"If I Had My Wish Tonight" is a song written by Randy Goodrum and Dave Loggins originally released in 1979 by Dave Loggins on his self-titled album. American singer-songwriter David Lasley covered the song on his Missin' Twenty Grand album, releasing it as the first single. The song debuted on March 13, 1982, and reached a peak position of 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 1, 1982. The song was produced by Lasley with strings arranged by

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

. Dave Iveland is credited as co-producer and recording engineer.

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

contributed background vocals. It appears on Lasley's Back To Blue-Eyed Soul Collected Works released in 2001 and on EMI compilations Lost Hits of the 80s Vol. 2 and AOL Light Mellow: EMI Edition.

Composition, lyrics and style

Don Shewey for the

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' and ...

described the performance and delivery of the lyrics "while the singer wails, a sort of

Greek chorus A Greek chorus, or simply chorus ( grc-gre, χορός, chorós), in the context of ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, satyr plays, and modern works inspired by them, is a homogeneous, non-individualised group of performers, who comment with a collect ...

led by Bonnie Raitt emblazons the wish on the back of the departing lover: "'Stead of walkin' away/You'd want me to stay/You would want me" (note the insistence of those "w" sounds)."

Credits and personnel

– backing vocals * Chuck Cochran – backing vocals, guitar * David Lasley – lead and backing vocals, producer * Wade Short – bass * David Benoit – conductor, electric piano, organ *

Jody Linscott Jody Linscott is an American session musician and percussionist who resides in England and maintains an extended discography. She has two daughters Kachina Dechert and Coco Linscott and has written two children's books which were published by D ...

– congas *

Willie Wilcox John "Willie" Wilcox (born September 21, 1951, in Trenton, New Jersey) is an American drummer, vocalist, producer, recording engineer, sound designer, composer and senior audio director. He is best known for being a member of the band Utopia. He ...

– drums *

Marty Walsh Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and former union official. He has been the 29th United States Secretary of Labor since March 23, 2021. A Democrat, he previously served as the 54th mayor of Boston from 2014, ...

– guitar * David Garibaldi – percussion *

Bill Schnee William S. Schnee (born July 4, 1947) is an American musician, music producer, and audio engineer. Schnee has been nominated 11 times for the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Grammy Award and worked on a multitude of other Grammy nominated an ...

– engineer, mixing * Benny Facone – engineer * Paul McKenna – engineer, assistant * Dave Iveland – producer, recording * Derek DuNann – recording *

David Loggins David Allen Loggins (born November 10, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Musical career Loggins is best known for his 1974 song composition "Please Come to Boston", which was a No. 5 popular music success (No. 1 Easy Listen ...

– songwriter *

Randy Goodrum Charles Randolph Goodrum (born July 7, 1947) is an American songwriter, pianist, and producer. Goodrum has written number one songs in each of the four decades since his first number one hit, 1978's "You Needed Me". Goodrum's songs have appeare ...

– songwriter *

– string arrangement

Critical reception

Don Shewey for the Boston Phoenix praised the song writing "the sumptuous semi-hit" calling Lasley's falsetto "so passionate that the second verse trails off midway (perhaps to allow the singer to break down a la

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

)" declaring it "a mini-masterpiece, milked for every drop by Arif Mardin's superb string arrangement."

References

{{Reflist 1979 songs 1982 singles EMI Records singles Songs written by Dave Loggins Songs written by Randy Goodrum David Lasley songs