To Be with You

"To Be with You" is a soft rock ballad[2] by American hard rock band Mr. Big. It was released in late 1991 as the second single from their second album, Lean into It. The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and topped the charts in 11 other countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany and New Zealand.

"To Be with You"
Single by Mr. Big
from the album Lean into It
B-side"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind"
Released
  • December 21, 1991 (US)
  • January 1992 (worldwide)
Recorded1990
Studio
GenreSoft rock, glam metal[1]
Length3:27
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Kevin Elson
Mr. Big singles chronology
"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind"
(1991)		 "To Be with You"
(1991)		 "Just Take My Heart"
(1992)
Music video
"To Be with You" on YouTube

Background and writing

The song was written and composed by Eric Martin during his teen years, with guitarist Paul Gilbert contributing to its melodic arrangements later on. Writing credit is also given to David Grahame, a songwriter working for the label at the time.

While in Gilbert's apartment at Yucca Street in L.A., he and Martin were laying out their compositions. Martin had a ballad called "To Be with You". Gilbert had his psychedelic rock song called "Green Tinted Sixties Mind". Both felt the two songs were strong enough to be included in their upcoming album, despite it being purely rock;[3] and true enough, these songs remained throughout the course of their career as a group and as solo artists.

Content

"To Be with You" is about a man who has his eye on a woman who recently experienced a broken heart from a previous relationship. When Martin was a sophomore in high school, he was friends with his older sister's friend (who was a senior). She would give him rides to school and tell him about all the boy problems she had. Martin had a huge crush on her, but didn't tell her since he knew a senior would never go out with a sophomore. Martin wrote this song about her.

"It was a true story. Totally simple love lament. There was this girl I was in love with, beautiful goth chick from the late seventies [...] This girl had a lot of boyfriends who treated her like shit. I wanted to be the knight in shining armor, wanted to be with her. She wasn't having it. It never came to play. True story, though, a simple little love song."

— Eric Martin, Phoenix New Times, 2011[4]

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic described the song as a "campfire-singalong ballad".[5] Larry Flick from Billboard commented that "headbangers get folky on this harmonious strummer." He noted that "hand-clapping, sing-along chorus entices, while front man Eric Martin's voice has rarely sounded sweeter."[6] Cashbox called it "an unplugged, acoustic guitar and harmony sing-along single". They added that singer Eric Martin "sounds like the quintessential rocker and is backed by some excellent non-electric guitar-picking by guitarist Paul Gilbert, managing to sound very adept without an electric drill for a pick."[7] Janiss Garza from Entertainment Weekly stated that "this simple little ballad" is by far the best song on the Lean into It album.[8]

Music video

The music video was directed by Nancy Bennett and features the band performing in a railroad car.[9] The video changes from black and white to color around the halfway mark.

Track listings

7-inch single

  1. "To Be with You" (LP version) (3:27)
  2. "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" (LP version) (3:30)

12-inch maxi

  1. "To Be with You"
  2. "A Little Too Loose" (live)
  3. "The Drill Song (Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy)" (live)
  4. "Alive and Kickin'" (live)

CD maxi

  1. "To Be with You" (3:27)
  2. "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" (3:30)
  3. "Alive and Kickin'" (5:28)

Personnel

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[31] Platinum 70,000^
France — 94,000[45]
Germany (BVMI)[46] Gold 250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[47] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[48] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[49] Silver 200,000
United States (RIAA)[50] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history
Country Release date
United States November 25, 1991 (1991-11-25)
United Kingdom March 2, 1992 (1992-03-02)

Westlife version

Irish boy band Westlife recorded a cover of the song and made it to their Turnaround album in 2003 and performed it live subsequently. It was also performed in their 2003 Unbreakable Tour.

References
  1. McPadden 8/7/2015, Mike. "5 Hair Metal Ballads Inspired By/Ripped Off From Extreme's "More Than Words"". VH1 News. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  2. Popoff, Martin (2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal. Voyageur Press. p. 202. ISBN 9781627883757.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Mr. Big's Eric Martin on "To Be With You," Getting the Band Back Together, and Power Rangers". Phoenix New Times. August 1, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  5. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Mr. Big – Lean Into It". AllMusic. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  6. "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. November 30, 1991. p. 82. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  7. "Music Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Cashbox. November 30, 1991. p. 5. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  8. Garza, Janiss (February 14, 1992). "Lean Into It". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  9. Mr. Big artist videography mvdbase.com
  10. "Australian-charts.com – Mr. Big – To Be with You". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  11. "Austriancharts.at – Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  12. "Ultratop.be – Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  13. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2072." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  14. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 2097." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  15. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. April 25, 1992. p. 26. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  16. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. April 11, 1992. p. 22. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  17. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  18. "Lescharts.com – Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in French). Les classement single.
  19. "Offiziellecharts.de – Mr. Big – To Be with You". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  20. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – To Be with You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  21. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 17, 1992" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  22. "Dutchcharts.nl – Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  23. "Charts.nz – Mr. Big – To Be with You". Top 40 Singles.
  24. "Norwegiancharts.com – Mr. Big – To Be with You". VG-lista.
  25. "Swedishcharts.com – Mr. Big – To Be with You". Singles Top 100.
  26. "Swisscharts.com – Mr. Big – To Be with You". Swiss Singles Chart.
  27. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  28. "Mr Big Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  29. "Mr Big Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  30. "Mr Big Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  31. "1992 ARIA Singles Chart". ARIA. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  32. "Jahreshitparade Singles 1992" (in German). Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  33. "Jaaroverzichten 1992" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  34. "The RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1992" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 56 no. 25. December 19, 1992. p. 8. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  35. "The RPM Top 100 Hit tracks of 1992". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  36. "1992 Year-End Sales Charts" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9 no. 51/52. December 19, 1992. p. 17. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  37. "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1992" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  38. "Single top 100 over 1992" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  39. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1992" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  40. "End of Year Charts 1992". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved May 2, 2020. Note: The source erroneously lists "To Be with You" as "Remedy" by the Black Crowes.
  41. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1992" (in German). Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  42. "Year End Charts: Top Singles". Music Week. January 16, 1993. p. 8.
  43. "Billboard Top 100 – 1992". Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  44. Mayfield, Geoff (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade – The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  45. Les Meilleures Ventes "Tout Temps" de 45 T. / Singles / Téléchargement at the Wayback Machine (archived August 1, 2020)
  46. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Mr. Big; 'To Be with You')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  47. "Dutch single certifications – Mr. Big – To Be with You" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved September 25, 2019. Enter To Be with You in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  48. "Swedish certification, award". Paul Gilbert. Archived from the original on June 26, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  49. "British single certifications – Mr Big – To Be with You". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  50. "American single certifications – Mr. Big – To Be with You". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 25, 2019. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 


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