"All I Wanna Do" is a song performed by

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three ...

. The song was written by Crow,

David Baerwald David Francis Baerwald (born July 11, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and musician. Career Baerwald first came to prominence in 1986 as one half of the duo David & David, with David Ricketts. David and David's sole album, ' ...

Bill Bottrell William A. Bottrell (born October 27, 1952) is an American record producer and songwriter. He has collaborated with Michael Jackson, Madonna, Electric Light Orchestra and Sheryl Crow. Biography Between 1967 and 1970, Bottrell attended Cre ...

, and Kevin Gilbert, with lyrics adapted from

Wyn Cooper Wyn Cooper (born 1957) is an American poet. He is best known for his 1987 poem "Fun", which was adapted by Sheryl Crow and Bill Bottrell into the lyrics of Crow's 1994 breakthrough single " All I Wanna Do". Early life Wyn Cooper was born 2 Januar ...

's 1987 poem "Fun". It was Crow's breakthrough hit from her 1993 debut album, ''

Tuesday Night Music Club ''Tuesday Night Music Club'' is the debut 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 ...

''. 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 Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan ...

for six consecutive weeks from October 8 to November 12, 1994, and it also topped the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. It was the winner of the

1995 Grammy The 37th Annual Grammy Awards were presented on March 1, 1995, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Bruce Springsteen was the night's biggest winner with 4 awards, including So ...

for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

and

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

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 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 '' Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live from Central Park''.

Background and structure

The lyrics of the song are based on the poem "Fun" by

. Cooper was inspired to write the poem by a conversation at a bar with a friend and occasional writer, Bill Ripley, 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." Toad Hall Studio, where the song was recorded, was next door to the

Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...

. Crow's producer (Bottrell) discovered Cooper's poetry book ''The Country of Here Below'' in a nearby used bookstore in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

. 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. After the song became popular, Ripley brought an unsuccessful lawsuit against Cooper for some of the song's royalties, which ended their friendship. The opening spoken line, "This ain't no disco", is a reference to the song " Life During Wartime" by

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

. In 1997, after attending a performance of Crow at the

Rosemont Theatre The Rosemont Theatre is a concert hall in Rosemont, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The venue, which has seats for 4,400 people, opened in 1995 and hosts many different musical artists and shows. It is located near O'Hare International Airport, Fas ...

in Illinois, veteran ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' music critic

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the '' Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busine ...

called the song "a rewrite of

Stealers Wheel Stealers Wheel were a Scottish folk rock/ rock band formed in 1972 in Paisley, Scotland, by former school friends Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty. Their best-known hit is "Stuck in the Middle with You". The band broke up in 1975 and re-formed bri ...

's '

Stuck in the Middle with You "Stuck in the Middle with You" (sometimes known as "Stuck in the Middle") is a song written by Scottish musicians Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan and performed by their band Stealers Wheel. The band performed the song on the BBC's ''Top of the Po ...

'".

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' 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." Troy J. Augusto from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' felt it should have been the first single from ''

''. "Devil-may-care lyrics (“I like a good beer-buzz, early in the morning”), a cool

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

twang and Sheryl’s friendly vocal style should all spell hit for this feelin’-good number. Rock, country,

adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of maj ...

and, particularly, hits radio should all find lots to love about this low-key frolic. Don’t miss the live show." 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." Music writer

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

commented in his weekly UK chart commentary, that "All I Wanna Do" "certainly has potential to go further, not least with

Lisa Loeb Lisa Loeb (; born March 11, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author and actress. She started her career with the number 1 hit song "Stay (I Missed You)" from the film '' Reality Bites,'' the first number 1 single for an artist ...

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." Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' 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."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for the song was directed by David Hogan, who also directed her debut video for "

Leaving Las Vegas ''Leaving Las Vegas'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by Mike Figgis, and based on the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel of the same name by John O'Brien. Nicolas Cage stars as a suicidal alcoholic in Los Angeles who, ha ...

". 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 Clarksville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States. It is the fifth-largest city in the state behind Nashville, Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 202 ...

. Two versions of the music video exist. The original video featured the character "Billy", mentioned in the song, played by actor

Gregory Sporleder Gregory Sporleder (born April 14, 1964) is an American actor and filmmaker, notable for playing military men in films such as '' The Rock'', '' Black Hawk Down'' and ''Renaissance Man'', as well as Calvin Norris in the HBO series ''True Blood''. ...

. 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''.

Track listings

US commercial cassette single (cat. no. 31458 0702 4) # "All I Wanna Do" (Remix) # "Solidify" US promotional CD single (cat. no. 31458 8298 2) # "All I Wanna Do" (Remix) # "All I Wanna Do" (LP version) French CD single (cat. no. 580-654-2) # "All I Wanna Do" # "

What I Can Do for You "What I Can Do for You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow from her debut studio album, ''Tuesday Night Music Club'' (1993), released on A&M Records. It was originally issued in February 1994, and the single includes a faster v ...

" – Live at the Borderline German CD single (cat. no. 580-655-2) # "All I Wanna Do" # "I Shall Believe" – Live in Nashville # "What I Can Do for You" – Live at the Borderline UK CD 1 (cat. no. 580-843-2) # "All I Wanna Do" – Remix # "Solidify" # "I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday" European CD single (cat. no. 580-844-2) # "All I Wanna Do" UK CD 2 (cat. no. 580-845-2) # "All I Wanna Do" – live acoustic for Virgin Radio UK # " Run Baby Run" – Live acoustic for Virgin Radio UK # "

" – Live acoustic for Virgin Radio UK

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

Amy Studt version

English singer-songwriter

Amy Studt Amy Jane Studt (born 22 March 1986) 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 ...

released a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

of the song as her fourth single. Studt was asked personally by

to record a cover of the song, and Crow provided backing vocals on the track. Released on January 12, 2004, the single reached a peak of number 21 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 ...

and number 25 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

. 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 Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United State ...

for poor sales.

Track listing

UK CD single # "All I Wanna Do" # "Forget It All" # "You're the Breeze" # "All I Wanna Do" (video)

Charts

Other versions

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific ...

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; it also reached number 40 on the Official UK Singles Chart.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:All I Wanna Do (Sheryl Crow Song) 1993 songs 1994 singles 2004 singles Sheryl Crow songs Amy Studt songs Number-one singles in Australia RPM Top Singles number-one singles Grammy Award for Record of the Year Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Songs written by Kevin Gilbert (musician) Songs written by Sheryl Crow Songs with feminist themes Music videos directed by David Hogan Songs written by David Baerwald Song recordings produced by Bill Bottrell A&M Records singles Polydor Records singles 19 Recordings singles Songs about alcohol Songs about Los Angeles