"I Want to Live" is a debut song written by

Brett James Brett James Cornelius (born June 5, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records ( ...

and

Rivers Rutherford Melvern Rivers Rutherford II (born June 17, 1967) is an American country music songwriter. Has been writing country songs since the mid-1990s as a songwriter, he has written several number one country hits, including "Ain't Nothing 'bout You" by B ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Josh Gracin Joshua Mario Gracin (born October 18, 1980) is an American country music singer. A former member of the United States Marine Corps, he first gained public attention as the fourth-place finalist on the second season of ''American Idol''. After h ...

. It was released in March 2004 as the first single from his debut album ''

''. The song peaked at number 4 on the U.S. ''

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 ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

) charts in mid-2004. It also peaked on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 57.

Content

A mid-tempo ballad, "I Want to Live" centralizes on a character who, upon realizing that his life has been unsatisfactory, decides that he wants to change — to "take everything that this world has to give". The song's opening

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

riff is based on the

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

song "

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

". A fiddle-and-drum fadeout was omitted from the radio edit of "I Want to Live".

Music video

Directed by Brent Hedgecock, the video shows Gracin hanging out with his friends at a karaoke bar when his friends ask him to go up and sing. As he's singing, Josh is placed in areas that come from the backgrounds that are playing behind him as he's singing. The video premiered on CMT in mid-2004.

Chart performance

"I Want to Live" debuted at number 57 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 13, 2004.

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control Josh Gracin songs 2004 debut singles 2004 songs Songs written by Brett James Songs written by Rivers Rutherford Lyric Street Records singles