"(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" is a song written by

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

songwriters A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

Homer Banks Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 – April 3, 2003) was an African American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are co ...

, Carl Hampton, and Raymond Jackson. Originally written for

The Emotions ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, it has been performed by many singers, most notably by

Luther Ingram Luther Thomas Ingram (November 30, 1937 – March 19, 2007) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. His most successful record, " (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and No. ...

, whose original recording topped the R&B chart for four weeks and rose to number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1972. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 16 song for 1972. In 1972–73,

The Faces Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of Small Faces after lead singer and guitarist Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie. The remaining Small Faces—Ian McLagan (keyboards), Ronnie Lane (electric bass, vocals), and Kenn ...

recorded the song as an outtake for '' Ooh La La'' (1973), their final studio album. In 1974,

Millie Jackson Mildred Virginia Jackson (born July 15, 1944) is an American R&B and soul recording artist. Beginning her career in the early 1960s, three of Jackson's albums have been certified gold by the RIAA for over 500,000 copies sold. Jackson's songs o ...

released her version of the song which received two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nominations. In 1978,

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artis ...

's version topped the U.S. country chart, reached number 31 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (number 27 Cashbox), and was nominated for Single of the Year at the 1979 CMA (Country Music Association) Awards.

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

recorded the song for ''

Foot Loose & Fancy Free ''Foot Loose & Fancy Free'' is the eighth studio album by Rod Stewart, released in November 1977 on Riva Records in the UK and Warner Bros in the US. The album is the second-to-last album of Stewart's acclaimed 1970s albums, beginning with '' ...

'' (1977), his eighth album; as a single it peaked at number 23 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1980.

Content

The song is about an adulterous love affair, told from the point of view of either the

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

or the cheating spouse, depending on the gender of the performer. Regardless, both parties involved express their desire to maintain the affair, while at the same time acknowledging that the relationship is wrong according to conventional

moral standards Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...

. Millie Jackson, however, took a somewhat different approach. On both studio and live recordings, her version is typically divided into three parts: "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", "The Rap", and "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right (Reprise)", which together have a running time of over 11 minutes. The first and third parts include the song more or less as originally written, while the second part was written by Jackson herself. Titled "The Rap", the middle segment is a

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

in which an unrepentant Jackson discusses her status as the "other woman" and why she loves it.

Notable performers

It was first recorded by The Emotions (but their version has never been released), and by Veda Brown, whose version was finally released in 2008.The Stax Solo Recordings: Judy Clay & Veda Brown, Kent label Cd, Ace Records, London, (2008). Other notable singers to

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

it include: country singer Jackie Burns (whose version made

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 from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

in 1972),Joel Whitburn, ''Top Country Singles 1944-1993'', p.488

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songw ...

Percy Sledge Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 196 ...

, Bobby "Blue" Bland,

David Ruffin David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin;Ribowsky, p. 88 January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–68) during the group's "Clas ...

Barbara Mason Barbara Mason (born August 9, 1947, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American soul singer with several R&B and pop hits in the 1960s and 1970s, best known for her self-written 1965 hit song "Yes, I'm Ready". She has released ...

LeAnn Rimes Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at age 13 with 1996's "Blue". She has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Chri ...

, Renée Geyer,

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album '' The ...

, jazz chanteuse

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

, reggae singers

Alton Ellis Alton Nehemiah Ellis (1 September 1938 – 10 October 2008)Godfather ...

George Faith Earl George Lawrence (1946–2003), also known as George Faith, Earl George and George Earl, was a Jamaican reggae singer best known for his work in the 1970s with producers such as Lee "Scratch" Perry and Bunny Lee. Biography Born in Rae Town, ...

and

Glen Washington Glenroy Washington (born 17 July 1957), is a Jamaican reggae/ soca singer-songwriter, drummer and record producer. Washington made his first hit record "Rockers Not Crackers" in 1978 for the Joe Gibbs Record label; but he did not grace the chart ...

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

Cassandra Wilson Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wi ...

Nathan Cavaleri Nathan Cavaleri (born 18 June 1982) is an Australian blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and a former child actor. He issued two albums as a solo artist, '' Jammin' with the Cats'' (1993) and '' Nathan'' (1994). He has been a member of ...

Rania Zeriri Rania Zeriri (born 6 January 1986 in Enschede, Netherlands) is a Dutch singer. Personal life Rania Zeriri grew up in the Netherlands as daughter of a Dutch mother and an Algerian father who left the family when she was still very young. After f ...

and Johanne Desforges (French cover: Si je ne peux t'aimer a quoi bon exister). In 2020, electronic musician

Nicolas Jaar Nicolas Jaar (; ; es, Nicolás; born January 10, 1990) is a Chilean-American composer and recording artist based in New York. Among his notable works are the albums '' Space Is Only Noise'' (2011), ''Sirens'' (2016), and '' Cenizas'' (2020). H ...

(under his moniker Against All Logic) released his own version called "If Loving You Is Wrong" from his second album '' 2017-2019'', which heavily samples Ingram's version, notably the chorus.

Chart recordings

Luther Ingram

Jackie Burns

Millie Jackson

Barbara Mandrell

Year-end charts

Rhonda Clark

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:If Loving You Is Wrong I Don't Want To Be Right 1972 singles 1976 singles 1979 singles Millie Jackson songs Rod Stewart songs Renée Geyer songs Barbara Mandrell songs Songs written by Homer Banks Songs written by Raymond Jackson (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Tom Collins (record producer) Soul ballads ABC Records singles 1972 songs Songs about infidelity Songs written by Carl Hampton