"I Want You" is a song by Australian pop duo Savage Garden, originally released in Australia on 27 May 1996 as the lead single from their debut album, Savage Garden (1997). The single reached number one in Canada and peaked at number four in Australia and on the US Billboard Hot 100. Much of the song's chart success in the US was the result of Rosie O'Donnell playing the song on several episodes of The Rosie O'Donnell Show. In the United Kingdom, the single was issued twice, achieving its highest peak of number 11 during its initial release in 1997.
At the APRA Music Awards of 1998 "I Want You" won Most Performed Australian Work Overseas. In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, the album version of the song was ranked number 87. In February 2023, Peking Duk released a version featuring re-recorded vocals by Darren Hayes.
The song's lyrics refer to the attraction exerted by a person possessing strong sex appeal. They fascinate the singer and arouse his curiosity, even though he is not sure whether he needs them at all. Singer Darren Hayes described it as a song about "being in love with a male energy", when asked if the song had a coded gay message.
In an interview with Apple Music about their debut album, Darren Hayes also said:
Larry Flick from Billboard noted that the song "has a jittery synth-pop beat reminiscent of such '80s-era Brit-pop heroes as Duran Duran." He added, "Partners Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones are quite the harmonious pair, and they are photogenic enough to ensure instant teen-idol status. Top 40 programmers should waste no time in slammin' this one on the air." British magazine Music Week rated it five out of five, describing it as "a great pop song akin to Roxette at their hook-happy best" and "a challenger for the UK number one spot". In 2025, the song ranked 97 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs.
Two music videos were released for the song. Both videos present Darren Hayes with long black hair. The first video is a low-budget version released in 1996 for Australian markets. It showed the band performing in a room full of disco lights and Darren Hayes singing on the back of a moving vehicle.
The second video was filmed on a high budget and premiered in 1997 for international markets in conjunction with the single's worldwide and American releases. Directed by Nigel Dick, it features the band in a stylised futuristic warehouse and recording studio. It was filmed on 11 February 1997 at the Harbor Generating Station in Long Beach, California. The international version was featured on the band's compilation ' (2005), while the Australian version was not available until the release of the compilation The Singles (2015).
In a 2022 interview with News Corp, Darren Hayes "said he only recently discovered the reason he was filmed in a metal head brace [for the video]... was 'because the lead singer looks gay when he moves.'" Hayes added, "They were just going to tell me it was an âÂÂartistic decisionâÂÂ. I'm still fucking angry about that."
Credits are adapted from the Savage Garden album booklet.
Studios
Personnel
"I Want You"
"I Want You '98"