I Try

Infobox Single
Name = I Try


Artist = Macy Gray
Album = On How Life Is
Released = September 27, 1999 (international release)
February 29, 2000 (U.S.)
Format = Digital download, CD single, 12" maxi single
Recorded = 1999
Genre = Soul
Length = 3:59
Label = Epic
Writer = Macy Gray, Jeremy Ruzumna, Jinsoo Lim, David Wilder
Producer = Andrew Slater
Last single = "Do Something"
(1999)
This single = "I Try"
(1999)
Next single = "Still"
(2000)

"I Try" is the second single from Macy Gray's debut album "On How Life Is", released in 1999 internationally, but not becoming a hit in her native United States until 2000. It was Gray's biggest hit to date. It peaked at number six in the United Kingdom, number five in the United States, and number one in Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.

At the 2000 Grammy Awards, "I Try" won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

"I Try" was released in the UK on two CD singles including remixes and the B-side "Don't Come Around".

Music video

The video for the song, directed by Mark Romanek, depicts Gray waking up in a hotel room, buying flowers, and traveling through New York City to meet a man in a park. At one point she is seen entering a Lexington Avenue subway entrance, which at the time served the 6, E, and F lines. The platform which her train arrives on, however, is the 63rd Street Connector which would indeed become the Lexington Avenue F line stop one year later.

At the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, the video was nominated for Best Female Video and Best New Artist.

Due to the touching lyrics and melody of "I Try", the song was eventually used in the "Goodbye (2)" episode of the American sitcom "Spin City", originally aired on May 24, 2000. It was played as the background music in the final bar scene where Michael J. Fox's character Michael Patrick Flaherty leaves the show.

Track listing

;CD 1
#"I Try" (Album Version)
#"I Try" (Full Crew Mix)
#"Don't Come Around"

;CD 2
#"I Try" (Album Version)
#"I Try" (JayDee Remix)
#"I Try" (Bob Power Remix)

;Import CD single
#"I Try"
#"Rather Hazy"
#"I Try" (Full Crew Mix - Extended 2 - No Vocoder)

Charts

{| class="wikitable"!align="center"|Chart (2000)!align="center"|Peak
position
-
align="left"|German Singles Chart [cite web |url=http://musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/title/Gray%2C+Macy/I+Try/single |title=Musicline.de – Macy Gray – I Try |accessdate=2008-06-30 |work=Musicline.de |language=German]
align="center"|16
-
align="left"|New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart
align="center"|1
-
align="left"|Norwegian Singles Chart
align="center"|5
-
align="left"|Swedish Singles Chart
align="center"|52
-
align="left"|Swiss Singles Chart
align="center"|13
-
align="left"|United World Chart [cite web |url=http://www.mediatraffic.de/week04-2000.htm |title=United World Chart – singles & airplay – week 04 / 2000 |accessdate=2008-03-18 |work=United World Chart]
align="center"|16
-
align="left"|U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100
align="center"|5
-
align="left"|U.S. "Billboard" Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles [cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=345&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Bubbling+Under+R%26amp%3BB%2FHip-Hop+Singles&ci=3037522&cdi=7568860&cid=04%2F29%2F2000 |title=Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles |accessdate=2008-03-18 |work=Billboard]
align="center"|21
-
align="left"|U.S. "Billboard" Adult Contemporary
align="center"|21

References

succession box
before = "Everyday I Love You" by Boyzone
title = Irish Singles Chart number-one single
years = December 11, 1999
after = "I Have a Dream"/"Seasons in the Sun" by Westlifesuccession box
before = "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Eiffel 65
title = Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single
(first run)
years = January 16, 2000 – January 23, 2000
after = "Mascara"/"Leave Me Alone" by Killing Heidisuccession box
before = "S Club Party" by S Club 7
title = New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single
years = January 30, 2000
after = "What a Girl Wants" by Christina Aguilerasuccession box
before = "Mascara"/"Leave Me Alone" by Killing Heidi
title = Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single (second run)
years = February 20, 2000
after = "Bloke" by Chris Franklin