I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
Song Lyrics / Chart History / Artist Information

• Written by Freddie Perrin, Al Mizell, Deke Richards, and Berry Gordy Jr (Gordy was president of Motown Records)
• Collectively the group became known as "The Corporation™
• The Corporation™ did a lot of the writing, producing, and arranging for many Motown artists and The Jackson 5 in particular following the departure of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team, who had achieved a status that rivaled many of the artists they wrote for, something Motown didn't like
• Motown did not initially credit the individual members of The Association™ (which always used the "™" symbol after the name), but rather simply credited authorship to "The Association™"
• Originally performed by the Jackson 5
• The Jackson 5 consisted of five brothers, Michael, Tito, Randy, Marlon, and and Jackie
• I Want You Back was the only single released from the Jackson 5's first album, "Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5"
• The title of the album was a Motown marketing gimmick designed to reinforce the belief that Diana Ross had "discovered" the group, which was not true, although she did help in their development once signed to Motown Records
• The rest of the album consisted primarily of covers of past Motown hits
• It was the first of 17 Top 40 hits for the group on the Motown label
• The song reached #1 on the Top 40 charts in 1969
• It was also a #1 R&B hit for four weeks
• In 1995 the Group The Jackson 5 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• The song "I Want You Back" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999
• It was ranked #120 of Rolling Stone Magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"
• The song was covered by Martha Reeves but never released as a single
• The song has been remade by several artists, including the Christian rock band The Waiting, Motown star Martha Reeves, Pat Lewis, and Brit Graham Parker
• Another interesting cover was done by Shirley Scott, (who was married for some time to tenor sax great Stanley Turrentine), who did an instrumental version on a really funky Hammond B-3 organ

Download Original MP3

Listed below are some various versions of "I Want You Back" that you can download directly from Amazon.com for less than $1

The Jackson 5	I Want You Back
Martha Reeves	I Want You Back
Graham Parker	I Want You Back (Alive/Digitally Remastered 1996)
Pat Lewis	I Want You Back
Shirley Scott	I Want You Back (LP Version - Instrumental)
The Waiting	I Want You Back

Song Lyrics - I Want You Back

When I had you to myself
I didn't want you around
Those pretty faces always make you stand out in a crowd

But some one picked you from the bunch
When love was all it took
Now it's much too late for me 
To take a second look.

Oh baby give me one more chance
Won't you please take me
Back to your heart

Oh darlin I was blind to let you go (to 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
Ya ya ya ya
Na na na na

Tryin' to live without your love
Is one long sleepless night
Let me show you girl
That I know wrong from right

Every street you walked right on
With a tear stain on the ground
Following the girl
I didn't even want around
Let me tell you now

Oh baby all I need is one more chance
(to show you that I love you)
Won't you please take me
(back to your heart)
Oh darlin I was blind to let you go
(let you go baby)
But now since I see you in his arms
Uh-huh