"If I Wanted To" is a song by American singer,

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and its lead ...

. It was released in 1994 as the final

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from Etheridge's 1993

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 ...

, '' Yes I Am'', and entered the top 50 in Australia, Canada, Iceland, and the United States.

Critical reception

Fred Bronson Fredric M. "Fred" Bronson (born January 10, 1949) is an American journalist, author and writer. He is the author of books related to #1 songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and other books related to various music charts as well. He is also k ...

of ''Billboard'' wrote that with the single's debut, "Melissa Etheridge continues to solidify her new status as a chart superstar with the highest-debuting single of 1995."

Commercial performance

"If I Wanted To", which was released as the two-sided single "If I Wanted To /

Like the Way I Do "Like the Way I Do" is a song by American singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, released as the second US single from her first album, ''Melissa Etheridge'' (1988). In the United Kingdom, "Don't You Need" was released as the second single. Song i ...

", debuted on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in February 1995 at No. 25, making it the highest-debuting single of 1995 at that point. The single's debut was the highest for any song since

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...

's "

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" debuted at No. 14 in November 1994. "If I Wanted To" peaked at No. 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in March 1995. Strong singles sales in March 1995 for

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

's "

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Real McCoy "The real McCoy" is an idiom and metaphor used in much of the English-speaking world to mean "the real thing" or "the genuine article", e.g. "he's the real McCoy". The phrase has been the subject of numerous false etymologies. History The phr ...

's "

Run Away Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

," and

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

's "

Big Poppa "Big Poppa" is a song by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G. It was released as the second single from his first studio album ''Ready to Die''. It features a sample of the song, " Between the Sheets" written by The Isley Brothers. "Big Poppa" wa ...

" prevented "If I Wanted To" from rising higher on the Hot 100 despite widespread airplay on major US radio stations.

Music video

The single's

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 directed by

Samuel Bayer Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1962) is an American Visual arts, visual artist, cinematographer, and commercial, music video and film director. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1993 songs 1995 singles Island Records singles Melissa Etheridge songs Music videos directed by Samuel Bayer Song recordings produced by Hugh Padgham Songs written by Melissa Etheridge