I Wanna Get Next to You

The song talks about how a narrator pleads love for a beautiful woman, except that the young woman is unkind, and does not understand his affection for her, as he wastes his own money calling her, but she does not respond, regardless, he still wants to "get next to" her. This theme is expressed clearly and concisely in the lyrics of the song's first verse:

Sitting here in this chair, waiting on you / oh, baby to see things my way.

But not a word do you say. / You won't even look my way, yeah

Girl I'm spending my dimes, / wasting my time

Talking 'til I'm black and blue. / Oh, can't you see I wanna get next to you? ^[1]

Unlike most Rose Royce songs, "I Wanna Get Next to You" does not feature typical lead vocalist Gwen Dickey; rather, it showcases male lead vocals from one of the band's trumpeters, Kenny Copeland.^[2][3]

"I Wanna Get Next to You" became Rose Royce's second top 10 single on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #10; it peaked at #3 on Billboard's Hot Soul Singles chart and at #9 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. The song peaked at #10 on the Cashbox Top 100 Singles chart, spending two weeks in the top 10.^[4] The song's strongest showing was on Record World magazine's Top Singles Chart which had it peaking at #8 on May 7, 1977, and spending four weeks in the top 10.^[5]

The song was also successful worldwide, becoming their second top 40 hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at #14 on the UK Singles Chart.^[6] Billboard's Hits of the World international listings showed "I Wanna Get Next to You" reaching #8 in New Zealand on July 3, 1977 while Rose Royce's first hit single "Car Wash" was still in the top 10.^[7]