"Wishing I Was There" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter

Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian and British singer and actress. Born and raised in New South Wales, Imbruglia became widely known in the early 1990s playing Beth Brennan in the soap opera ''Neighbours''. A ...

, released on 25 May 1998 as the third single from her debut album, '' Left of the Middle'' (1997). The track was produced by

Phil Thornalley Phillip Carden Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter, musician, and producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He produced the album ''Pornography'' by The Cure and was later their bass player. He began releas ...

and was co-written by Imbruglia, Thornalley and Colin Campsie. The single reached number five in Canada, Hungary, and Iceland, became a top-20 hit in the United Kingdom, and entered the top 30 in Imbruglia's native Australia.

Background and reception

On 25 May 1998,

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

released "Wishing I Was There" as the third single from '' Left of the Middle''. Prior to this song's release, Imbruglia's first two singles, "

Torn Torn may refer to: Film and television * ''Torn'' (2013 American film), directed Jeremiah Birnbaum * ''Torn'' (2013 Nigerian film), directed by Moses Inwang * Torn (2021 film), an American documentary film * ''Torn'' (TV series), a 2007 Briti ...

" and "

Big Mistake "Big Mistake" is a song by Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia. It was written by Imbruglia and Mark Goldenberg for Imbruglia's debut album '' Left of the Middle'' (1997). The song was released as the album's second single on 2 March 1998 by RCA ...

" were major chart hits during late 1997 and early 1998. "Wishing I Was There" followed, but was less successful than her first two singles, reaching number 19 on the UK Singles Chart, number 24 in Australia, and number 40 in New Zealand. In Canada, the song reached number five on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart in September 1998, becoming Imbruglia's second hit there after "Torn", which spent 12 weeks at number one between April and July. In the United States, the song was not allowed to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 due to rules in place at the time, but it reached number 25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Airplay chart, where "Torn" had stayed at number one for 11 weeks. It also peaked at number 13 on the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

chart and number 15 on the

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

chart. Elsewhere, the song charted in Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, but did not reach the top 50 in any of those countries. In Italy, the song reached number 27.

Composition

"Wishing I Was There" is a song with an album version length of three minutes and 52 seconds and a single version of four minutes and 25 seconds. The song is set in the key of

F major F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...

and has a medium

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

– 96 beats per minute – with a piano, guitar and vocal arrangement. Imbruglia is co-credited, with

and Colin Campsie, for both lyrics and music.

Music video

The music video was shot in parts of New York. Towards the end of the video, the now destroyed World Trade Center complex and parts of lower Manhattan are featured.

Track listings

Australian and Japanese CD single # "Wishing I Was There" – 4:25 # "Why" – 4:18 # "Big Mistake" (

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

live version) – 5:07 # "Wishing I Was There" (Transister remix) – 3:33 UK CD1 # "Wishing I Was There" – 4:25 # "Big Mistake" (live version on MTV) – 5:07 # "Why" – 4:18 UK CD2 # "Wishing I Was There" – 4:25 # "Wishing I Was There" (Transister remix) – 3:33 # "Impressed" (

Tim Bran Dreadzone are a British electronic music group formed in 1993 in London by ex-Big Audio Dynamite drummer Greg Roberts and musician Tim Bran. They have released nine studio albums, two live albums, and two compilations. They gained a reputatio ...

remix) – 4:08 UK cassette single and European CD single # "Wishing I Was There" – 4:25 # "Why" – 4:18

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1997 songs 1998 singles ARIA Award-winning songs Natalie Imbruglia songs RCA Records singles Songs written by Colin Campsie Songs written by Natalie Imbruglia Songs written by Phil Thornalley