"If Only I Could" is a song by American-German singer-songwriter

Sydney Youngblood Sydney Ford (born December 2, 1960), better known as Sydney Youngblood, is an American-German singer, actor and composer, who had several successful dance hits during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Early life Ford was born in Texas in December ...

. The track was co-written by Youngblood with Markus Friedrich Staab, Ralf Hamm, and

Claus Zundel Claus Zundel, also known as The Brave is a German composer, songwriter, producer and pianist. He has created several worldwide successful musical projects, most notable Sacred Spirit and B-Tribe (sold 20 million. copies combined), as well as more I ...

. In the song, Youngblood evokes "the world of brotherhood and love that he would like to create 'if only ecould'". This utopian humanism is "very uncommon in the songs devoted to

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s".Elia Habib, ''Muz hit. tubes'', p. 178 () "If Only I Could" uses the

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

and drumbeat from the Raze

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

track " Break 4 Love". "If Only I Could" was released on vinyl,

audio cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otten ...

and

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

in July 1989 as the lead single from Youngblood's debut album, '' Feeling Free'' (1989). It is one of his biggest hits, reaching number one in Belgium and the top three in many countries, including the United Kingdom, where it was the 13th-best-selling single of 1989.

Chart performance

"If Only I Could" peaked at number-one in Belgium and entered the top 10 in Austria, France, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and West Germany, as well as on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, where it peaked at number four. In the UK, the single reached number three on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 1 October 1989. It spent two weeks at that position and was the 13th best-selling single of 1989. The song was also a top-20 hit in Denmark and Finland. Outside Europe, "If Only I Could" reached number 28 in New Zealand and number 122 in Australia. It earned a gold record in Austria and West Germany and a silver record in the UK.

Critical reception

Retrospectively,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor Jose F. Promis viewed the song as "pure, early-'90s

". Upon the release,

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

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 ...

'' noted that the "rich-voiced crooner temporarily moves away from usual R&B arena and pumps up the bass for this tasty, deep-baked houser that splashes with a nifty

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

-flavored undercurrent and funky wah-wah guitars. The right edit could set urban and

pop radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

ablaze." A reviewer from ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...

'' named it "one of the nicest dance/pop records of recent months, bringing songs back into dance music. And – Sydney knows a good song when he hears one." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote, "Finally, Youngblood has found a song good enough to take his smooth, sweet voice to the higher reaches of the charts. The song combines a variety of styles –

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

meets

hip-house Hip house, also known as rap house or house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip hop, that originated in both London, United Kingdom and Chicago, United States in the mid to late 1980s. British group the Beatmaster ...

with a dash of lover's rock. A sympathetic production by

l and some supremely tasteful Spanish guitar breaks make this record a melodic delight. Starting to move rapidly up the UK chart and looking likely to repeat that success across Europe." David Giles from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' noted the song's "lush, sonorous vocal driven by a pulsating bass line", and concluded that "Youngblood looks set to become a big name on the strength of this single." Jacqui Carter from '' Number One'' stated, "'If Only I Could' will be one of the 'classic cuts' this year and continually played for many years to come." Orla Swift from '' Record-Journal'' described the song as "jazzy".

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was produced to promote the single. It features Youngblood bouncing around a ball that resembled the earth, while donning urban clothing and traditional African clothing.

Track listings

* 7-inch single # "If Only I Could" – 3:30 # "Spooky" – 3:54 * 12-inch single # "If Only I Could" (extended version) – 6:30 # "If Only I Could" (Pacha Garden mix) – 6:35 # "If Only I Could" (instrumental) – 5:10 * 3-inch CD single # "If Only I Could" (radio edit) – 3:30 # "If Only I Could" (extended version) – 6:30 # "Spooky" – 3:54 * Cassette single # "If Only I Could" – 3:30 # "Spookey" (Instrumental) – 3:54 # "If Only I Could" – 3:30 # "Spookey" (Instrumental) – 3:54

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Wendy Matthews version

Australian recording artist Wendy Matthews released a version of the song in April 1993 as the third single from her second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

Lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...

''. The song peaked at number 41 on the Australian

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

Track listing

# "If Only I Could" (edit) – 3:55 # "If Only I Could" (Timebomb mix) – 5:45 # "Until You Say" – 4:48

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs 1993 singles English-language German songs Number-one singles in Belgium Songs written by Claus Zundel Sydney Youngblood songs Virgin Records singles Wendy Matthews songs