Don't Speak

"Don't Speak"
Single by No Doubt
from the album Tragic Kingdom
B-side	"Hey You" & "Greener Pastures"
Released	February 10, 1997 (UK), April 15, 1996 (US)
Format	Airplay only
Recorded	1995
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	4:23
Label	Interscope
Writer(s)	Gwen Stefani, Eric Stefani
Producer	Matthew Wilder
Certification	Platinum (RIANZ)
No Doubt singles chronology
"Spiderwebs" (1995) "Don't Speak" (1996) "Excuse Me Mr." (1996)

"Don't Speak" is a song by the American rock band No Doubt. It was released as the third single from the band's second album Tragic Kingdom (1995) in 1996.

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 and stayed for sixteen weeks. The song also reached number one in the UK, New Zealand, Netherlands, and Australia. The single is No Doubt's most successful international single, propelling them to superstardom. "Don't Speak" is arguably No Doubt's biggest hit and was nominated for the Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal at the Grammy Awards of 1998.

The song was ranked at number 495 in Blender magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".^[1]

Song information

The song was co-written by Eric Stefani and Gwen Stefani and co-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 CD.^{[citation needed]} Part of the song was performed on VH1 Storytellers on 10 August 2000. These lyrics are from before Tony and Gwen broke up, while the final lyrics that ended up on the album were after the break up.^{[citation needed]}

The song also originally had a Fender Rhodes line that Tom Dumont considered "brilliant", but it was removed at the request of the song's producer, Matthew Wilder.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[2] Not surprisingly, the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, and maintained that position for sixteen consecutive weeks, a record at the time.^[3] Although the record was broken in 1998 by the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" with eighteen weeks at number one, the song remains in second place of songs on the Hot 100 Airplay with the most weeks at number one. 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 (which were required for charting purposes at the time). Not surprisingly, 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.^[4][5] The song also proved to be a crossover smash, hitting number one on Adult Top 40 and even hitting a number six and number nine on Adult Contemporary and the Rhythmic Top 40 respectively.^[4][5] It also was the number one hit single for the Hot 100 Airplay on the 1997 Year End chart.^[6]

Internationally, the song was also very successful. In December 1996, it reached number one in The Netherlands,^[7] and two months later, it debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, maintaining the top position for three weeks.^[8] Australia was another major music market where the song received widespread airplay, debuting at number one and maintaining the peak position for 8 weeks. In Switzerland, "Don't Speak" debuted at number eighteen before climbing to number one (for four weeks) six weeks later. After falling from number one, it remained in the top ten for an additional seven weeks.

Music video

Before the music starts, at the beginning of the music video, there is a scene of Tony Kanal picking a rotten orange from a Christmas 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. (The dress that Gwen wore was used vintage dark blue with white polka dots which she claimed she bought for less than 10 dollars in a second-hand store. In many of the shots, the dress looked black. In the live scenes she wore a tight tank top with black trousers and clogs along with a mix of Indian jewelry and other retro bangles.)

Other scenes tell the story of how the media mainly focused on Gwen 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 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 music video won the award for Best Group Video and was nominated for the Video of the Year award 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 listing

Australian/Japanese CD maxi single

1. "Don't Speak" (album version) – 4:27
2. "Don't Speak" (alternate version recorded in New Zealand, September 1996) – 4:27
3. "Hey You" (acoustic version recorded in New Zealand, September 1996) – 3:28
4. "Greener Pastures" (from The Beacon Street Collection album) – 5:05

British/European CD single

1. "Don't Speak" (album version) – 4:27
2. "Greener Pastures" (from The Beacon Street Collection album) – 5:05

Charts

Certifications

Notes

References

• Allmusic, Accessed March 9, 2005.
• Official No Doubt Website, Accessed March 9, 2005.
• Article on Official Website, Accessed March 9, 2005.
• Swiss Charts, Accessed September 6, 2005.

External links

• Lyrics and guitar tablature