I Need You

Album

I Need You

Label

Curb Records

Genre

CCM (Contemporary Christian music)

Composer(s)

Ty Lacy;Dennis Matkosky

Entered Chart

May 27, 2000

Peak Date

Aug 12, 2000

Released

March 20, 2000

Recorded

Rosewood (Tyler, Texas)[

Catalog #

Capitol 58863

B-Side

"Spirit in the Sky"

LeAnn Rimes passionately expresses her devotion to God on this Christian country-pop ballad she recorded for the 1999 TV miniseries Jesus. Peaking at #11, it was her biggest hit on the Hot 100 since "How Do I Live" went to #2 in 1997. It also reached #8 on the Country chart and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. This was written by Dennis Matkosky and Ty Lacy, the songwriters behind Keith Urban's hit "You'll Think Of Me." Matkosky, who also co-wrote the Flashdance hit "Maniac," went on to write Rimes' Top 40 country single "Some People" from her 2005 album, This Woman. Matkosky admitted to the Songcraft podcast that it took a bit of deception to get this song pushed through. He was playing the tune in his studio when his wife told him it sounded like it could be a hit for Faith Hill. Unfortunately, Hill's people turned it down, so he went to Curb Records in the hopes someone on the label's roster would record it. The fortuitous lie was formed in the waiting room. "I was reading a Variety magazine and I noticed that Kevin Costner was doing a movie called For Love Of The Game," he recalled. "So when I went in to the A&R person, I said, 'Hey, I wanna play you a song, and I'm working on this movie For Love Of The Game with Kevin Costner, and I need to find a singer right away, within 24 hours." Shortly after, he was contacted by the label's founder, Mike Curb, who offered LeAnn Rimes for the job, but it had tie into the Jesus miniseries rather than the Costner movie. Obviously, Matksosky was willing to "sacrifice" the latter gig. I Need You is also the name of Rimes' third compilation album, released in 2001. The singer was in the midst of suing Curb Records to be released from her contract (which was signed on her behalf by her parents when she was 12 years old), when the label issued I Need You. Rimes promptly denounced the release. "This album was made without my creative input," she explained. "It consists largely of unfinished material and songs that didn't make other albums... I want to make abundantly clear to you that this album is not a reflection of myself as an artist but is solely the conception of Curb Records, and for that I am truly and deeply sorry." Because of Rimes' statement, the album was discontinued mere days after its release, but the singer re-released it in March 2002 with additional songs. Rimes sang this with Katharine McPhee during an appearance on the Netflix comedy series Country Comfort, which stars Rimes' husband Eddie Cibrian as a widowed single father. In the 2021 episode, we learn that his late wife's favorite song was "I Need You."

I don't need a lot of things
I can get by with nothing
But all the blessings life can bring
I've always needed something
But I've got all I want when it comes to loving you
You're my only reason
You're my only truth

I need you like water, like breath, like rain
I need you like mercy from Heaven's gate
There's a freedom in your arms
That carries me through
I need you

You're the hope that moves me
To courage again, oh yeah
You're the love that rescues me
When the cold winds rage
And it's so amazing
'Cause that's just how you are
And I can't turn back now
'Cause you've brought me too far

I need you like water, like breath, like rain
I need you like mercy from Heaven's gate
There's a freedom in your arms
That carries me through
I need you
Oh, yes I do, oh
I need you like water, like breath, like rain
I need you like mercy from Heaven's gate
There's a freedom in your arms and it carries me through
I need you

Oh, yes I do
I need you
I need you, oh
I need you