Don't Tell Me (Madonna song)
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.She worked with French DJ and producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï on the album, describing it as consisting of "Funky, electronic music blended with futuristic folk.The filtered beats and tweaked keyboard riffs of Humpty Vission's Radio Mix gave Madonna's voice an "underwater" effect, while Young's remix featured a violin breakdown and sonic elements that reminisce Blondie's 1979 hit "Heart of Glass".[17] Ben Greenbank from Sputnikmusic described the track as a "country meets dance" song with trip hop beats, accompanied by acoustic guitar riffs.[19] While, Billboard 's Jason Lipshutz said its production "served as an act of twangy defiance — with clipped vocals, guitar loops, strings and a mainstream take on folktronica".[22] Rikky Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, described the track as an "electronica meets country rock" song based on a single four-chord sequence, disguised by the mixing.[10][15] She conjures up unnatural imagery through the lyrics by singing "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".[25] Jim Farber from Daily News felt that "[the song] crosses up-to-date electronica with rootsy American blues via a guitar hook that sounds something like Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama'".[26] A reviewer for NME considered "Don't Tell Me" an "alt-alt-country, hacked-up acoustic guitar over knife-sharp beats track", comparing Madonna to Sheryl Crow.[27] Danny Eccleston from Q, also saw similarities to Crow, calling the track "Music's closest cousin to the sonic landscapes of Ray of Light", while also pointing out its "masterful ending – as a rhythm of insectoid whirrs and bendy ARP-style 'wowp![28] Digital Spy's Justin Harp felt that "the comparisons [to Sheryl Crow] actually did a disservice to a track that stands out as particularly unique in Madonna's massive catalogue of hits".[6] Louis Virtel, from The Backlot, placed "Don't Tell Me" at number 25 of his list "The 100 Greatest Madonna Songs"; he praised the singer for "invoking some tried-and-true country music imagery" and called it an "unmistakable radio moment of the early 2000s".[31] While ranking Madonna's singles in honor of her 60th birthday, Jude Rogers from The Guardian placed the track at number 32, calling it "brilliantly strange" and praising its catchiness.The mix of the guitar riffs, the fractured beats and Colombier's string arrangement were all listed as an "elegiac finale" complementing the cowboy imagery portrayed by Madonna during the album cycle.A stuttering combo of trip-hop and hillbilly folk, Madonna's soulful croon perfectly expresses the longing of a gal telling her beau to stop controlling how she feels".[59] "Don't Tell Me" was also successful across Europe: in Italy, it peaked at number one on the FIMI Singles Chart, while reaching the top-ten in Finland, Norway, Poland, Scotland and Spain.[67] The video begins with Madonna—dressed in a blue plaid flannel shirt, dirty jeans, a large buckled belt and boots—walking on a desert highway faced towards the viewer.[68][69] The New York Daily News' Jim Farber praised the choreography presented in the video, writing that it "lives up to the beauty of 'Open Your Heart', spiced with the zip of the peppiest new Gap ads".Humphrey found references of Monidno's earlier work in the clip for "Don't Tell Me", including the "topsy-turvy projections and a placid, near-emotionless narrator" he displayed in singer Don Henley's music video for "The Boys of Summer" (1984).[15] Digital Spy's Justin Harp felt that "the sight of Madonna wearing a cowboy hat and line dancing in the [video] still ranks as one of the iconic visuals from her four-decade career".[6] Author Judith Periano wrote in her book Listening to the Sirens: Musical Technologies of Queer Identity from Homer to Hedwig that the video was comparable to the clip for Judy Garland's "Get Happy".[31] Santiago Fouz-Hernández and Freya Jarman-Ivens, authors of Madonna's Drowned Worlds, questioned whether the singer's portrayal of Western culture in the video was legitimate or if it was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, also criticizing the dancing cowboys.[68] Farber added that "by putting her cowboys on a commercial billboard, [Madonna] not only acknowledges the absurdity of her playing a rural lass, she's implicitly questioning whether there's any difference left between authenticity and fakery in a media-driven world".[71] The song "Do it With Madonna" by Australian rock band The Androids referenced the music video in the line "Have you seen her where she's wearing the cowboy hat and she's kicking the dirt?".[92] Matthew Jacobs from The Huffington Post, wrote that "even if the vocals got a little shoddy toward the mashup's end – [Cyrus and Madonna] staged an impressive collaboration that didn't rely on the amplified production values associated with their typical performances".
SingleMadonnaB-sideStudioSarm WestElectronicafolktronicacountry rocktrip hopMaverickWarner Bros.Songwriter(s)Mirwais AhmadzaïJoe HenryProducer(s)What It Feels Like for a GirlYouTubetorch songcountryMaverick RecordsWarner Bros. RecordsSheryl CrowBillboard Hot 100the BeatlesJean-Baptiste Mondinotreadmill2001 MTV Video Music AwardsGrammy AwardDrowned WorldRe-InventionCelebrationMiley CyrusMTV UnpluggedWe Can't StopRay of LightThe Next Best ThingGuy RitchieremixesThunderpussRichard "Humpty" VissionTracy Young12-inchviolinBlondieHeart of GlassAllMusicsaxophoneOrnette ColemanTom Waitsstop-timekeyboardMartin D-28stutterMark "Spike" Stentcommon timebeats per minuteD majorchord progressionBillboardarpeggiosdouble trackedfadingFrank SinatraStephen Thomas ErlewineDaily NewsLynyrd SkynyrdSweet Home AlabamaDigital SpyLouis VirtelThe BacklotPitchforkParadeJude RogersThe GuardianThe Huffington PostSlant MagazineMediumNortecThe Portland MercuryPopMattersEntertainment WeeklyGay Star NewsRe-Invention World TourElvis Presley4 MinutesDance Club SongsBedtime StoryRecording Industry Association of AmericaCanadian Singles ChartAustralian Singles ChartAustralian Recording Industry AssociationUK Singles ChartOfficial Charts CompanyBritish Phonographic IndustryFIMI Singles ChartEuropean Hot 100 SinglesEuropean Top 50 RadioDrowned World Tourmusic videoOpen Your HeartJustify My LoveHuman NatureJamie KingDSquared2Arianne Phillipsdrive-inline dancingmechanical bullSkewbaldDon HenleyThe Boys of SummerJudy GarlandGet HappyWesterntongue-in-cheek2001 MTV Movie AwardsKirsten DunstJimmy FallonDo it With MadonnaThe AndroidsEllen DeGeneressuperimposingGrammy Award for Best Music Video44th ceremonyBest Female VideoBest Choreography