"All I Wanna Do" is a song performed by American singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow. It was written by Crow,David Baerwald,Bill Bottrell,and Kevin Gilbert,with lyrics adapted from Wyn Cooper's 1987 poem "Fun". Released in July 1994 by A&M,it was Crow's breakthrough hit from her 1993 debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club . The song is Crow's biggest US hit,peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks from October 8 to November 12,1994,and it also topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It was the winner of the 1995 Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and was nominated for Song of the Year.
In addition to its US success,"All I Wanna Do" peaked at number one in Australia for one week and in Canada for four weeks,also topping the RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks chart in the latter country. In New Zealand and the United Kingdom,it peaked at number four,and in Europe,it reached the top 10 in Austria,Flanders,France,Germany,Ireland,and the Netherlands. The accompanying music video was directed by David Hogan and Roman Coppola. Crow performed the song on her live album Sheryl Crow and Friends:Live from Central Park .
The lyrics of the song are based on the poem "Fun" by Wyn Cooper. [1] [2] [3] [4] Cooper was inspired to write the poem by a conversation at a bar with a friend and occasional writer,Bill Ripley, [5] [6] in which he said "All I want is to have a little fun before I die",which became the first line of the poem. In a 1994 interview,Cooper said:"The poem isn't really about him. Or me. They're different people. They're people you can sort of see as ... well ... objective correlatives. Symbols of people like us,or what we could have been,or what we would have become if we continued to drink and do nothing with our lives." [7] [8]
Toad Hall Studio,where the song was recorded,was next door to the Pasadena Playhouse. [9] [10] Crow's producer (Bottrell) discovered Cooper's poetry book The Country of Here Below in a nearby used bookstore in Pasadena,California. Crow had written a song called "I Still Love You" but was unhappy with its lyrics;she used its melody and adapted the poem for her lyrics to "All I Wanna Do".
The song earned Cooper considerable royalties and helped to promote his book,originally published in a run of only 500 copies in 1987,into multiple reprints. [7] After the song became popular,Ripley brought an unsuccessful lawsuit against Cooper for some of the song's royalties,which ended their friendship. [7] [11]
The opening spoken line,"This ain't no disco",is a reference to the song "Life During Wartime" by Talking Heads. [12]
In 1997,after attending a performance by Crow at the Rosemont Theatre in Illinois,veteran Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot called the song "a rewrite of Stealers Wheel's 'Stuck in the Middle with You'". [13]
Larry Flick from Billboard wrote,"Critical darling is poised for a long-deserved top 40 breakthrough with this breezy hand-clapper. Crow has a friendly demeanor that adds extra bounce to a sweet instrumental setting of jangly guitars and toe-tapping beats. Live-sounding jam is a fitting soundtrack to a day at the beach or speeding down the highway with the top down." [14] Troy J. Augusto from Cash Box felt it should have been the first single from Tuesday Night Music Club . "Devil-may-care lyrics ("I like a good beer-buzz,early in the morning"),a cool country twang and Sheryl's friendly vocal style should all spell hit for this feelin'-good number. Rock,country,adult and,particularly,hits radio should all find lots to love about this low-key frolic. Don't miss the live show." [15] In a second single review,he noted,"Seriously infectious hook,simple yet clever instrumentation and Crow's likable personality all spell a winner here. A perfect summertime track,"All I Wanna Do" could well be the song that kicks off Sheryl's run at the big leagues." [16] In his weekly UK chart commentary,James Masterton commented,that "All I Wanna Do" "certainly has potential to go further,not least with Lisa Loeb as a role model but my one overwhelming confession is that I honestly cannot see what all the fuss is about. It's a good record,but no more." [17] Alan Jones from Music Week said "this cheery pop/rock smash is a wordy,but expertly delivered and invigorating confection with a catchy chorus." He added,"Brits may not smile as much as US rock buyers,but they'll grin enough to get this into the chart." [18]
The accompanying music video for "All I Wanna Do" was directed by David Hogan and Roman Coppola,with Martin Coppen directing photography. [19] It features Crow and her band performing the song on the street,with notable characters flying through the air. The video was filmed in front of the Roxy Theatre at the corner of Franklin Street and North 1st Street in Clarksville,Tennessee.
Two versions of the music video exist. The original video featured the character "Billy",mentioned in the song,played by actor Gregory Sporleder. A second version of the video was released with the character's appearances edited out. The edited version appears on Crow's "Greatest Hits" music video DVD. In 2009,an additional music video was released,featured on the 2009 re-release of Tuesday Night Music Club.
In 2017, Billboard ranked "All I Wanna Do" number three on their list of the "10 Greatest Sheryl Crow Songs". [20] In 2023, The Guardian ranked the song number five on their list of the "20 Greatest Sheryl Crow Songs", [21] while Billboard ranked it number 405 in their "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time". [22] The latter added,"Well,it ain't no disco and it ain't no country club neither —it's the L.A.-set slice-of-life breakout hit for singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow,a "Piano Man" for the alt-rock '90s."
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|
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [65] | 3× Platinum | 210,000‡ |
Japan (RIAJ) [35] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [66] | Gold | 5,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [67] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [68] | Gold | 500,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | July 12, 1994 |
| A&M | [68] |
Japan | August 25, 1994 | Mini-CD | [69] | |
United Kingdom | October 24, 1994 |
| [70] |
"All I Wanna Do" | ||||
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Single by Amy Studt | ||||
from the album False Smiles (re-release) | ||||
B-side | "Forget It All", "You're the Breeze" | |||
Released | January 12, 2004 [71] | |||
Length | 3:55 | |||
Label | Polydor, 19 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Wyn Cooper, Sheryl Crow, David Baerwald, Bill Bottrell, Kevin Gilbert | |||
Producer(s) | David Eriksen | |||
Amy Studt singles chronology | ||||
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English singer-songwriter Amy Studt released a cover version of "All I Wanna Do" as her fourth single. Studt was asked personally by Sheryl Crow to record a cover of the song, and Crow provided backing vocals on the track. [72] [73]
Released on January 12, 2004, the single reached a peak of number 21 on the UK Singles Chart and number 25 on the Irish Singles Chart. It was taken from the re-release of her debut album, False Smiles . Following the peaking of "All I Wanna Do", Studt was dropped from her record label Polydor for poor sales. [74]
Chart (2004) | Peak position |
---|---|
Ireland (IRMA) [75] | 25 |
Scotland (OCC) [76] | 17 |
UK Singles (OCC) [77] | 21 |
US singer Joanne Farrell released a dance version of the song in 1995. The song reached number 40 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart; it also reached number 40 on the Official UK Singles Chart.
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and actress. She is noted for her optimistic and idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released twelve studio albums, five compilations, and three live albums, and contributed to several film soundtracks. Her most popular songs include "All I Wanna Do" (1994), "Strong Enough" (1994), "If It Makes You Happy" (1996), "Everyday Is a Winding Road" (1996), "My Favorite Mistake" (1998), "Picture", and "Soak Up the Sun" (2002).
Amy Jane Studt is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Growing up in a musical family, with her father a violinist and conductor who had toured with Roy Orbison, and her mother a pianist, Studt began writing music at the age of six, teaching herself piano, guitar, and oboe. At 12 years old she contracted the rare bone disease osteomyelitis in her hip, leaving her bedridden. Studt used this time for her hobbies, and two years later, with the advice of her father, she recorded her first two demo albums which would go on to get her signed to Polydor. Studt released her first single "Just a Little Girl" |in July 2002. It was followed almost a year later by "Misfit", which came to be her highest-charting single, reaching No. 6 in the UK charts. That same month, her debut album False Smiles was released, selling over 260,000 copies and being certified Gold. Two more singles were released, "Under the Thumb" in late 2003 and "All I Wanna Do" in early 2004, but only to diminishing sales that prompted Polydor to drop Studt in February 2004, all before her 18th birthday.
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released on their debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). In the United States, the song was released in June 1988 as the album's first single, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and becoming the band's only US number-one single. In the United Kingdom, the song was released on August 8, 1988, reaching number 24 on the UK Singles Chart the same month. Re-released there in May 1989, it peaked at number six.
Tuesday Night Music Club is the debut studio album from American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, released on August 3, 1993. The first two singles from the album were not particularly successful. However, the album gained attention after the success of the fourth single, "All I Wanna Do", based on the Wyn Cooper poem "Fun" and co-written by David Baerwald, Bill Bottrell, Sheryl Crow, and Kevin Gilbert. The single eventually reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, propelling the album to number three on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. It has sold more than 4.5 million copies in the US as of January 2008. On the UK Albums Chart, Tuesday Night Music Club reached number eight and is certified 2× platinum.
"My Favorite Mistake" is the first single from Sheryl Crow's third studio album, The Globe Sessions (1998), released on August 31, 1998, through A&M Records. Crow wrote the song about a relationship with a man who proves to be unfaithful. Released in 1998, the single peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Crow's fifth top-20 single in the United States, while reaching number two in Canada and giving Crow her seventh top-five hit there. In the United Kingdom, it reached number nine, becoming her last top-10 single in Britain.
"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" is a song recorded by American singer Whitney Houston for her second studio album, Whitney (1987). It was released as the lead single from the album on April 28, 1987, by Arista Records. It was produced by Narada Michael Walden, and written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, of the band Boy Meets Girl, who had previously collaborated with Houston on "How Will I Know". At the 30th Annual Grammy Awards, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, marking Houston's second win in the category.
"The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song written by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, originally released by P. P. Arnold in April 1967. Stevens's own version originally appeared on his album New Masters in December 1967.
"Mr. Jones" is the debut single of American rock band Counting Crows. It was released in December 1993 by Geffen as the lead single from the band's debut album, August and Everything After (1993). The song was the band's first radio hit and has been described as their breakout single. "Mr. Jones" reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay charts. Internationally, the song peaked at number one in Canada and number seven in France. In April 2022, American Songwriter ranked the song at number four on their list of "The Top 10 Counting Crows Songs".
"A Change Would Do You Good" is the fourth single from American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow's 1996 self-titled album. The song uses a series of non sequitur lyrics to describe what one should change in life. It became Crow's third top-five single from the album in Canada, where it reached number two, and peaked at number eight in the United Kingdom.
"Soak Up the Sun" is a song by American singer Sheryl Crow. She and her longtime co-writer Jeff Trott wrote the song following a conversation they had during a plane flight, when they discussed the changing weather as they flew to New York City from Portland, Oregon. Crow was recovering from surgery at the time, inspiring her and Trott to write a happy song that would cheer her up. In the song, Crow has no money to afford any luxuries or necessities, but she decides that wallowing in her sadness is not a productive activity, so she reflects on what she currently has and "puts on a happy face" that she plans to spread to others. Crow chose to release the song as the lead single from her fourth studio album, C'mon, C'mon (2002), as she wanted to enliven people living in a post-9/11 society.
"Anything but Down" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow. Released as the third single from her third studio album, The Globe Sessions (1998), it fared better than its predecessor "There Goes the Neighborhood" in the United States, reaching number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Triple-A chart. The song also reached number 11 in Canada and number 19 in the United Kingdom.
"Everyday Is a Winding Road" is the second single from American singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow's 1996 eponymous album. Neil Finn, lead singer of Crowded House, provides backing vocals. Paul Hester, another member of Crowded House, was the inspiration for the song. The single was issued in the United Kingdom in November 1996 and was released in the United States the following year.
"If It Makes You Happy" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, released as the lead single from her 1996 eponymous album in September 1996. The song peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Crow's final top-10 solo hit in the United States, and at number nine on the UK Singles Chart. It also reached number one in Canada and won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 1997 Grammy Awards. In 2003, Q Magazine ranked "If It Makes You Happy" at number 663 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".
"Leaving Las Vegas" is a song co-written by David Baerwald, Bill Bottrell, Sheryl Crow, Kevin Gilbert, Brian MacLeod, and David Ricketts that appears on Crow's debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club (1993). It charted within the top 75 in the United States and the top 30 in Canada. Crow performed the song on her live album Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live from Central Park.
"All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" is a song by American rock band Heart. It was composed by veteran songwriter and producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange and released as the lead single from the band's tenth studio album, Brigade, in March 1990. The song was first recorded as "All I Want to Do Is Make Love to You" by Dobie Gray in 1979, though with different lyrics. The Heart version tells the story of a woman who sets out to seduce a hitchhiker in order to become pregnant because although there is a man in her life, he is infertile.
"Strong Enough" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow from her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club (1993). The song reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks, number three in Australia, and number one in Canada, becoming her second chart-topper there following "All I Wanna Do". In Australia, the song received a double-platinum certification for sales and streams exceeding 140,000 units.
"I Don't Wanna Fight" is a song by American singer and actress Tina Turner, released in April 1993 by Parlophone. The track was co-written by British singer Lulu, her brother Billy Lawrie, and Steve DuBerry. The song was first offered to singer Sade, who sent it on to Turner. Turner recorded it in 1993 as part of the soundtrack for her autobiographical film, What's Love Got to Do with It. Lulu's version appears as a B-side to her 1993 single "How 'Bout Us" as well as on the 2003 album The Greatest Hits.
"Can't Cry Anymore" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow from her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club (1993), released through A&M Records. Released in May 1995, the song reached number 36 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Crow's third top-40 hit. In Canada, the song reached number three to become Crow's third consecutive top-three hit, following the number-one singles "All I Wanna Do" and "Strong Enough". Elsewhere, the song had limited success, reaching number 33 in the United Kingdom and number 41 in Australia.
"Run Baby Run" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow from her first album, Tuesday Night Music Club (1993), released by A&M Records in September 1993 as her debut single. It failed to chart in the United States but peaked at No. 86 in Canada, No. 83 in the United Kingdom, and No. 45 in the Netherlands. "Run Baby Run" was released for a third time in the UK after the success of "All I Wanna Do" and "Strong Enough", reaching a new peak of No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1995.
The discography of Sheryl Crow, an American singer-songwriter, consists of 12 studio albums, four live albums, two EPs, seven compilation albums, one box set, 54 singles, six promotional singles, 13 video albums, 61 music videos, 21 B-sides and 19 soundtrack contributions. She has sold over 50 million albums worldwide. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she has sold 16 million certified albums in the United States. Billboard named her the 5th Greatest Alternative Artist of all time.
extracted from 'The Country of Here Below' (Contemporary Poetry of the West Series)
(a poem)
....Sheryl Crow's setting of Wyn's poem "Fun," which uses Bill's words as a springboard, the reimagined story of a Tuesday afternoon Bill and Wyn spent together in a Salt Lake City bar....
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