Don't Tell Me (Avril Lavigne song)

"Don't Tell Me"
Single by Avril Lavigne
from the album Under My Skin
B-side	"Take Me Away"
Released	19 April 2004 (2004-04-19) (see release history)
Format	CD single
Recorded	2003-2004 Ruby Red Productions, (Atlanta, Georgia); Skyline Studios, (New York City, New York); Ocean Way Recording, (Hollywood, California)
Genre	Rock[1][2]
Length	3:22
Label	Arista
Writer(s)	Lyrics: Avril Lavigne Music: Avril Lavigne, Evan Taubenfeld
Producer	Butch Walker
Certification	Gold (RIAA) Gold[3] (ARIA)
Avril Lavigne singles chronology
"Losing Grip" (2003) "Don't Tell Me" (2004) "My Happy Ending" (2004)
Under My Skin track listing 12 tracks "Take Me Away" "Together" "Don't Tell Me" "He Wasn't" "How Does It Feel" "My Happy Ending" "Nobody's Home" "Forgotten" "Who Knows" "Fall to Pieces" "Freak Out" "Slipped Away" Music video "Don't Tell Me" on YouTube

"Don't Tell Me" is a song by Canadian recording artist Avril Lavigne. It is the first single from her second studio album, Under My Skin. "Don't Tell Me" was written by Lavigne and Evan Taubenfeld. The track was produced by Butch Walker.

Background

When asked what "Don't Tell Me" was about, Lavigne said:

“	It's about being strong. There are a lot of guys out there who just want to take you out to dinner and then, like basically go home and 'unhh' you. That's what a lot of guys are like and I just think girls need to be strong and not let any guy pressure them into doing anything.	”
—Avril Lavigne, MTV.com[4]

Reception

In a review of the album Under My Skin, David Browne of Entertainment Weekly said "Lavigne herself sounds more burdened; ... the sk8erboi of the first album has turned out to be a selfish, nasty creep who leaves when she won't go to bed with him" in reference to Don't Tell Me.^[5] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic highlighted the song as a 'track pick' in a review of the album, Under My Skin.^[6]

In an AOL Radio listener's poll, "Don't Tell Me" was voted Lavigne's ninth best song.^[7]

Music video

The music video for "Don't Tell Me" was directed by Liz Friedlander and filmed in Los Angeles, California in March 2004. The video tells the story of the song. It opens with Avril's boyfriend leaving her apartment. After taking her anger out on her bedroom, she follows him around the city. During the bridge of the song, her boyfriend sees her in many places at once, so it's obvious that he's feeling guilty and her feelings are weighing heavily on his mind. At the end of the video, she decides that she's better off without him and lets him walk away.^[8]

The video was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to No Doubt's video for "It's My Life".^[9]

Track listing

Australian CD single
(82876614112; Released April 19, 2004)

1. "Don't Tell Me"
2. "Don't Tell Me" (acoustic)
3. "Take Me Away"

International Maxi CD single

1. "Don't Tell Me"
2. "Don't Tell Me" (acoustic)
3. "Take Me Away"
4. "Don't Tell Me" (music video)

UK Pt. 2/FR/German single

1. "Don't Tell Me"
2. "Don't Tell Me (acoustic)

Japan CD single
(BVCA-29607; Released April 28, 2004)

1. "Don't Tell Me"
2. "Take Me Away"

EU/BR/Japan/Mex/US promo

1. "Don't Tell Me" (album version)

Charts and certifications

The song did moderately well on charts, peaking at number twenty-two in the United States, at number ten in Australia, at number six in Spain, at number five in the UK.

Charts Chart (2004) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[10] 10 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[11] 12 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12] 22 Belgium (Ultratop 40 Wallonia)[13] 28 Canada Top 40[14] 5 Denmark (Tracklisten)[15] 14 France (SNEP)[16] 53 Germany (Media Control AG)[17] 10 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[18] 30 Ireland (IRMA)[19] 9 Italy (FIMI)[20] 4 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21] 8 New Zealand (RIANZ)[22] 15 Norway (VG-lista)[23] 12 Russian Top 20[24] 1 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[25] 6 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 30 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 9 UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[28] 5 US Billboard Hot 100[29] 22 US Pop Songs (Billboard)[30] 9 US Adult Pop Songs (Billboard)[31] 10

Year-end charts Chart (2004) Position Australian Singles Chart[32] 98 Swiss Singles Chart[33] 94 UK Singles Chart[34] 115 Certifications Country Certification (sales thresholds) United States Gold[35]

Awards

Year	Awards ceremony	Award	Results
2004	MuchMusic Video Awards	Best international video by a Canadian	Won
		People's Choice	Won
	MTV Video Music Awards[7]	Best Pop Video	Nominated
	MTV Video Music Brasil	Best International Video	Nominated
	Canadian Radio Music Awards	Fan Choice Award	Won
2005	ChartAttack.com	Best Breaking Mirror in a Video	Won
		Best Video	Nominated
		Most Absurd in a Video	Nominated
	Socan Awards	Best Pop Song	Won

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label
Australia[36]	19 April 2004 (2004-04-19)	CD single	Arista
Germany[37]	26 April 2004 (2004-04-26)		Arista
Japan[38]	28 April 2004 (2004-04-28)		BMG Japan
United Kingdom[39]	10 May 2004 (2004-05-10)		Arista
United States[40]	10 May 2004 (2004-05-10)		Arista

References

1. ^ "Avril Lavigne on SortMusic". SortMusic. http://www.sortmusic.com/_a/avril-lavigne-best-songs,len.html. Retrieved 25 April 2010. 
2. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Avril-Lavigne-Dont-Tell-Me/release/1500783
3. ^ ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2004 Singles
4. ^ "Avril Lavigne To Show Fans What Lies Beneath On New Album". MTV.com. 2004-02-27. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1485390/avril-show-fans-what-lies-beneath.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
5. ^ Browne, David (24 May 2004). "Under My Skin (2004)". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,640572,00.html. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
6. ^ Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "Under My Skin: Avril Lavigne". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r688178. Retrieved 18 March 2009. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Cheung, Nadine. "Top 10 Avril Lavigne Songs". AOL Radio. Archived from the original on 15 January 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolradioblog.com%2F2011%2F01%2F15%2Ftop-avril-lavigne-songs%2F&date=2011-01-15. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 
8. ^ "Avril Lavigne Just Lets Go In 'Don't Tell Me' Video". MTV.com. 2004-03-05. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1485571/avril-lets-go-dont-tell-me-clip.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
9. ^ "VMA's 2004". MTV.com. http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2004/. 
10. ^ "Australian-charts.com – Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
11. ^ "Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me – Austriancharts.at" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
12. ^ "Ultratop.be – Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
13. ^ "Ultratop.be – Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me" (in French). Ultratop 40. Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
14. ^ Canada Top 40
15. ^ "Danishcharts.com – Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me". Tracklisten. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
16. ^ "Lescharts.com – Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me" (in French). Les classement single. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
17. ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche - musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
18. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ – Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
19. ^ "Chart Track". Irish Singles Chart. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
20. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me". Top Digital Download. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
21. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 20, 2004" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
22. ^ "Charts.org.nz – Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me". Top 40 Singles. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
23. ^ "Topp 20 Single uke 19, 2004 – VG-lista. Offisielle hitlister fra og med 1958" (in Norwegian). VG-lista. Verdens Gang AS. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
24. ^ Russia Top 20 2004-07-10
25. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me" Canciones Top 50. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
26. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me". Singles Top 60. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
27. ^ "Avril Lavigne – Don't Tell Me – swisscharts.com". Swiss Singles Chart. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
28. ^ "Archive Chart" UK Singles Chart. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
29. ^ "Avril Lavigne Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Avril Lavigne. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
30. ^ "Avril Lavigne Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Pop Songs for Avril Lavigne. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
31. ^ "Avril Lavigne Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Avril Lavigne. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
32. ^ "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2004". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-singles-2004.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-05. 
33. ^ "Swiss Year-End Charts 2004". Swiss Singles Chart. http://swisscharts.com/year.asp?key=2004. Retrieved 2011-01-14. 
34. ^ "2004 UK Official Singles Chart" (PDF). Charts Plus. http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/ChartsPlusYE2004.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-05. 
35. ^ "RIAA Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved 2011-05-30. 
36. ^ "Don't Tell Me - Single by Avril Lavigne - CD Single on Sonymusic.com.au". Sonymusic.com.au. 2004-04-19. http://www.sonymusic.com.au/cd/releaseDetails.do?catalogueNo=82876614112. Retrieved 2010-12-28. 
37. ^ "Don't Tell Me - Single by Avril Lavigne - CD Single on Avril.de". Avril.de. 2004-04-26. http://www.avril.de/cd_detail.php?id=203&ac=rezension. Retrieved 2010-12-28. 
38. ^ "Don't Tell Me - Single by Avril Lavigne - CD Single on Amazon.co.jp". Amazon.co.jp. 2004-04-28. http://www.amazon.co.jp/ドント・テル・ミー-アヴリル・ラヴィーン/dp/B0001ME8ZU/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1293539746&sr=8-7. Retrieved 2010-12-28. 
39. ^ "Don't Tell Me - Single by Avril Lavigne - CD Single on Amazon.co.uk". Amazon.co.uk. 2004-05-10. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Tell-Me-CD-1/dp/B000216VMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293538928&sr=8-1. Retrieved 2010-12-28. 
40. ^ http://www.skins.be/avril-lavigne/lyrics/

External links

• "Don't Tell Me" music video
• Avril Lavigne's Official Site