About The Song
“I Want You Back” is a song by the Jackson 5, released by Motown in October 1969. It was the band’s first national single and became their first number-one hit on January 31, 1970. The song was performed on the band’s first television appearances on October 18, 1969, on Diana Ross’s The Hollywood Palace and on their milestone performance on The Ed Sullivan Show on December 14, 1969. The song was written and produced by The Corporation, a team comprising Motown chief Berry Gordy, Freddie Perren, Alphonso Mizell, and Deke Richards. The song explores the theme of a lover who decides that he was too hasty in dropping his partner. The lead vocal was performed by Michael Jackson, who was 11 years old at the time. The song was ranked 104 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Video
Lyrics
Uh-huh huh huhhh.
Let me tell ya now.
Uh-huh.
Mmhhmmm.
When I had you to myself, I didn’t want you around.
Those pretty faces always made you stand out in a crowd.
But someone picked you from the bunch, one glance was all it took.
Now it’s much too late for me to take a second look.
Oh, baby, give me one more chance
To show you that I love you.
Won’t you please let me back in your heart?
Oh, darlin’, I was blind to let you go,
(Let you go, baby.)
But now, since I see you in his arms,
I want you back.
Yes, I do now.
I want you back.
Ooh, ooh, baby.
I want you back.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I want you back.
Na, na, na, na.
Trying to live without your love is one long sleepless night.
Let me show you, girl, that I know wrong from right.
Every street you walk on, I leave tear stains on the ground, yeah.
Following the girl I didn’t even want around.
Let me tell ya now.
Oh, baby, all I need is one more chance
To show you that I love you.
Won’t you please let me back in your heart?
Oh, darlin’, I was blind to let you go,
(Let you go, baby.)
But now, since I see you in his arms…
Oh, ha.
Bum, bum, bum, bum.
All I want…
Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum.
All I need…
Bum, bum, bum, bum.
All I want…
Bum, bum, bum, bum.
All I need…
Oh, just one more chance
To show you that I love you.
Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby!
I want you back.
Forget what happened then
(I want you back.)
And let me live again!
Oh, baby, I was blind to let you go,
But now, since I see you in his arms,
I want you back.
Spare me of this cause
(I want you back.)
Give me back what I lost!
Oh, baby, I need one more chance—ha—
I tell you that I love you.
Baby, oh! Baby, oh! Baby, oh!
I want you back!
Forget what happened then
(I want you back.)
And let me live again!