"Change the … Read Full Bio ↴This was featured in the John Travolta movie Phenomenon
"Change the World" is a song recorded by country superstar Wynonna Judd, which was covered by Eric Clapton with backing by Babyface for the soundtrack of the 1996 film Phenomenon. The song won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year (for the songwriters Tommy Sims, Gordon Kennedy and Wayne Kirkpatrick), as well as Best Male Pop Vocal performance. The song was chosen by the RIAA as one of the Songs of the Century, ranked at #270.
The single peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1996. It also spent 13 weeks at #1 on the adult contemporary chart and remained on that chart for over a year and a half (80 weeks), a feat which was extraordinarily rare at the time. Since then, however, certain songs have remained on the AC chart for extended periods of time, prompting the eventual creation of an Adult Contemporary recurrent chart for songs that have stayed on the chart for many weeks and fallen below a certain threshold.
Although "Change the World" is better known as an unplugged acoustic track, a rare electric performance of the song was featured on Babyface's 1997 live album Babyface MTV Unplugged NYC, with Clapton on co-lead vocals, playing his namesake signature Fender Stratocaster guitar. There was also another electric cover of this track, released the following year, with Nathan East on electric bass.
In the song, the performer expresses his desire to communicate his love to an unnamed woman. This love, he fears, will go unrequited without a drastic change in his life.
Previous to the release of Clapton's hit version, the song was recorded by country superstar Wynonna Judd for her album Revelations, released in February of 1996. Wynonna, however, did not release her version as a single despite the popularity of Clapton's.
Change the World
Eric Clapton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pull one down for you
Shine it on my heart
So you could see the truth
That this love I have inside
Is everything it seems
But for now I find
And I can change the world
I will be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby, if I could change the world
If I could be king
Even for a day
I'd take you as my queen
I'd have it no other way
And our love will rule
In this kingdom that we have made
'Til then I'll be a fool
Wishing for the day
That I can change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby, if I could change the world
Baby, if I could change the world
I could change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby, if I could change the world
Baby, if I could change the world
Baby, if I could change the world
The lyrics to Eric Clapton's song Change the World are about the power of love and the idea that it has the ability to change the world. The song expresses a desire to do anything in the name of love, even if it means reaching for the stars or becoming a king for a day.
The first verse begins with a hypothetical scenario, in which the singer imagines reaching for the stars and shining them on his heart to reveal his true love. However, while this love may seem perfect, it still only exists in his dreams. The chorus then states that if the singer could change the world, he would do so to be the light of his lover's universe and make her see the goodness of his love.
The second verse builds on this idea of hypothetical scenarios, imagining the singer as a king with his lover as his queen ruling a kingdom where their love was the only law. However, the singer knows that these scenarios are unlikely to happen, so he ends the verse with a sense of longing and wishing for the day when he can make his dreams a reality.
Overall, the song's message is a simple one: love has the power to change things for the better, and by expressing it openly and freely, we can make the world a better place.
Line by Line Meaning
If I could reach the stars
If I had the ability to do the impossible
I'd pull one down for you
I would do anything for you, even if it seems impossible
Shine it on my heart
I would let you see how much I love you
So you could see the truth
So that you could understand my true feelings for you
That this love I have inside
My love for you is immense and exists within me
Is everything it seems
My love is genuine and exactly what it appears to be
But for now I find
As of now, I realize
It's only in my dreams
It is only a wish, and can only be achieved in my thoughts
I can change the world
I wish I had the capacity to change things for the better
I would be the sunlight in your universe
I would bring brightness and positivity in your life, just like the sun does for the universe
You would think my love was really something good
You would consider my love to be very special and worthy
Baby if I could
If only I have the power to change things
If I could be king
If I had tremendous power
Even for a day
Even if it were for a brief period
I'd take you as my queen
I would make you my partner and my number one priority
I'd have it no other way
I wouldn't want anything else
And our love would rule
Our love would take center stage and guide our lives
In this kingdom that we had made
In the life we've built for ourselves
'til then i'll be a fool
Until then, I'll continue to be unwise in my hopes and dreams
Wishing for a day
Hoping that someday it will happen
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: Gordon Scott Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Tommy Sims
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@imafrog4
Babyface does an amazing job on these backing vocals! I love his voice.
@TBBrickYT
OH!!! OH!!! THAT IS BABYFACE!!! ❤❤❤
@hahadarrie
Wowwww thank you!!
@chanticochran2038
I KNEW I heard Babyface in the background!!!!
@MKnight1121
Absolutely beautiful vocals.
@MusicalHeARTnSoul
Hardout! 🙌
@toohardfortheradio3189
Growing up listening to this song on the radio in my parents old Buick century. Now I dance with my baby boy to this song. It's so pure, soft and a absolute master piece!
@gaborneszatmari2792
Ugye, Clapton dalai annyira tiszták?!
Azt hittem, csak én érzem így... 😊
@samantharobertson3423
Ohnmy gosh. I sang this to my daughter and now my son. He smiles every time.
@anita7136
I love it! Just had a baby girl and danced with her to this. ❤