"I Wanna Be With You" is a song by American pop singer Mandy Moore. It was released as the only single from Moore's second studio albumof the same name on April 11, 2000, one day after Moore's 16th birthday. The song received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who complimented Moore's mature vocals and the song's arrangement. The song peaked at number 24 in the United StatesBillboard Hot 100, becoming Moore's first and only top 30 single in the US to date. The song also peaked at number 13 in Australia and was certified Gold by ARIA. It also peaked at number 21 in the UK, 66 in Austria and 70 in Germany. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the 2000 film Center Stage. The music video for the song, directed by Nigel Dick showed Moore singing the song to her love interest in a dance studio.
Composition
"I Wanna Be with You" is a string-heavy pop song with slight R&B influenced beats. The song is written in the key of E Major and is set in the time signature of common time. It is moderately paced with a tempo of 76 beats per minute. The song also follows the sequence of Ebmaj7–Ab–Eb7–Abmaj7 as its chord progression. Moore's vocals in the song spans from the note of A3 to D5. The version used in the film has more poppy beats.
Chart success
The single was released in early 2000 and soon became Moore's highest charting song in the US at number 24, becoming her only top 40 song in the nation. It spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaked during its 9th week on the chart. As the date, "I Wanna Be with You" has sold 32,000 physical copies and 315,000 paid digital downloads according to Nielsen Soundscan. The single was more successful in Australia, spending over 25 weeks in the top 100 and reaching number 11 on the ARIA charts. It also reached number 21 in the UK, becoming her second, and so far, last single to chart there.
Reception
The single received mixed to positive reviews. Billboard praised the song and said, "Top 40 programmers and listeners alike will love Moore more with this track...just delightful", but Allmusic chose the song as a highlight track on the album of the same name.
Music video
The song's video was directed by Nigel Dick. It gained a lot of airplay on MTV and the song was also featured on the soundtrack to the film Center Stage. The video shows a 16-year-old Moore in a dance studio singing to her love interest, who was played by Sascha Radetsky from the movie. "I Wanna Be With You" is the last song by Moore to chart so far on the Billboard Hot 100. Moore continued her success in Australia with the following two singles, "In My Pocket" and "Crush" from her third self-titled albumMandy Moore.
