Song · Matthew Sweet
“I Wanted To Tell You” by Matthew Sweet
From the album Girlfriend (1991)
“I Wanted To Tell You” by Matthew Sweet appears on 13 radio countdowns from 1 station between 2000 and 2014. It was first released in 1991 on the album Girlfriend. Its best result is #1111 on the CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,447 alternative song of all time.
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Matthew Sweet wrote "I Wanted To Tell You" alone, words and music, and it's part of Girlfriend, his third album, which Zoo Entertainment released on October 22, 1991. He made the record in 1990, after his divorce, and people took to calling it his breakup album; Sweet later reckoned it had turned into a kind of antidote, holding everything he needed to feel.
Guitarists Richard Lloyd, once of Television, and Robert Quine sat in on the album, and the title track went top five on the Modern Rock Tracks chart ahead of it. Girlfriend became his breakthrough with critics and buyers alike and went gold, and its stock has only risen since: it's now hailed as a landmark of '90s power pop, and Paste placed it at number 61 among the 90 best albums of the decade.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1851 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1852 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 1838 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 1814 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 1814 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1810 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2007 | 1114 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 1111 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 1138 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 1173 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 1215 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 1278 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 1328 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
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