
Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under US law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as spons ...
scandal. As single from the album, it carried on Good Charlotte's commercial success; it was certified gold in Australia and the United States, and it achieved high chart placements worldwide.
Music video
The music video was directed by
Brett Simon
Brett Simon (born November 28, 1973 in Palo Alto, California) is an American commercial, music video and film director.
Career
Simon graduated from Princeton University ''summa cum laude'' in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative L ...
.
The video opens with
Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of twin brothers Joel Madden (lead vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar and vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Martin (g ...
performing in front of an unenthused and small crowd at a bar in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. Down on their luck and in need of funds, the band quit performing to work at a supermarket handing out flyers while dressed in various foods, only to find similar success. While dejectedly eating lunch on the side of the road, a record executive in a limousine passes by and, seeing a way to make a fortune from the group, signs them into his label. Now calling themselves The Food Group, their debut album, ''All U Can Eat'', becomes a success and rockets the band to national and international stardom, especially among women in the young adult and teen range.
As the band continues to enjoy rising popularity and a life of debauchery, they start getting wrapped up in a myriad of scandals that diminish their popularity: Benji Madden (Corn) is arrested after getting involved in a high-speed chase with the police. Billy Martin (Strawberry) and Chris Wilson (Carrot) indiscriminately assault a paparazzi member. Paul Thomas (Burger) makes a sexually suggestive move with an underage girl dressed as an ice cream cone, leading to a ban of The Food Group by the
PTA. Joel Madden (Pizza) is caught up in a lip-sync mishap while performing live, which he blames on his indigestion. With The Food Group's reputation tarnished and their former fans now against them following the scandals, the band eventually discards their food suits and return to performing as a little-known rock band.
Track listings
UK CD1
# "I Just Wanna Live" – 2:46
# "Mountain" (live from
Sessions@AOL
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...
) – 3:53
UK CD2 and Australian CD single
# "I Just Wanna Live" – 2:46
# "S.O.S." (live from Sessions@AOL) – 3:28
# "The World Is Black" (live from Sessions@AOL) – 3:10
# "I Just Wanna Live" (video) – 2:46
UK 7-inch
picture disc
Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...
:A. "I Just Wanna Live" – 2:46
:B. "S.O.S." (live from Sessions@AOL) – 3:28
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2004 songs
2005 singles
Daylight Records singles
Epic Records singles
Good Charlotte songs
Protest songs
Song recordings produced by Eric Valentine
Songs written by Benji Madden
Songs written by Joel Madden
Songs written by John Feldmann
Music videos directed by Brett Simon