If You Ever Want to Be in Love

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"If You Ever Want to Be in Love"
Single by James Bay
from the album Chaos and the Calm
Released29 October 2015
Recorded2013–14 in Nashville, Tennessee[1]
Genre
Length3:58
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Jacquire King
James Bay singles chronology
"Scars"
(2015) 		"If You Ever Want to Be in Love"
(2015) 		"Best Fake Smile"
(2016)
Music video
"If You Ever Want to Be in Love" on YouTube

"If You Ever Want to Be in Love" is a song by English singer-songwriter James Bay. It was released in the United Kingdom on 29 October 2015 through Republic Records as the fourth single[2] from his debut studio album Chaos and the Calm (2014) after originally being included on Bay's 2014 Let It Go EP. The single was certified gold in the United Kingdom in April 2022.

Background[edit]

Bay told PopCrush the song is "about a few different experiences and scenarios" saying "I was really keen to [move away from home] when I was 18, and I moved about 2-3 hours away ... Suddenly, I was really aware of the feeling every time I went home back to the town where I grew up in. When [I'd see my home town friends] again, there was always that talk of we're all back in this town -- it was a small town. We'd come together and one of the stories amongst all of this is always, "I saw that girl who I had something going on with and it really it sort of fizzled out and didn't end up being anything because we both went to different parts of the country." Some people have that feeling of "what if?" and that slight feeling of regret that they moved away. So the song is kind of referencing that whole part of your life where you leave and whenever you come back to visit, there's those things that make you think "What if I hadn't left?" There's those reminders, maybe still there. Or maybe you've come back to visit as well and it's kind of about chance meeting between two people who started from the same place, went away and came back again."[3]

Music video[edit]

A music video to accompany the release of "If You Ever Want to Be in Love" was first released onto YouTube on 29 October 2015 at a total length of four minutes and forty-three seconds.[4] The clip was directed by Sophie Mueller and was filmed at Fiddler's Elbow in Camden, a pub James often played before becoming famous. [5]

Charts[edit]

Weekly charts[edit]

Chart (2015–16) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[6] 53
Slovenia (SloTop50)[7] 46
UK Singles (OCC)[8] 96

Year-end charts[edit]

Chart (2018) Position
Iceland (Plötutíóindi)[9] 31

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[10] Gold 45,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[11] Gold 25,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[12] Gold 10,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[13] Gold 400,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format Label
United Kingdom 29 October 2015 Digital download, streaming[14] Republic

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Chaos and the Calm (Deluxe Version) by James Bay". iTunes (UK). 15 December 2014.
  2. ^ "James Bay Shares 'If You Ever Want To Be In Love'". Clash Music. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  3. ^ "JAMES BAY INTERVIEW: 'IF YOU EVER WANT TO BE IN LOVE,' MICHAEL JACKSON + MORE [EXCLUSIVE]". Pop Crush. August 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  4. ^ "James Bay -James Bay - If You Ever Want To Be In Love (Official Video)". YouTube. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  5. ^ "James Bay posts 'If You Ever Want to Be in Love' video – watch". NME. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  6. ^ "James Bay – If You Ever Want to Be In Love" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  7. ^ "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  9. ^ "TÓNLISTINN – LÖG – 2016". Plötutíóindi (in Icelandic). Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  10. ^ "Danish single certifications – James Bay – If You Ever Want to Be in Love". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Italian single certifications – James Bay – If You Ever Want to Be in Love" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 8 October 2018. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "If You Ever Want to Be in Love" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  12. ^ "Portuguese single certifications – James Bay – If You Ever Want to Be in Love" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  13. ^ "British single certifications – James Bay – If You Ever Want to Be in Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  14. ^ "If You Ever Want to Be In Love by James Bay". Spotify. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
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