Songfacts®:

• This is an ironic love song - a man met the love of his live because his previous wife or girlfriend cheated on him, but if the ex had been faithful, he wouldn't be with the wonderful woman he's with now. One could compare this to "Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love?" by Lobo, where a man meets his ideal woman, but is unable to pursue her because he's spoken for. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Mike - Santa Barbara, CA
• Chicago 18 was the first album the band recorded after lead singer Peter Cetera left the group. His replacement, Jason Scheff, sang lead on this one.
• This was written by Steve Kipner and Randy Goodrum. Kipner also co-wrote the Chicago hit "Hard Habit To Break." Goodrum's credits include "You Needed Me" and "Oh Sherrie."
  
  Says Goodrum: "That was a Steve Kipner idea. He said, 'I have an idea about looking through old photographs and thinking, wow, she really did me in. But if she hadn't done me in, I wouldn't have ended up with who I really needed to be with.' So once we arrived at the premise, then I was having a happy day, because I will trade one decent premise for 100 hooks. I couldn't care less about a hook. A hook will come. Look at 'You Needed Me.' 'You Needed Me' is hardly a hook. That's probably the sleepiest example of a hook you could ever find in a song." (Read more in our interview with Randy Goodrum.)
• David Foster, who also worked on Chicago's previous two albums, produced the track. Foster brought a smooth pop feel to Chicago's sound and helped make them adult contemporary mainstays.
• According to Goodrum, he and Kipner wanted to call the song "Paradox," but Foster insisted on "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." to avoid confusion with people looking for the song. As for the ellipsis (...) at the end of the song, that was the publisher's decision.