I Try


"I Try" is a song co-written and recorded by American musician Macy Gray. It was released on September 27, 1999, outside the United States, and in North America on January 25, 2000, as the second single from her debut album, On How Life Is. It is Gray's biggest hit to date. It peaked 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. It remains Gray's biggest hit single in the US to date, and her only one to reach the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. The song was used in the TV sitcom Spin City, when Michael J Fox's character, Michael Flaherty, was leaving his job and moving from NYC; the actor was also leaving the series after he had announced that he had Parkinson's. In 2010, the song was featured in an episode of The Office. It was also featured in the series 2 finale of Mrs. Brown's Boys during which it was sung by Brendan O'Carroll and Pat "Pepsi" Shields. In 2018, the song was featured in an episode of The Last Man on Earth.

Music video

The video for the song, directed by Mark Romanek, 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.
At the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, the video won Best New Artist and was nominated for Best Female Video and Best New Artist in a Video. Gray presented the award for "Best Pop Video" alongside LL Cool J.

Track listing

UK CD 1
  1. "I Try"
  2. "I Try"
  3. "Don't Come Around"
UK CD 2
  1. "I Try"
  2. "I Try"
  3. "I Try"
European CD single
  1. "I Try"
  2. "Rather Hazy"
  3. "I Try"

    Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australia 18
Austria 37
Europe 58
Germany 80
New Zealand 19
Switzerland 60
US Billboard Hot 10026

Certifications

Release history