"If It Takes a Lifetime" is a single by American rock band Cheap Trick, released as the third and final single from their critically acclaimed 2006 album Rockford. It was the band's last single in three years.

Released as the third single from Rockford, the remixed promotional single aimed for radio station play only - much like the band's other recent single releases.

The song was written by all four members of the band with American songwriter and producer Julian Raymond. The song was produced by Cheap Trick, whilst Raymond co-produced. Raymond had previously co-written with the band on the 1994 album track "Tell Me Everything", the 2003 album track/single "My Obsession", the Rockford album track "All Those Years" and also various eight tracks on the band's 2009 album The Latest.

The song was recorded at four studios; Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California. Like the Rockford album, the song was mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, New York.

The single's song version was a remix by American musician, songwriter and producer Steven Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. In the Billboard Magazine issue of July 15, 2006, a section on Zandt's "Little Steven's Underground Garage" weekly syndicated radio show, the song "If It Takes a Lifetime" had peaked at #2 in the top 10 "Coolest Garage Songs", whilst the Rockford album was listed at #1 on the "Coolest Garage Albums" chart.

In an interview with Rick Nielsen based in a Cheap Trick featured article for The Press of Atlantic City of June 29, 2006, Nielsen stated how the band had played the song live acoustically, stating "We did "If It Takes a Lifetime," and said to ourselves, "Yeah, that should be done electrically."

In the Star Press issue of September 7, 2006, Michelle Kinsey had interviewed Nielsen, who had stated that "If It Takes a Lifetime" was the song he looked forward to the most during a Cheap Trick concert.

The single was released in America only as a promotional one-track single through Big3 Records and Cgeap Trick Unlimited. The single featured the remix of "If It Takes a Lifetime" as the sole track. The remix was titled "If It Takes a Lifetime (Little Steven Van Zandt Radio Edit)". The yellow & black graphics CD single featured a custom picture sleeve, which featured the cartoon head of each band member as seen on the Rockford album cover.

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