| "I'll Be You" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Replacements | ||||
| from the album Don't Tell a Soul | ||||
| Released | April 1989 | |||
| Recorded | 1988–89 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 3:27 | |||
| Label | Sire/Reprise | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Paul Westerberg | |||
| Producer(s) | Matt Wallace | |||
| The Replacements singles chronology | ||||
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"I'll Be You" is a song by the American rock band The Replacements. It was written by lead singer Paul Westerberg and released as the lead single from the band's sixth studio album Don't Tell a Soul in 1989 . After being singled out by Reprise executive Lenny Waronker as a potential hit, the song was heavily promoted by the label and became the band's only single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 51.
The song has since seen critical acclaim and its lyric of "rebel without a clue," was later quoted by the band's tourmates Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on their 1991 song "Into the Great Wide Open."