"You Wanted More"
Single by Tonic
from the album Sugar and American Pie: Music from the Motion Picture
ReleasedJune 7, 1999 (1999-06-07)
Length3:50
LabelUniversal
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Tonic
Tonic singles chronology
"If You Could Only See"
(1997) 		"You Wanted More"
(1999) 		"Knock Down Walls"
(1999)
Music video
"You Wanted More" on YouTube

"You Wanted More" is a song by Los Angeles band Tonic that originally appeared in the 1999 film American Pie. It was released on June 7, 1999, and was also featured on Tonic's second album, Sugar, released later in the year. The single peaked at number three on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and reached the same position on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, as well as on the Canadian RPM Rock Report.

Lyrics

The lyrics include many lines beginning with "Love is": "Love is tragic", "love is strong", "love is surely better when it's gone", etc. The chorus expresses that the singer's love interest was too demanding: "'Cause you wanted more/More than I could give/More than I could handle/In a life that I can't live".

Critical reception

All-Reviews.com commented on the contrast between instrumentation and lyrics: "The music has tough rock guitar chords but the lyrics are a sappy account of what love is", and opined that Tonic's "desire to be all things to all people is illustrated by the song's opening".[1]

Chart performance

The single peaked at number three on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100,[2] leading some[who?] to brand Tonic a one-hit wonder, with "If You Could Only See" being the band's only song to gain extended success. Despite this, the song is well known in the United States due to its use in American Pie.[citation needed] "You Wanted More" also peaked at number three on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart[3] and number 10 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.[4] Its airplay peak was in October 1999, as it was the sixth-most played song on alternative, pop and rock radio stations across the United States.[1][5]

In Canada, "You Wanted More" peaked at number three on the RPM Rock Report and was the 16th most successful rock hit of 1999.[6][7] The song also experienced moderate success in Australia, where it peaked at number 58 alongside another Tonic song, "Sugar".[8]

Music video

The music video, directed by Niels Alpert,[9] is set at a high school. Emerson Hart is shown both as a janitor in the hallway and playing with his band in the gymnasium. Scenes with cheerleaders wearing uniforms with the word LOVE in the gym are interspersed throughout the video. The principal's office and biology class are also shown, while students walk out of the building and make out on the quad at the end of the video.

Track listings

European CD single[10]

No.TitleLength
1."You Wanted More" (LP version)3:51
2."If You Could Only See" (acoustic version)4:17
3."Open Up Your Eyes" (live)3:40
4."You Wanted More" (video)4:04

German maxi-CD single[11]

No.TitleLength
1."You Wanted More"3:50
2."Sugar"3:25
3."Mean to Me"4:12

Japanese CD single[12]

No.TitleLength
1."You Wanted More" 
2."You Wanted More" (Organic mix) 
3."Drag Me Down" 

Charts

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref(s).
United States June 7, 1999
Universal [18][19]
August 2, 1999
[20][21]
August 3, 1999 Contemporary hit radio [20]
Japan February 16, 2000 CD Universal Music Japan [22]

References

  1. ^ a b "Archive of Song Reviews that appear on our Top-50 Chart". www.all-reviews.com.
  2. ^ a b "Tonic Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Tonic Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Tonic Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  5. ^ "All-Reviews.com Music Reviews: Top 50 Song Chart with Song Reviews for the 1st week of July, 2004". www.all-reviews.com.
  6. ^ a b "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 8446." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "RPM 1999 Top 50 Rock Tracks". RPM. Retrieved January 8, 2020 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  8. ^ a b Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 283.
  9. ^ "Music – Music News, New Songs, Videos, Music Shows and Playlists from MTV". www.mtv.com.
  10. ^ You Wanted More (European CD single liner notes). Tonic. Universal Records. 2000. 561 696-2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ^ You Wanted More (German maxi-CD single liner notes). Tonic. Motor Music. 2000. 510 444-2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ You Wanted More (Japanese CD single liner notes). Tonic. Universal Music Japan. 2000. POCP-7463.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ^ "Tonic Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Tonic Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Most Played Adult Top 40 Songs of 1999". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 7, no. 52. December 24, 1999. p. 47.
  16. ^ "1999 The Year in Music: Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. YE-90. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  17. ^ "Most Played Modern Rock Songs of 1999". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 7, no. 52. December 24, 1999. p. 36.
  18. ^ "Tonic: 'You Wanted More'" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1302. June 4, 1999. pp. 86, 88. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  19. ^ "Adds for June 7 & 8". Gavin Report. No. 2257. May 28, 1999. p. 45.
  20. ^ a b "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1302. July 30, 1999. pp. 53, 89, 94. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  21. ^ "Gavin AC/Hot AC: Impact Dates". Gavin Report. No. 2266. August 2, 1999. p. 28.
  22. ^ "ユー・ウォンテッド・モア | トニック" [You Wanted More | Tonic] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
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