"Wish I Didn't Know Now" is a song written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. Keith released his chart-topping debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", in 1993. During the 1990s ...

. It was released in February 1994 as the fourth and final single from his self-titled debut album. The song peaked at number 2 on the U.S. ''

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 advertis ...

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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart, Billboard - Artist Chart History - Toby Keith/ref> and at number 17 on the Canadian ''RPM'' Country Tracks chart.

Content

In the song, the narrator talks about how he suspected his lover was cheating and now that he found out his suspicions were right. The title lyric originates from the

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...

song " Against the Wind".

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by Marc Ball, and was filmed in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

. It features Keith singing the song in a dark house, while raining outside. Scenes also feature him, socializing with a girlfriend, and at times, other couples, and bar patrons. It premiered on CMT on March 2, 1994, where they named it a "Hot Shot" video of the week.

Chart performance

"Wish I Didn't Know Now" debuted at number 54 on the US ''

Hot Country Singles & Tracks 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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart dated March 19, 1994. It charted for twenty weeks on that chart, and peaked at number 2 for the week of May 28, 1994, behind

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

's " Don't Take the Girl".

Charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

1994 singles Toby Keith songs Songs written by Toby Keith Song recordings produced by Harold Shedd Mercury Records singles 1993 songs PolyGram singles Black-and-white music videos {{1994-country-song-stub