{"id":239073,"date":"2025-10-20T17:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/239073\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T17:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:33:08","slug":"tonic-singer-says-hit-song-if-you-could-only-see-was-not-supposed-to-be-a-single","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/239073\/","title":{"rendered":"Tonic singer says hit song ‘If You Could Only See’ was not supposed to be a single"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 1990s rock singer says his band\u2019s biggest hit was not supposed to be a single.<\/p>\n

Tonic frontman Emerson Hart told CBS News in a recently resurfaced interview that the success of \u201cIf You Could Only See\u201d was a surprise. It was reportedly the most played song on rock radio stations in 1997, despite being the third single from Tonic\u2019s debut studio album, \u201cLemon Parade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was (surreal), man, because you remember \u2018Lemon Parade\u2019 came out in \u201896 and the first single off that record was \u2018Open Up Your Eyes,\u2019\u201d Hart told CBS. \u201cWe were in a van and touring and stuff like that, and then that went to No. 1. And then we were in a bus… and I was like, \u2018Wow, this is as good as its ever going to get. I\u2019m going to just soak all of it up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But Tonic became even more popular when Kevin Weatherly, a program director at KROQ in Los Angeles, added \u201cIf You Could Only See\u201d to the radio station\u2019s airplay rotation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had not planned for that to be the second single,\u201d Hart told CBS. \u201cIt was going to be \u2018Casual Affair,\u2019 which was a heavier rock song since we were already kind of plowing down the road of rock radio at that point. He added it and, man, that just – it was from bus to plane. I mean, it\u2019s amazing how quickly that can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hart made the comments in a 2014 interview<\/a> with CBS News, which reposted a clip on Facebook<\/a> over the weekend. Hart, who was releasing a solo album at the time, said he would never get sick of playing \u201cIf You Could Only See,\u201d on which he is credited as the sole songwriter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful for that song. I was talking to somebody after a show a few nights ago who was like, \u2018Man, don\u2019t you get tired of playing that song?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018No, it\u2019s given me so much joy and it\u2019s given me so much in my life,\u2019\u201d Hart said. \u201cIt\u2019s so amazing to have a song that has been such a part of different people\u2019s lives and [hear things like] \u2018I fell in love at one of your shows,\u2019 \u2018I met my wife that was our song,\u2019 \u2018when my daughter was born every time I hear it it makes me think about the first time I saw her.\u2019 And man, that\u2019s like the greatest gift I can ever get… as a writer, it is the hugest compliment for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf You Could Only See,\u201d which was inspired by<\/a> Hart\u2019s then-relationship with a woman that his family did not approve of, remains popular today with more than 218 million streams on Spotify. Tonic re-recorded it as an acoustic version for \u201cLemon Parade Revisited\u201d in 2016.<\/p>\n

Hart continues to perform as a solo artist and in Tonic with bandmates Jeff Russo and Dan Lavery, including a 2023 concert<\/a> together at the New York State Fair. The band has released five albums altogether, earning two Grammy nominations for 2002\u2019s \u201cHead on Straight,\u201d and contributed to the \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d movie soundtrack with \u201cYou Wanted More.\u201d <\/p>\n

Tonic has not announced any 2026 tour dates, but will perform on the \u201890s Cruise<\/a> with TLC, Sugar Ray, Better Than Ezra, Smash Mouth<\/a>, En Vogue<\/a>, Edwin McCain, DJ Kool, EMF, Sponge, Maxi Priest and Kid \u2018N Play<\/a>. The cruise, also featuring MTV alumni Downtown Julie Brown, Matt Pinfield and Dave Brown, goes from Tampa to Nassau and Key West on Jan. 25-30.<\/p>\n

\"Tonic\"(L-R) Musicians Jeff Russo, Emerson Hart, and Dan Lavery of Tonic perform on stage at Temecula Valley Balloon And Wine Festival on June 3, 2017 in Temecula, California. (Photo by Daniel Knighton\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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