"The Man I Want to Be" is a 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

Tim Nichols Tim Nichols (born in Portsmouth, Virginia) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Active since the late 1980s, Nichols has written for several country music singers, including Keith Whitley, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Jo Dee Messina, ...

, 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, ...

artist Chris Young. It was released in November 2009 as the third single and title track from his album ''

The Man I Want to Be ''The Man I Want to Be'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Chris Young. It was released on September 1, 2009 via RCA Nashville. The album includes the singles "Voices", "Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)", and "Th ...

'' (2009). The song is about the singer wanting to change who he is to make amends to a former lover. The song received positive reviews from critics who praised Young's vocal performance and

James Stroud James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant Records (a subsidiar ...

's production for saving the bland lyrics. "The Man I Want to Be" was Young's second of five consecutive number-one hits on the ''Billboard''

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 ...

chart. It also peaked at numbers 48 and 81 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

respectively. The song was

certified Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for selling over a million units in the United States. An accompanying music video for the song, directed by

Chris Hicky Chris Hicky is a writer/director from Forrest City, Arkansas, United States, best known for directing many of Keith Urban's videos. Hicky has also directed videos for many other artists in the country music genre, including Dierks Bentley, Madd ...

, features Young at a bus stop making a call to God through a phone booth to help him find his former girlfriend.

Content

"The Man I Want to Be" is a moderate up-tempo country song. The song's male narrator describes the kind of "man ewants to be." The first verse finds him realizing that he hasn't been the man he should ("I've spent my whole life gettin' it all wrong") and describing that he wants God's help to change. In the second verse, he longs to have his old lover back, and for him to be the perfect man for her ("I wanna be the kind of man that she sees in her dreams").

Critical reception

Juli Thanki of Engine 145 gave the song a "thumbs up," saying that while "some lyrics are a little too bland to be particularly moving," that "Young sells it, truly sounding as though he’s at the end of his rope and praying to anyone who’ll listen." Thanki also described Young's vocal performance as "slightly reminiscent" of

Keith Whitley Jackie Keith Whitley (July 1, 1954 – May 9, 1989) was an American country music singer and songwriter. During his career, Whitley released only two albums but charted 12 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts, and 7 more after his death. ...

and "the best voice to hit commercial country since

Josh Turner Joshua Otis Turner (born November 20, 1977) is an American country and gospel singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to MCA Nashville Records. That same year, his debut album's title track, "Long Black Train", was his breakthrough single r ...

." Leeann Ward of Country Universe gave the song a B− rating, stating that while he "deserves lots of credit for a stellar vocal performance, solid contemporary country production and for being a generally inoffensive composition," the song itself has "lyrical and melodic weaknesses

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

are still impossible to overlook." In 2017, ''

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 ...

'' contributor

Chuck Dauphin Charles Frederick Dauphin III (February 17, 1974 – September 18, 2019) was an American sports and country music journalist. He was a radio broadcaster for WDKN in Dickson, Tennessee Dickson is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Located in ...

placed "The Man I Want to Be" at number one on his top 10 list of Young's best songs.

Music video

The music video, which was directed by

, premiered on CMT on December 3, 2009. In the video, Young takes a seat next to a man waiting for a bus, who hands Young a quarter and advises him to make a phone call to God (rather than trying to call his girlfriend). Young then goes to a telephone booth, and while he makes his call, scenes of his former love interest lying in her bedroom are shown. A sign from God comes in the form of a large arrow in the bed of a passing pickup truck. He continues to follow signs, which lead him to a downtown coffee shop, where he meets his love interest on the sidewalk. The video ends with him making amends with her, while the man from the bus stop looks through the window of a passing Greyhound and smiles to himself.CMT Blog: Are You There, God? It’s Me, Chris Young
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Chart performance

"The Man I Want to Be" debuted at number 58 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

chart for the week of November 28, 2009, and it debuted at number 98 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart for the week of March 27, 2010. On the chart dated May 22, 2010, "The Man I Want to Be" became Young's second consecutive Number One single.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man I Want To Be 2009 singles 2009 songs Chris Young (musician) songs RCA Records Nashville singles Music videos directed by Chris Hicky Songs written by Brett James Songs written by Tim Nichols Song recordings produced by James Stroud Country ballads 2000s ballads