"Wanted" is a song written 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

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many o ...

and Charlie Craig, and recorded by Jackson. It was released in May 1990 as the third single from Jackson's first album, ''

Here in the Real World ''Here in the Real World'' is the debut studio album by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released on February 27, 1990, and produced five singles: "Blue Blooded Woman", "Here in the Real World", "Wanted", "Chasin' That Neon R ...

''. The song peaked at number 3 on both the ''

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'' 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 and the Canadian ''

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'' Country Tracks Chart.

Background and writing

The front cover resembles a western "wanted" poster. Jackson was inspired to write the song after seeing a wanted poster in an old

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

movie.

Content

The song is a mid-tempo ballad in which the male narrator decides to place a

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to describe what he wants from a lover: "Wanted, one good hearted woman / To forgive imperfection / In the man that she loves".

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song a B− grade," saying that the song contains "heartfelt vocal and sincere delivery." He goes on to say that "if a lesser singer was at the mic, the sheer implausibility of the lyric would be nakedly evident, but Jackson will have you looking in the classified section, expecting the chorus to be there."CountryUniverse.net
Review by Kevin John Coyne

Music video

The music video was directed by Bing Sokolsky and premiered in mid-1990.

Peak chart positions

Year-end charts

References

{{Alan Jackson singles 1990 singles Alan Jackson songs Songs written by Alan Jackson Songs written by Charlie Craig Song recordings produced by Keith Stegall Song recordings produced by Scott Hendricks Arista Nashville singles 1990 songs