"All I Wanna Do" is a song performed by Sheryl Crow and written by Wyn Cooper, Sheryl Crow, David Baerwald, Bill Bottrell and Kevin Gilbert, with lyrics adapted from Cooper's 1987 poem "Fun". 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 behind "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men for six consecutive weeks from October 8 to November 12, 1994, and it also topped the BillboardAdult 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 RPMAdult Contemporary 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, Flemish Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. It is Crow's biggest international hit to date. Crow performed the song on her live album .
Structure
The lyrics for the song are based on the poem "Fun" by Wyn Cooper. Crow's producer discovered Cooper's poetry book The Country of Here Below in a Pasadena, California, used bookstore. Crow adapted "Fun" into the lyrics for her song – earning Cooper considerable royalties, and helping to promote his book, originally published in a run of only 500 copies in 1987, into multiple reprints. The opening spoken line, "This ain't no disco", is a reference to the song "Life During Wartime" by Talking Heads.
Reviews
Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune called the song "a rewrite of Stealers Wheel's 'Stuck in the Middle with You.'"
Music video
The video was directed by David Hogan, who also directed her debut video for "Leaving Las Vegas". 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".
English singer-songwriter Amy Studt released a cover version of the song as her fourth single. Amy was asked personally by Sheryl Crow to record a cover of the song. 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 labelPolydor for poor sales.
Track listing
"All I Wanna Do"
"Forget It All"
"You're the Breeze"
"All I Wanna Do"
Charts
Other versions
included All I Wanna Do in his polka medley "The Alternative Polka" from his album Bad Hair Day. 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.
