"I Try" is a song co-written and performed by American musician
Macy Gray. Issued as the second single from her debut album, On How Life Is (1999), the song was first released in Japan as a
double A-side with "
Do Something" on July 23, 1999. Later that year, on September 27, it received its first solo release in the United Kingdom. "I Try" is Gray's most successful single, peaking at number six in the United Kingdom, number five in the United States, number two in Canada, and number one in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. At the
2001 Grammy Awards, "I Try" won
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and was nominated for
Record of the Year and
Song of the Year.
Critical reception
Daily Record called the song "soulful", noting that
Macy Gray "has one of the most distinctive singing voices around."[2]
Music video
The
music video for the song, directed by American filmmaker
Mark Romanek (who had previously directed the video for Gray's "
Do Something"),[3] depicts Gray waking up in a hotel room, buying flowers, and traveling through
New York City, traveled through by bus and train to meet a man in a park. At the end of the video, Gray is shown to still be in her hotel room. It is implied that she may have been dreaming the entire time and that none of the events in the video actually occurred.[4][original research?]
^I Try (UK CD2 liner notes). Macy Gray. Epic Records, Clean Slate. 1999. 668183 5.{{
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^I Try (UK cassette single sleeve). Macy Gray. Epic Records, Clean Slate. 1999. 668183 4.{{
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^I Try (European CD1 liner notes). Macy Gray. Epic Records, Clean Slate. 1999. EPC 667770 1.{{
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^I Try (European CD2 liner notes). Macy Gray. Epic Records, Clean Slate. 1999. EPC 667770 2.{{
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^I Try (Australian CD single liner notes). Macy Gray. Epic Records, Clean Slate. 1999. 667911 2.{{
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^I Try (Japanese CD single liner notes). Macy Gray. Epic Records. 1999. ESCA-8025.{{
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^On How Life Is (US CD album booklet). Macy Gray. Epic Records, Clean Slate. 1999. EK 69490.{{
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