Paxton had dropped out of high school and was living in Phoenix, Arizona when he wrote "It Was I" with Battin. The two of them recorded an acoustic demo of the song and submitted it to producer Bob Shad.[3] Shortly after the song was release as a single, Paxton overheard "It Was I" playing from a radio speaker while he was working in a pecan tree. Paxton only realized the song was his after he rushed over to a parked car to take a closer listen.[4] "It Was I" eventually sold over one million copies.[5]
The song was later covered by American guitarist and vocalist Lindsey Buckingham, and was released as the second single off his debut album, Law and Order. A music video directed by Jerry Watson was also created to accompany the song.[7] Unlike Buckingham's previous single "Trouble", "It Was I" was not a big hit for Buckingham and it also failed to match the success of the original Skip & Flip recording. The song only reached No. 10 on the BillboardBubbling Under chart, an extension to the Hot 100.[8]
"It Was I" fared slightly better in Australia, where it managed to reach the No. 74 spot.[9] Despite only achieving minor success in Australia, "It Was I" performed better there than any of Buckingham's subsequent singles, including "Go Insane", which only reached No. 100.
In an interview with Jim Ladd, Buckingham described "It Was I" as having an adolescent theme to its lyrics. "It's about someone who's probably first experiencing pain in a relationship and he's explaining what has gone wrong, but his conclusion at the end is one of commitment still. Saying, "let's keep trying. Let's keep going and get through this." The sense is really very optimistic for future happiness."[10]
Personnel
Lindsey Buckingham – lead vocals, all instrumentation
