“Don’t Tell Me” is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her eighth studio album, Music (2000). It was released as the second single from the album on November 14, 2000, by Maverick Records. Madonna co-wrote and co-produced the track with Mirwais Ahmadzaï, with additional writing from her brother-in-law, Joe Henry. Henry originally conceived it as a tango-styled torch song called “Stop”; the demo was later sent to Madonna, who then proceeded to change its musical composition, turning it into a country-dance song. Lyrically, Madonna asks her lover not to control her.
“Don’t Tell Me” received positive reviews from music critics, who cited the song as one of the album’s standouts and praised Madonna’s vocals. It was also compared to the work of singer Sheryl Crow. The song attained commercial success, reaching the top of the record charts in Canada, Italy and New Zealand, as well as the top five in several regions. It also became Europe’s biggest radio hit of 2001. In the United States, “Don’t Tell Me” reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100, tying her with the Beatles as the artist with the second-most top-ten singles in the Hot 100 history.
The music video was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino and features Madonna as a cowgirl walking down an automated treadmill in front of a projection screen, with cowboys dancing and straddling horses in the backdrop. The clip received two nominations at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, while also being nominated for a Grammy Award. The song was included in two of Madonna’s concert tours: Drowned World (2001) and Re-Invention World Tour (2004). In 2014, Madonna appeared on Miley Cyrus’ MTV Unplugged special and performed “Don’t Tell Me” in a mashup with Cyrus’ 2013 song “We Can’t Stop”. Two years later, she performed the song on her Madonna: Tears of a Clown show, in Melbourne and Miami.
“Don’t Tell Me” debuted at number 78 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, the week of December 9, 2000. Two weeks later it reached the top-40 of the chart at number 35. In February 2001, after its commercial release, the single climbed from number 16 to number four, giving Madonna her 34th top-ten single on the Hot 100. This achievement tied Madonna with the Beatles for second most top-ten singles and put her within reach of Elvis Presley’s record of 36 top-ten hits. She later surpassed the record with her 2008 single “4 Minutes”, thus becoming the artist with most top-ten singles in Billboard Hot 100 history. In 2015, Billboard ranked “Don’t Tell Me” at number 26 on their list of “Madonna’s 40 Biggest Hits” on the Hot 100.
“Don’t Tell Me” was also successful on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart, being present on the chart for 14 weeks. It outlasted “Music” and tied with “Ray of Light” (1998) and “Bedtime Story” (1995) as Madonna’s longest running song on the chart at the time. The track was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 28, 2001, for shipments of 500,000 copies, becoming Madonna’s 24th Gold-certified single and tying her with the Beatles for the second-most gold records in the United States. In Canada, the song debuted at number 13 on the Canadian Singles Chart the week of January 27, 2001, and reached the first spot the week of February 17, where it remained for one week. It was Madonna’s 20th number-one Canadian single.
Don’t Tell Me Lyrics (2003)
Don’t tell me to stop
Tell the rain not to drop
Tell the wind not to blow
‘Cause you said so, hmm mhm?
Tell the sun not to shine
Not to get up this time, no, no
Let it fall by the way
But don’t leave me where I lay down
Tell me love isn’t true
It’s just something that we do
Tell me everything I’m not
But please don’t tell me to stop
Tell the leaves not to turn
But don’t ever tell me I’ll learn, no, no
Take the black off a crow
But don’t tell me I have to go
Tell the bed not to lay
Like the open mouth of a grave, yeah
Not to stare up at me
Like a calf down on its knees
Tell me love isn’t true
It’s just something that we do
Tell me everything I’m not
But don’t ever tell me to stop (Don’t you ever tell)
Tell me love isn’t true
It’s just something that we do (Don’t you ever tell)
Tell me everything I’m not
But don’t ever tell me to stop (Don’t you ever)
Please don’t
Please don’t
Please don’t tell me to stop (Don’t you ever tell)
Don’t you ever
Don’t ever tell me to stop (Tell the rain not to drop)
Tell the bed not to lay
Like a open mouth of a grave, yeah
Not to stare up at me
Like a calf down on its knees
Tell the bed not to lay
Like a open mouth of a grave, yeah
Not to stare up at me
Like a calf down on its knees
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