How does Madonna
follow-up her biggest hit in a decade?
With one of the most unique songs of her
career. "Don't Tell Me" is a
funky mix of acoustic folk guitar and
chopped up production, accompanied by
start-stop beats, poetic lyrics, and one
of Madonna's most heartfelt vocal
performances ever. "Don't Tell
Me" is perhaps the epitome of the
new techno-cowgirl Madonna, as
exemplified in Jean-Baptiste Mondino's
video clip. Madonna walks in front of a
screen showing the desert, wearing plaid
and denim. Soon she's accompanied by four
male dancers and she dons full cowgirl
get-up, executing a remarkably
choreographed line-dancing routine. Add a
mechanical bull and you've got one of
Madonna's most "down-home"
videos, highly contrasting the glitz of
the "Music" video.
"Don't Tell Me"
has shaped up to be a sizable hit for
Madonna. Its peak of #4 on the US charts
betrays the amazing longevity of the
track, which spent eight weeks in the top
ten and made gains at radio for three
months straight (her longest-growing hit
since "Take A Bow"). It also
displayed remarkable staying power on the
club play chart. Despite spending only
one week at #1 (most of her recent dance
hits have spent at least two, and
"Music" spent five weeks at
#1), it managed 14 weeks on the chart,
out-lasting "Music" and tying
it with "Ray of Light" as
Madonna's longest running club hit since
"Bedtime Story" in 1995. To top
it all off, it is easily Madonna's
biggest hit on the Adult Top 40 chart,
where it peaked at #4, making it her only
top 5 single on that chart.
"Don't Tell
Me" was written by Madonna's
brother-in-law, Joe Henry (he originally
titled the song "Stop"). He
recorded the song himself, and at the
urging of his wife, sent a copy to
Madonna. She fell in love with the song
and recorded it with Mirwais, leaving the
lyrics almost entirely unchanged. Joe
Henry's version of the song was the first
single to his album "Scar,"
released in 2001.
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