I Just Wanna Be Mad

Background

The song was written by Kelley Lovelace and Lee Thomas Miller. It was originally intended to be recorded by musician John Michael Montgomery, whom Clark said was "really close to recording it." The track was also intended to be recorded by Sara Evans, but she would pass on it. The song nearly was not chosen as the lead single because Clark's label, Mercury Nashville, were determined to make "Three Mississippi" the lead, while Clark and her management were "fighting" for "I Just Wanna Be Mad" to be released.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it an "uptempo, easy-to-sing-along-with, radio-friendly ode to the complexities of modern relationships, and Clark gives it all she's got." She goes on to say that the writers, Lovelace and Miller, have "crafted a lyric that examines the dynamics of relationships."

Music video

The music video opens up with Clark performing the song with a guitar under strobe lights in downtown San Francisco. This undercuts with scenes of her and her boyfriend (who works as a hotel valet) fighting for an unknown reason. She enters her car and drives around Nashville. He begrudgingly waits for her to come back, and in the final scenes of the video she does return, as following the song's lyrics. He enters the passenger side of the car and she grimaces. The video ends with the two riding off together.

The video debuted to CMT's playlists for the week of September 22, 2002. It was nominated at the 2003 CMT Flameworthy Awards for both Female Video of the Year and Cocky Video of the Year.

Chart performance

"I Just Wanna Be Mad" debuted at number 51 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs the week of August 31, 2002. It reached its peak position of number 2 on the chart on February 22, 2003. It stayed 1 week in that position and 34 weeks overall on the chart.

On the Radio & Records Country Top 50, the single debuted on August 23, 2002, at number 48 with 282 total plays. On February 14, 2003, it rose to the number 1 position with 5730 total plays. It spent 26 weeks in total.

Charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

References

1. Whitburn, Joel. (2008). "Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008". Record Research, Inc.
2. [http://www.nucountry.com.au/articles/diary/december2003/151203_terrieclark.htm Terri Clark Pain to Thrill]
3. "Chart listing for "I Just Wanna Be Mad"". [[Billboard (magazine).
4. "Artist Summary {{!}} The JUNO Awards". [[Juno Award]].
5. B. Remz, Jeffrey. (January 2003). "Terri Clark kills the pain".
6. (March 20, 2003). "Terri Clark Helps Songwriter Turn "Mad" to Glad".
7. ''[[Billboard magazine. Billboard]]'', September 7, 2002
8. (October 5, 2002). "Video Monitor". [[Billboard (magazine).
9. (February 14, 2003). "Country Top 50". [[Radio & Records]].
10. (December 12, 2003). "Most Heard 2003 {{!}} Country". [[Radio & Records]].
11. (2003). "Best of 2003: Country Songs". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
12. (August 16, 2002). "Going for Adds - Country". [[Radio & Records]].