Desperately Wanting

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title: "Desperately Wanting" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1996-songs", "1997-singles", "better-than-ezra-songs", "elektra-records-singles", "song-recordings-produced-by-don-gehman", "songs-written-by-kevin-griffin"] description: "1996 single by Better Than Ezra" topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desperately_Wanting" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1996 single by Better Than Ezra ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

Field	Value
name	Desperately Wanting
cover	Desperately_Wanting_single_cover.jpg
type	single
artist	Better Than Ezra
album	Friction, Baby
released
length	4:37
label	Elektra
writer	Kevin Griffin
producer	Don Gehman
prev_title	King of New Orleans
prev_year	1996
next_title	Long Lost
next_year	1997
::

| name = Desperately Wanting | cover = Desperately_Wanting_single_cover.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Better Than Ezra | album = Friction, Baby | released = | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = | length = 4:37 | label = Elektra | writer = Kevin Griffin | producer = Don Gehman | prev_title = King of New Orleans | prev_year = 1996 | next_title = Long Lost | next_year = 1997

"Desperately Wanting" is a song by American alternative rock group Better Than Ezra. It was released in November 1996 as the second single from their third studio album, Friction, Baby, and became a chart hit in the United States, Australia, and Canada.

Composition

In an interview with SongFacts.com, Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin, who wrote this song, explained: "'Desperately Wanting' is a song where someone is looking back on their childhood. Specifically that song is about when I used to camp out with my friends in the summer down in the South, and you'd stay up all night causing havoc, throwing rocks at passing cars, knocking over mailboxes and vandalizing, as red-blooded men are wont to do. And literally, you're running all through the neighborhood and through the yards, and there's the dew on the grass. It was about those nights spent with a friend running around, running through the wet grass. And then it's a story of two people who took divergent paths in life. One person made a lot of bad decisions and ended up having some mental issues. And then just how you lose touch with people. And how when you're young and you're running around all night, and life hasn't had its way with you, the playing field is equal and it's flat. And then life takes everybody on their own journeys. But there's a time where all your potential is untapped and the world hasn't had its way with you. That's an amazing time of promise, and that's what 'Desperately Wanting' is about."

Music video

The video for "Desperately Wanting" was filmed at Los Angeles International Airport.

Track listings

US CD and cassette single

1. "Desperately Wanting" – 4:37
2. "Palace Hotel" – 3:44

European CD single

1. "Desperately Wanting" (radio edit) – 4:01
2. "Palace Hotel" – 3:44
3. "In the Blood" (LP version) – 4:32

Chart performance

"Desperately Wanting" reached No. 48 on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking on February 8, 1997. The song was most successful on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, where it peaked at No. 10. In Canada the single reached No. 13 on both the RPM 100 Hit Tracks and Alternative 30 charts. It also made a brief appearance on the Australian Singles Chart, peaking at No. 83.

Weekly charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1996–1997) | Peak position | Australia (ARIA) | US Billboard Hot 100 | US Adult Top 40 (Billboard) | US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard) | US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard) | US Top 40/Mainstream (Billboard) | US Triple-A (Billboard) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 83 | | | | | | | | | | 48 | | | | | | | | | | 37 | | | | | | | | | | 10 | | | | | | | | | | 11 | | | | | | | | | | 33 | | | | | | | | | | 15 | | | | | | | | | ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table]

Chart (1997)	Position	US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)	US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)
29
29
::

References

References

1. (November 22, 1996). "New Releases".
2. "ShieldSquare Captcha".
3. (October 11, 1996). "Cooking With 'Friction' : Better Than Ezra's Spicy Rock Stew Erupts From Bayou Country, but It's No Cajun Leftover". [[Los Angeles Times]].
4. (1996). "Desperately Wanting". [[Elektra Records]].
5. (1996). "Desperately Wanting". [[Elektra Records]].
6. (1996). "Desperately Wanting". [[Elektra Records]].
7. Ryan, Gavin. (2011). "Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010". Moonlight Publishing.
8. (February 8, 1997). "Billboard Hot 100".
9. (September 13, 1997). "Adult Pop Airplay".
10. (January 25, 1997). "Mainstream Rock Airplay".
11. (January 4, 1997). "Alternative Airplay".
12. (February 22, 1997). "Pop Airplay".
13. (March 8, 1997). "Adult Alternative Airplay".
14. (December 27, 1997). "The Year in Music 1997".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::