"I Don't Want to Be" is a song by American singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw from his 2003 debut album, Chariot. The song gained exposure after being featured as the opening theme to The CW teen drama series One Tree Hill, and it was released as a radio single on February 17, 2004. It peaked at number 10 in the United States in 2005 and became a top-20 hit in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. The song is certified gold in the US, having sold over 500,000 downloads. In 2012, the song reached number 27 on the UK Singles Chart, its highest position, due to the finale of One Tree Hill's ninth and final season airing, which also featured DeGraw. The song's music video follows the message of the lyrics, featuring a girl investigating her high school peers while they are frozen in time, and she eventually decides to be herself.

Background and composition

Gavin DeGraw wrote the song as a message to adolescents, encouraging them to be themselves and to not let outside factors change their personalities. DeGraw explained: "['I Don't Want to Be'] was heavily influenced by the identity crisis right now that exists amongst youth. It's almost like you can go into any town in the country and the kids don't necessarily have an identity of their own; it's like whatever is on television is who they are." Upon finishing the song, DeGraw was happy with the results, but he was unsure if the song would become a hit despite being able to "have an impact on people's psyche and on their tapping toe". Musically, the track is written in the key of C minor and proceeds at a moderately slow tempo of 76 beats per minute.

Track listings

UK and Australian CD single European CD single 1 European CD single 2

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the UK CD single liner notes. Studios Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Use in media