"Wasn't It Good" (titled "Wasn't It Good..." for the single release) is a song by Australian singer-songwriter

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

from her third studio album, ''

Don't Ask ''Don't Ask'' is the third studio album by Australian singer Tina Arena released by Columbia Records on 21 November 1994. Overview Arena co-wrote all of the songs on the original release of the album which was produced by David Tyson. The a ...

'' (1994). Arena co-wrote the song along with Heather Field and Robert Parde, and it was produced by David Tyson. The song peaked at number 11 in Australia and received four nominations at the

ARIA Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

in 1996. Upon release as a single in September 1995 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, the title was rendered with an

ellipsis The ellipsis (, plural ellipses; from , , ), rendered , alternatively described as suspension points/dots, points/periods of ellipsis, or ellipsis points, or colloquially, dot-dot-dot,. According to Toner it is difficult to establish when t ...

("Wasn't It Good..."). Arena has performed the song on most tours, including her 2004 Greatest Hits tour and 2012 Australian tour. It is track four on her 2004 ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' compilation.

Musical and lyrical content

"Wasn't It Good" was composed in the key of G, while the lyrics lament a past friendship that did not turn into a romantic relationship.

Critical reception

In their review of ''

'', ''

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 m ...

'' wrote, "To send the shivers down the spines of the general public, she can also induce a

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

sentiment for the ballad 'Wasn't It Good'."

Award nominations

ARIA Awards

The

are presented annually from 1987 by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA). "Wasn't It Good" was nominated in four categories, including Single of the Year. It did not win any awards. , - , rowspan="4",

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, , "Wasn't It Good" , , Best Female Artist , , , - , "Wasn't It Good" , , Best Pop Release , , , - , "Wasn't It Good" , , Single of the Year , , , - , "Wasn't It Good" , , Song of the Year , , , -

APRA Awards

The

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

have presented the APRA Awards annually from 1982; "Wasn't It Good" was nominated in 1996 and won the Song of the Year. , - , 1996 , , "Wasn't It Good" , , Song of the Year , , , -

Track listing

A five-track single was released through

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

; it contains both the single edit and original album version of "Wasn't It Good", as well as live versions of three other tracks from ''Don't Ask''. Australian CD single # "Wasn't It Good" (single version) # "Greatest Gift" (live) # "Love Is the Answer" (live) # "Message" (live) # "Wasn't It Good" (album version)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1995 singles APRA Award winners Tina Arena songs Columbia Records singles Songs written by Tina Arena 1994 songs Pop ballads