Don't Speak

This article is about the No Doubt song. For the Jonas Brothers song, see Lines, Vines and Trying Times. For the Meshuggah song, see Rare Trax.

"Don't Speak"
Single by No Doubt
from the 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[1]
Length	4:23
Label	Interscope
Writer(s)	Eric Stefani, Gwen Stefani
Producer	Matthew Wilder
No Doubt singles chronology
"Spiderwebs" (1995) "Don't Speak" (1996) "Excuse Me Mr." (1996) Music sample "Don't Speak"

"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".^[2] 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.^{[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.^[3]

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.^[4] Not surprisingly, the song reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay, and maintained that position for sixteen non-consecutive weeks, a record at the time.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7] The song also proved to be a crossover smash, hitting number one on the Adult Top 40 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 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.^[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.

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.

American recording artist Miguel uses a similar delivery as the chorus of the song on the track "Girls Like You" on his debut album, All I Want Is You.

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

Peak positions Chart (1996/1997) Peak position Australian Singles Chart[10] 1 Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[10] 1 Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)[10] 2 Canadian RPM Singles Chart[11] 1 Canadian RPM Alternative 30[12] 6 Dutch Top 40[13] 1 European Hot 100 Singles 1 Finnish Singles Chart[10] 4 French Singles Chart[10] 4 German Singles Chart[14] 2 Irish Singles Chart[15] 1 New Zealand Singles Chart[10] 1 Norwegian Singles Chart[10] 1 Swedish Singles Chart[10] 1 Swiss Singles Chart[10] 1 UK Singles Chart[16] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay[17] 1 U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[7] 2 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary[7] 6

Certifications Country Certification (sales thresholds) Australia 2× platinum[18] Austria Gold[19] France Gold[20] Germany Platinum[21] Netherlands Gold[22] Norway 2× platinum[23] Sweden Gold[24] Switzerland Platinum[25] United Kingdom Gold[26]

Chart precession and succession

Preceded by "Breathe" by The Prodigy	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	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	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	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	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 2, 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
Preceded by "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" by Madonna	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 "Time to Say Goodbye (Con te partirò)" by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli	Swiss Singles Chart number-one single March 2, 1997 – March 23, 1997	Succeeded by "Warum?" by Tic Tac Toe

Release history

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

Notes

1. ^ "Don't Speak – No Doubt". Pandora Radio. Pandora Media, Inc.. http://www.pandora.com/music/song/no+doubt/dont+speak. Retrieved February 23, 2010. 
2. ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: 451-500". Blender. Alpha Media Group Inc. http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1760. Retrieved December 21, 2007. 
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ "No Doubt History Website". No Doubt Official Website. Interscope Records/Universal Music Group. http://www.nodoubt.com/band/Articles/46TheFace.htm. 
5. ^ "No Doubt". Rock On The Net. http://www.rockonthenet.com/artists-n/nodoubt_main.htm. Retrieved January 16, 2007. 
6. ^ "Ask Billboard: The Most-Played Former Hot 100 No. 1s". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/column/chartbeat/ask-billboard-the-most-played-former-hot-1005070842.story?page=1. Retrieved March 13, 2011. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d} "Tragic Kingdom > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r228492/charts-awards/billboard-single. Retrieved August 1, 2007. 
8. ^ "Billboard: 1997 Year-End Chart-Toppers". Rock On The Net. http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1997/bbyearend.htm. Retrieved January 16, 2007. 
9. ^ "It's No Doubt, Not The Gwen Stefani Experience". MTV News. MTV Networks. January 17, 1997. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1432748/19970117/no_doubt.jhtml. Retrieved December 24, 2006. 
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "ultratop.be – No Doubt – Don't Speak". Ultratop. http://www.ultratop.be/en/showitem.asp?interpret=No+Doubt&titel=Don%27t+Speak&cat=s. Retrieved August 30, 2009. 
11. ^ "Top Singles – Volume 64, No. 23, February 10, 1997". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.9806&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. Retrieved June 28, 2010. 
12. ^ "Rock/Alternative - Volume 64, No. 22, January 27, 1997". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.9794&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. Retrieved November 27, 2010. 
13. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 52 – 1996" (in Dutch). Radio 538. Top 40. http://www.top40.nl/index.aspx?week=52&jaar=1996. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
14. ^ "Musicline.de – Chartverfolgung – No Doubt – Don't Speak" (in German). Media Control. Musicline.de. http://musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/title/No+Doubt/Don%2527t+Speak/single. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
15. ^ "The Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. irishcharts.ie. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
16. ^ "Chart Stats – No Doubt – Don't Speak". The Official Charts Company. Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=24929. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
17. ^ "Radio Songs – Week of December 07, 1996". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/radio-songs?chartDate=1996-12-07. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
18. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-singles-1997.htm. Retrieved December 30, 2008. 
19. ^ "IFPI Austria – Gold & Platin Datenbank" (in German). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. February 13, 1997. http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
20. ^ "Certifications Singles Or – année 1997" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. November 27, 1997. http://www.disqueenfrance.com/fr/monopage.xml?id=259165&year=1997&type=7. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
21. ^ "German certifications – Don't Speak" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=Don%27t+Speak&strInterpret=&strTtArt=alle&strAwards=checked. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
22. ^ "NVPI – Goud/Platina" (in Dutch). NVPI. http://www.nvpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=61112&documentid=1235186&zoekform=60463&formposted=yes. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
23. ^ "IFPI Norway – Salgstrofeer" (in Norwegian). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. http://www.ifpi.no/sok/index_trofe.htm. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
24. ^ "IFPI Sweden – Guld & Platina – År 1987–1998" (in Swedish). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. January 15, 1997. http://www.ifpi.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/guld-platina-1987-1998.pdf. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
25. ^ "Swiss Certifications – Awards 1997". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. swisscharts.com. http://swisscharts.com/awards.asp?year=1997. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
26. ^ "BPI Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. March 1, 1997. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 

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).