I Want You
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| Straight from Savage Garden... |
"This song was always a wild card. The original idea was very simple: to use the voice as a rhythm instrument - cramming in as many syllables as possible into one phrase. Prior to recording the album we had about 40 songs to choose from. We narrowed down the list to record and came up with 15 tracks. 'I Want You' was on that list but because it existed in a simple rough demo, it was not an obvious choice. The recording process really bought the song alive. The simple vocal in the chorus became a bed of 12 voices. Six of Darren and six of session singers that we sank very low in the mix to give the chorus the thick layer of vocals that you hear. When we finished recording, this song just jumped out as our debut single. Lyrically one of the more frantic and nonsensical things we have ever written, the song is based on a recurring dream." -Darren Hayes |
| The 411 |
Track #2 on international album; #4 on the Australian album Debut single worldwide Release year: July 1996 (Australia), February 1997 (US), June 1997 (worldwide), November 1998 (2nd release in UK) |
| Awards, Records, and Radio |
#3 on Billboard Hot 100 Chart (debuted at #31- highest ever for a debut single of an Australian band) #15 on Billboard's "Top 50 Best Selling Australian Hits" list #1 on Radio & Records Pop Chart for 1 week Achieved platinum status in the US #4 on the ARIA Chart for 3 weeks #3 on the AMR (Australian Music Report) Chart Spent 15 weeks in the ARIA charts, 10 of which in the Top 10 Highest selling Australian single for 1996 (76,000 copies) Achieved platinum status in Australia #11 in the UK on 1st release #12 in the UK on 2nd release "Best Debut Single" - 1996 ARIA Awards Nomination "Best Debut Single" - 1997 Channel [V] Awards |
| Media |
Music: Chords::Tabulature::Bass Tabs::Sheet Music Audio: RealAudio::Midi Video: International::Australian |
| Say WHAT? |
Yeah, we all know about that high part near the end of the song. The part that everyone THINKS says "softly as the animals fall so far ahead." WH-AT?! Some wacko in publishing accidentally printed that on all the "I Want You" sheet music and that's how it got out. However, it is a sample in Latin, and translated it possibly means "alone, you stand allied with your rival, decieved by life." Whoa... that's powerful stuff. What does Darren say is "sweet like a chic-a cherry cola" anyway? Actually, the legend I heard (don't know if it's true) behind the phrase was that it formerly was "sweet like a drink of cherry cola", but in another, MUCH slower song. All the instrumental musicians kept playing it faster and faster and when poor Daz tried to keep to their tempo, he screwed up! Everyone decided that the new "chic-a" line sounded better, and it was eventually written into "I Want You". I really don't know. Another thought...Darren says "it's like I'm down on the floor and I don't know what I'm in for." OK, my mind's a little in the gutter right now but in the back of my SG memory I thought I read somewhere that Darren described "IWY" as a wet dream... is he saying what I think he is? OK, I'll shut up now before my mouth gets me in trouble. |
| Avoid Those Embarrassing Misheard Lyric Moments |
-->verse 1: anytime I need to see your face / I just close my eyes / and I am taken to a place where your crystal mind and magenta feelings / take up shelter / in the base of my spine / sweet like chica-cherry cola / I don’t even try to explain / I just hold on tight / and if it happens again I might move so slightly / to the arms and the lips and the face of / the human cannonball / that I need to I want to -->prechorus: come stand a little bit closer / breathe in and get a bit higher / you’ll never know what hit you / when I get to you -->chorus: ooh I want you / I don’t know if I need you / but ooh I’d die to find out / ooh I want you / I don’t know if I need you / but ooh I’d die to find out I’m the kind of person who endorses / a deep commitment / getting comfy getting perfect / is what I live for / but a look then a smell of perfume / It’s like I’m down on the floor / and I don’t know what I’m in for / conversation has a time and place / in the interaction of a lover and a mate / but the time of talking / using symbols using words / can be likened to a deep sea diver / who is swimming with a raincoat -->prechorus -->chorus -->verse 1 -->chorus so can we find out / do it -->chorus twice |
| Video Eye Candy |
International version Release Year: 1997 - Director: Nigel Dick"I Want You" was filmed in Los Angeles, California in one day in February 1997-- beginning at 7:30 AM and wrapping up at 11:30 PM. The video was shot in an LA power plant with a huge TV at one end and keyboards, guitars, and microphones at the other. Darren sings into a machine that scans his face onto the TV while Daniel switches off on his instruments. Somewhere else a girl is trying to get the song to come in on her TV, which has bad reception. Did you notice... Australian version  Release Year: 1996This video, the first music video ever filmed for Savage Garden, was shot in a two day period. Most of it was filmed on the back of a truck driving down a highway in New South Wales, Australia. Did you notice... |
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