"If I Wanted To" is a song by American singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, released in 1994 as the final single from her fourth studio album, Yes I Am (1993).

[2] Strong singles sales in March 1995 for TLC's "Red Light Special", Real McCoy's "Run Away", and The Notorious B.I.G.

's "Big Poppa" prevented "If I Wanted To" from rising higher on the Hot 100 despite widespread airplay on major US radio stations.

"[1] Fell and Rufer from the Gavin Report felt that the song "rocks with the best of her previous winners, but can also stand alone on its own merit, as it builds in intensity without losing its cool.

"[4] Sam Wood from Philadelphia Inquirer found that with "If I Wanted To" "she describes her own desires with a full palette of harrowing visions that never meander into prettified abstraction".