Don't Speak

Name	Don't Speak
Cover	Don't Speak.jpg
Artist	No Doubt
From album	Tragic Kingdom
B-side	"Hey You", "Greener Pastures"
Released	April 15, 1996
Format	CD single, 7" single, cassette single
Recorded	1995
Genre	Alternative rock, soft rock
Length	4:23
Label	Interscope
Writer	Eric Stefani, Gwen Stefani
Producer	Matthew Wilder
Last single	"Spiderwebs"(1995)
This single	"Don't Speak"(1996)
Next single	"Excuse Me Mr."(1996)
Type	single
Filename	DontSpeak.ogg
Format	Ogg
Title	"Don't Speak"}}

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"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). The song is presumed to be about the breakup of vocalist Gwen Stefani's seven-year relationship with bassist Tony Kanal.

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. The single also reached number one in Australia, 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".

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.

Song information

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. 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.

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. Not surprisingly, the song reached number one on Billboards Hot 100 Airplay, and maintained that position for sixteen non-consecutive weeks, a record at the time. Although the record would be broken in 1998 by the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" with eighteen 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). Though the song was not eligible to chart on the Hot 100, it is considered that it would have hit number one on that chart if at the time of the single's release, the rules were as they are today, i.e. if songs without a physical release were able to chart.

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.

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 fruit 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 in a garage 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. 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.

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.

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

{|class="wikitable sortable" !Chart (1996/1997) !Peakposition |- |Australian Singles Chart |align="center"|1 |- |Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders) |align="center"|1 |- |Canadian RPM Alternative 30 |align="center"|6 |- |Dutch Top 40 |align="center"|1 |- |European Hot 100 Singles |align="center"|1 |- |Finnish Singles Chart |align="center"|2 |- |Irish Singles Chart |align="center"|1 |- |New Zealand Singles Chart |align="center"|1 |- |U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay |align="center"|1 |- |U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks |align="center"|2 |- |U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary |- | Austria | Gold |- | France | Gold |- | Germany | Platinum |- | Netherlands | Gold |- | Norway | 2× platinum |- | Sweden | Gold |- | Switzerland | Platinum |- | United Kingdom | Gold |}

Chart precession and succession

|-

Release history

{|class="wikitable" ! Country ! Date |- | United States | April 15, 1996 |- | United Kingdom | February 10, 1997 |- | Netherlands | November 30, 1996 |}

Notes

References

[ Allmusic], Accessed October 28, 2010.

Official No Doubt Website, Accessed October 28, 2010.

Article on Official Website, Copy from archive.org (original no longer available).

Swiss Charts, Accessed October 28, 2010.

External links

Lyrics and guitar tablature, Copy from archive.org (original no longer available).

Category:1990s ballads Category:1996 singles Category:Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks number-one singles Category:Billboard Pop Songs number-one singles

Category:Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Category:European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Category:No Doubt songs Category:Number-one singles in Australia Category:Ultratop 50 Singles number-one singles Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand Category:Number-one singles in Norway Category:Number-one singles in Sweden Category:Number-one singles in Switzerland Category:Rock ballads Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles Category:Songs written by Eric Stefani Category:Songs written by Gwen Stefani Category:UK Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Singles certified platinum by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie