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Desperately Wanting

{{Short description|1996 single by Better Than Ezra}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Desperately Wanting

| cover = Desperately_Wanting_single_cover.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Better Than Ezra

| album = Friction, Baby

| released = December 3, 1996

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Alternative rock

| length = 4:37

| label = Elektra

| writer = Kevin Griffin

| producer = Don Gehman

| prev_title = King of New Orleans

| prev_year = 1996

| next_title = Long Lost

| next_year = 1997

}}

"Desperately Wanting" is a song by American alternative rock group Better Than Ezra. It was released in December 1996 as the second single from their third studio album, Friction, Baby, and became a chart hit in the United States, Australia and Canada.

Composition

In an interview with SongFacts.com, Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin, who wrote this song, explained: "'Desperately Wanting' is a song where someone is looking back on their childhood. Specifically that song is about when I used to camp out with my friends in the summer down in the South, and you'd stay up all night causing havoc, throwing rocks at passing cars, knocking over mailboxes and vandalizing, as red-blooded men are wont to do. And literally, you're running all through the neighborhood and through the yards, and there's the dew on the grass. It was about those nights spent with a friend running around, running through the wet grass. And then it's a story of two people who took divergent paths in life. One person made a lot of bad decisions and ended up having some mental issues. And then just how you lose touch with people. And how when you're young and you're running around all night, and life hasn't had its way with you, the playing field is equal and it's flat. And then life takes everybody on their own journeys. But there's a time where all your potential is untapped and the world hasn't had its way with you. That's an amazing time of promise, and that's what 'Desperately Wanting' is about."{{Cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/kevin_griffin_of_better_than_ezra/|title=ShieldSquare Captcha|website=Songfacts.com|access-date=28 May 2022}}

Music video

The video for "Desperately Wanting" was filmed at Los Angeles International Airport.{{cite news |last1=Roos |first1=John |title=Cooking With 'Friction' : Better Than Ezra's Spicy Rock Stew Erupts From Bayou Country, but It's No Cajun Leftover |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-10-11-ca-52639-story.html |access-date=2021-08-17 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=October 11, 1996}}

Track listings

US CD and cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Desperately Wanting|others=Better Than Ezra|year=1996|type=US CD single liner notes|publisher=Elektra Records|id=64228-2}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Desperately Wanting|others=Better Than Ezra|year=1996|type=US cassette single cassette notes|publisher=Elektra Records|id=64228-4}}

  1. "Desperately Wanting" – 4:37
  2. "Palace Hotel" – 3:44

European CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Desperately Wanting|others=Better Than Ezra|year=1996|type=European CD single liner notes|publisher=Elektra Records|id=7559-64199-2}}

  1. "Desperately Wanting" (radio edit) – 4:01
  2. "Palace Hotel" – 3:44
  3. "In the Blood" (LP version) – 4:32

Chart performance

"Desperately Wanting" reached No. 48 on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking on February 8, 1997. The song was most successful on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, where it peaked at No. 10. In Canada the single reached No. 13 on both the RPM Top Singles and Alternative 30 charts. It also made a brief appearance on the Australian Singles Chart, peaking at No. 83.

{{col-begin}}

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=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1996–1997)

!Peak
position

scope="row"|Australia (ARIA){{cite book|last=Ryan|first=Gavin|title=Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010|year=2011|publisher=Moonlight Publishing|location=Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia}}

|83

{{single chart|Canadatopsingles|13|chartid=3161|rowheader=true|access-date=August 17, 2019|refname="can"}}
{{single chart|Canadarock|13|chartid=9794|rowheader=true|access-date=August 17, 2019|refname="canrock"}}
scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1997-02-08/|title=Billboard Hot 100|magazine=Billboard|date=February 8, 1997|access-date=October 15, 2023}}

|48

scope="row"|US Adult Top 40 (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/adult-pop-songs/1997-09-13/|title=Adult Pop Airplay|magazine=Billboard|date=September 13, 1997|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 15, 2023}}

|37

scope="row"|US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-mainstream-rock-tracks/1997-01-25/|title=Mainstream Rock Airplay|magazine=Billboard|date=January 25, 1997|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 15, 2023}}

|10

scope="row"|US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/pop-songs/1997-02-22/|title=Pop Airplay|magazine=Billboard|date=February 22, 1997|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 15, 2023}}

|33

scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/alternative-airplay/1997-01-04/|title=Alternative Airplay|magazine=Billboard|date=January 4, 1997|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 15, 2023}}

|11

scope="row"|US Triple-A (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/triple-a/1997-03-08/|title=Adult Alternative Airplay|magazine=Billboard|date=March 8, 1997|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 15, 2023}}

|15

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1997)

!Position

scope="row"|US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0g0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=SL680-PA73|title=The Year in Music 1997|magazine=Billboard|volume=109|number=52|page=YE-73|date=December 27, 1997|access-date=February 17, 2025}}

|29

scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)

|29

{{col-end}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{Better Than Ezra}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1996 songs

Category:1997 singles

Category:Better Than Ezra songs

Category:Elektra Records singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Don Gehman

Category:Songs written by Kevin Griffin