Don't Speak
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"Don't Speak" | ||||||||||
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Single by No Doubt | ||||||||||
from the album Tragic Kingdom | ||||||||||
B-side |
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Released | April 15, 1996 | |||||||||
Format | ||||||||||
Recorded | 1994 | |||||||||
Genre | ||||||||||
Length | 4:23 | |||||||||
Label | Interscope | |||||||||
Writer(s) | ||||||||||
Producer(s) | Matthew Wilder | |||||||||
No Doubt singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Don't Speak" is a song by American rock band, No Doubt. It was released in 1996 as the third single from the band's third studio album, Tragic Kingdom (1995). Vocalist Gwen Stefani wrote the song with her brother Eric Stefani about her bandmate and ex-boyfriend Tony Kanal shortly after he ended their seven-year relationship.[2]
Despite the song's popularity, "Don't Speak" did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 (as rules of the times required commercial singles for charting and one was not issued for the song), but it did reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay for 16 weeks. The single also reached number one in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, being No Doubt's most successful international single. "Don't Speak" was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1998 Grammy Awards.
The song was ranked at number 495 on Blender magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".[3] The song is a playable track in the 2009 music video game Band Hero, and is also included as a downloadable song in 2008's Rock Band 2
The song has been sampled by multiple Hip-Hop artists, including in Rakim's song "Dedicated" and Ice Cube's "War & Peace".
Contents
Composition
The song was written by Eric Stefani and Gwen Stefani and produced by Matthew Wilder. "Don't Speak" went through several rewrites. A live version that exists from April 1994 shows off a bouncy tune that has the same skeleton as the released version, but not the same urgency. A demo version also appeared on a demo CD, which was presented to Interscope Records prior to the release of the Tragic Kingdom album.[citation needed] Part of the song was performed on VH1 Storytellers on August 10, 2000. The song was written via multiple rewrites about the ending of the relationship between bassist Kanal and lead vocal Gwen Stefani.[4]
Chart performance
Upon release, the song immediately began to receive extensive airplay, and it became the most widely played song on American radio in 1996.[5] Not surprisingly, the song reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay, and maintained that position for 16 non-consecutive weeks, a record at the time.[6] Although the record would be broken in 1998 by the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" with 18 weeks at number one, the song remains in second place of songs with the most weeks at number one on the Hot 100 Airplay. For all its airplay though, the song was not allowed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 as no commercial single was released for it in the U.S. (a requirement for charting purposes at the time).
The song was also a hit on No Doubt's main radio format at the time, Modern Rock Tracks, where it climbed to number two for five consecutive weeks,[7] almost hitting number one with one spot behind Stefani's future husband, Gavin Rossdale with his band Bush hitting number one for seven consecutive weeks on the chart with their hit single, "Swallowed" and "Don't Speak" stayed at number two for five consecutive weeks on the issue dated, November 30, 1996. The song also proved to be a crossover hit, reaching number one on the Adult Top 40 for 15 consecutive weeks as well as numbers six and nine on the Adult Contemporary and Rhythmic Top 40 charts, respectively.[7] It was ultimately placed at number one on the Hot 100 Airplay year-end chart of 1997.[8]
Internationally, the song was also very successful. In February 1997, it peaked at number one in both the United Kingdom and Ireland for three weeks. Elsewhere in Europe, "Don't Speak" reached the top position in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, resulting in a peak position of number one on the European Hot 100 Singles for nine weeks. Australia was another major music market where the song received widespread airplay, debuting at number one and maintaining the peak position for eight weeks.
Music video
Before the music starts, at the beginning of the music video, there is a scene of Kanal picking a rotten orange from a tree (these scenes are usually cut out when VH1 airs this video). The majority of the music video for "Don't Speak" takes place on Stage 2 at Mack Sennett Studios in Silver Lake as the band plays. Other scenes tell the story of how the media mainly focused on Stefani while the band was always in the background.[9] The second half of the video features snippets of live footage filmed during the band's performance with Dog Eat Dog and Goldfinger at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on August 21, 1996. The video also features a short footage showing Tom Dumont playing together with Foo Fighters' guitarist Pat Smear. The video ends with Kanal replacing the orange in the tree, which is actually footage of Kanal in reverse pulling the orange off.
Tensions in the band had been running high, and they reportedly were on the verge of breaking up the day before they were scheduled to film the video. They decided to go ahead and film it as a form of "therapy".
The video won the award for Best Group Video and was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.
There is an alternate version of the video showing just the live performance part. Both versions of the video are included on the DVD The Videos 1992–2003.
Cover versions
- Sinéad Quinn performed it on the UK BBC TV series Fame Academy in 2002.
- Polish singer Anna Maria Jopek released a cover version in 2005 on her album Secret.
- In 2012, it was covered by various members of the Glee cast for the episode "The Break-Up" before subsequently being released as a single on iTunes.
- On March 15, 2013 singer Fatin Shidqia performed "Don't Speak" on week 4 episode of X Factor Indonesia.[10]
- Leela James also covers "Don't Speak" on her album A Change Is Gonna Come.
- In 2013, Jiordan Tolli performed the song on the fifth season of The X Factor Australia during week six. Her performance gained positive feedback from the judges.
- Rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony sampled Gwen Stefani's vocals from the song on their song "U N Me (Together Alwayz)". Their song was recorded during the sessions of their 2007 album Strength & Loyalty but it did not make the album. It was later released on a compilation album, Uni5 the Prequel: The Untold Story. However, the track was only released as a bonus track on the digital release of the album and not on the cd.
- DJ Promo (1997), Hardcore version cover.
- Christian Rock band, Write This Down had recorded a rock version of this song as part of their 2012 album Lost Weekend.
Track listings
- UK and European CD single
- UK cassette single
- "Don't Speak" – 4:23
- "Greener Pastures" (from The Beacon Street Collection album) – 5:05
- UK, European, Australian, and Japanese CD maxi single
- "Don't Speak" – 4:23
- "Don't Speak" (Alternate Version) – 4:23 (*)
- "Hey You" (Acoustic Version) – 3:25 (*)
- "Greener Pastures" (from The Beacon Street Collection album) – 5:05
(*) Recorded at York Street Studios, Auckland, New Zealand, September 1996.
- UK limited 7" single
- A. "Don't Speak" – 4:23
- B. "Greener Pastures" – 5:05
Charts
Peak positions
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Certifications
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Chart precession and succession
Preceded by
"Breathe" by The Prodigy
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Swedish Singles Chart number-one single December 13, 1996 |
Succeeded by "Un-Break My Heart" by Toni Braxton |
Preceded by
"I Can't Help Myself (I Love You, I Want You)" by The Kelly Family
"Discothèque" by U2 |
Norwegian Singles Chart number-one single December 24, 1996 – February 4, 1997 (first run) February 18, 1997 (second run) |
Succeeded by "Discothèque" by U2 "Don't Let Go (Love)" by En Vogue |
Preceded by
"Gabbertje" by Hakkûhbar
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Dutch Top 40 number-one single December 28, 1996 – February 8, 1997 |
Succeeded by "When I Die" by No Mercy |
Preceded by
"Thug Devotion" by Mo Thugs Family
"I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly |
New Zealand Singles Chart number-one single January 19, 1997 – January 26, 1997 (first run) February 9, 1997 (second run) |
Succeeded by "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly |
Preceded by
"Freak" by Silverchair
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Australian Singles Chart number-one single February 9, 1997 – March 30, 1997 |
Succeeded by "Truly Madly Deeply" by Savage Garden |
Preceded by
"Just Another Day" by John Mellencamp
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Canadian Singles Chart number-one single February 10, 1997 – February 17, 1997 |
Succeeded by "A Long December" by Counting Crows |
Preceded by
"Freed from Desire" by Gala
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Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders) number-one single February 15, 1997 – March 22, 1997 |
Succeeded by "Let a Boy Cry" by Gala |
Preceded by
"Discothèque" by U2
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UK Singles Chart number-one single February 16, 1997 – March 1, 1997 |
Succeeded by "Mama"/"Who Do You Think You Are" by Spice Girls |
Irish Singles Chart number-one single February 22, 1997 – March 8, 1997 |
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Preceded by | European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles February 22, 1997 – April 19, 1997 |
Succeeded by "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly |
Preceded by | Swiss Singles Chart number-one single March 2, 1997 – March 23, 1997 |
Succeeded by "Warum?" by Tic Tac Toe |
Release history
Country | Date |
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United States | April 15, 1996 |
United Kingdom | February 10, 1997 |
Netherlands | November 30, 1996 |
Notes
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References
- Allmusic. Accessed October 28, 2010.
- Official No Doubt Website. Accessed October 28, 2010.
- Article on Official Website at the Wayback Machine (archived May 1, 2005).
- Swiss Charts. Accessed October 28, 2010.
External links
- Lyrics and guitar tablature at the Wayback Machine (archived February 11, 2007).
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- Pages with reference errors
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with unsourced statements from October 2009
- Certification Table Entry usages for Australia
- Certification Table Entry usages for Austria
- Certification Table Entry usages for Belgium
- Certification Table Entry usages for France
- Certification Table Entry usages for Germany
- Certification Table Entry usages for Netherlands
- Certification Table Entry usages for Norway
- Certification Table Entry usages for Sweden
- Certification Table Entry usages for Switzerland
- Certification Table Entry usages for United Kingdom
- 1990s ballads
- 1996 singles
- Interscope Records singles
- Billboard Adult Top 40 number-one singles
- Billboard Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) number-one singles
- Dutch Top 40 number-one singles
- European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
- Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
- Music videos directed by Sophie Muller
- No Doubt songs
- Number-one singles in Australia
- Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles
- Number-one singles in New Zealand
- Number-one singles in Norway
- Number-one singles in Sweden
- Number-one singles in Switzerland
- Rock ballads
- RPM Top Singles number-one singles
- Songs written by Eric Stefani
- Songs written by Gwen Stefani
- UK Singles Chart number-one singles
- 1996 songs