The Man I Want to Be (song)

"The Man I Want to Be"
The cover has the artist set against a white background, wearing a black cowboy hat, dark blue dress shirt and a gold cross necklace. The song title appears above the artist, boldly written in blue, and the artist's name is set below the song title to the right of the cover, cursively written in gold.
Single by Chris Young
from the album The Man I Want to Be
ReleasedNovember 16, 2009
Recorded2009
Genre
Length3:26
LabelRCA Nashville
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)James Stroud
Chris Young singles chronology
"Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)"
(2009) 		"The Man I Want to Be"
(2009) 		"Voices"
(2010)
Music video
"The Man I Want to Be" on YouTube

"The Man I Want to Be" is a song written by Brett James and Tim Nichols, and recorded by American country music artist Chris Young. It was released in November 2009 as the third single and title track from his album The Man I Want to Be (2009). The song is about the singer wanting to change who he is to make amends to a former lover.

The song received positive reviews from critics who praised Young's vocal performance and James Stroud's production for saving the bland lyrics. "The Man I Want to Be" was Young's second of five consecutive number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It also peaked at numbers 48 and 81 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100 respectively. The song was certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over a million units in the United States.

An accompanying music video for the song, directed by Chris Hicky, features Young at a bus stop making a call to God through a phone booth to help him find his former girlfriend.