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Don't Speak

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This article is about the No Doubt song. For other uses, see Don't Speak (disambiguation).
"Don't Speak"
Song
B-side
Music video
"Don't Speak" on YouTube

"Don't Speak" is a song by the 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 and her brother Eric Stefani wrote the song, originally as a love song. The song went through several rewrites and new versions. Gwen Stefani modified it into a breakup song about her bandmate and ex-boyfriend Tony Kanal shortly after he ended their seven-year relationship.[1][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 sixteen weeks. Outside the United States, the song topped the charts in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, becoming 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".

Composition

The song was written by Eric Stefani and Gwen Stefani and produced by Matthew Wilder. Originally a love song, Gwen Stefani rewrote the lyrics almost completely after her break up with Tony Kanal. According to Gwen Stefani, "It used to be more upbeat, more of a Seventies rock-type thing. [When] Tony and I broke up... it turned into a sad song." [4] 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. The band performed part of the original song on VH1 Storytellers on August 10, 2000.

No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont said about the song's composition:

There’s a lot of stories about that song, because that one unfolded over a longer period of time. Originally, Gwen’s brother wrote most of that song, and then after we got at it as a band, Gwen changed the lyrics around to fit her life. Musically, we brought it to another level, but near the end we reworded it. There’s an earlier version of the song where the verses are totally different, which is a really beautiful version and it’s awesome but it’s way more jazzy and really different. That song had a long incubation process.[1]

It is composed in the key of F minor. A demo version also appeared on a demo CD, which was presented to Interscope Records prior to the release of the Tragic Kingdom album.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7] 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,[8] 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.[8] It was ultimately placed at number one on the Hot 100 Airplay year-end chart of 1997.[9]

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.[10] 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. It has 460 million views on YouTube as of November 9, 2017, and 150 million of the views come from 2017 so far alone[11].

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

Track listings

UK and European CD single
UK cassette single
  1. "Don't Speak" – 4:23
  2. "Greener Pastures" (from The Beacon Street Collection album) – 5:05
UK, European, Australian, and Japanese CD maxi single
  1. "Don't Speak" – 4:23
  2. "Don't Speak" (Alternate Version) – 4:23 (*)
  3. "Hey You" (Acoustic Version) – 3:25 (*)
  4. "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

Release history

Country Date
United States April 15, 1996
United Kingdom February 10, 1997
Netherlands November 30, 1996

Notes

  1. ^ a b Nostro, Lauren (25 September 2012). "No Doubt Tells All: The Stories Behind Their Classic Records". complex.com. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Gwen Stefani And Tony Kanal Talk About 'Brutal' Breakup & The Pain Of Performing 'Don't Speak'". Huffingtonpost.com. 2012-09-24. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  3. ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: 451-500". Blender. Alpha Media Group Inc. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved December 21, 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Webb, Robery (5 August 2010). "Story of the song: 'Don't Speak', No Doubt, 1996". independent.co.uk. The Independent. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  5. ^ [1] Archived June 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "No Doubt History Website". No Doubt Official Website. Interscope Records/Universal Music Group. Archived from the original on 2003-11-21. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "No Doubt". Rock On The Net. Retrieved January 16, 2007.
  8. ^ a b "Tragic Kingdom > Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  9. ^ "Billboard: 1997 Year-End Chart-Toppers". Rock On The Net. Retrieved January 16, 2007.
  10. ^ "It's No Doubt, Not The Gwen Stefani Experience". MTV News. MTV Networks. January 17, 1997. Retrieved December 24, 2006.
  11. ^ "kworb.net".
  12. ^ Video on YouTube
  13. ^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  14. ^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  15. ^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  16. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9806." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  17. ^ "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 9794." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  18. ^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak". Tracklisten. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  19. ^ "No Doubt – Chart Search" Billboard European Hot 100 Singles for No Doubt. Retrieved June 26, 2016. [dead link]
  20. ^ "No Doubt: Don't Speak" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  21. ^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  22. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Don't Speak". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  23. ^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak". Top Digital Download. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  24. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – No Doubt" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  25. ^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  26. ^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak". VG-lista. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  27. ^ a b "Romanian Top 100: Top of the Year 1997" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on September 22, 2005. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  29. ^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak". Singles Top 100. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  30. ^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  31. ^ "No Doubt: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  32. ^ "No Doubt Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  33. ^ "No Doubt Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  34. ^ "No Doubt Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  35. ^ "No Doubt Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  36. ^ "No Doubt Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  37. ^ "No Doubt Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  38. ^ "RPM Year End Top 100 Hit Tracks". RPM. 15 December 1997. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  39. ^ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  40. ^ 1997_in_British_music#Top_50_singles
  41. ^ "Greatest of All Time Pop Songs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 19, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  42. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  43. ^ "IFPI Austria – Gold & Platin Datenbank". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (in German). February 13, 1997. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  44. ^ "Ultratop 50 Albums Wallonie 1997". Ultratop. Retrieved 2012-01-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  45. ^ "InfoDisc : Les Certifications (Singles) du SNEP (Les Singles de Or)". Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 2013-10-08. Retrieved 2014-03-31. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  46. ^ "French single certifications – No Doubt – Don't Speak" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  47. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (No Doubt; 'Don't Speak')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  48. ^ "NVPI – Goud/Platina". NVPI (in Dutch). Retrieved August 30, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  49. ^ "IFPI Norway – Salgstrofeer". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved August 30, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  50. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  51. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Don't Speak')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  52. ^ Copsey, Rob (March 22, 2016). "Gwen Stefani's Top 20 biggest selling singles revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  53. ^ "British single certifications – No Doubt – Don't Speak". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2011-09-28. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Don't Speak in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.

References

Preceded by 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
Preceded by
"Gabbertje" by Hakkûhbar
 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 Australian Singles Chart number-one single
February 9, 1997 – March 30, 1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Just Another Day" by John Mellencamp
 Canadian Singles Chart number-one single
February 10, 1997 – February 17, 1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by 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
 UK Singles Chart number-one single
February 16, 1997 – March 1, 1997 		Succeeded by
Irish Singles Chart number-one single
February 22, 1997 – March 8, 1997
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
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don%27t_Speak&oldid=812989641"