Lyrics

Don't tell me to stop

Tell the rain not to drop

Tell the wind not to blow

Cause you said so

Mmm mmm

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 me love isn't true

It's just something that we do

(Don't you ever)

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 me)

Don't you

Ever

Don't ever tell me to stop

(Tell the rain not to drop)

Tell the bed not to lay

Like the open mouth of grave, yeah

Not to stare up at me

Like a calf down on its knees

Credits

Written by Madonna, Mirwais Ahmadzaï and Joe Henry

Produced by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï

Programming, acoustic guitars and keyboards by Mirwais Ahmadzaï

String arrangement by Michel Colombier

On Joe Henry's ninth album Scar, you'll find a song called 'Stop'. When he recorded it somewhere in 1999, his wife - Madonna's sister Melanie - advised him to send it to Madonna. And Melanie was right, because Madonna loved the song and re-arranged it with Mirwais into a beautiful track, called Don't Tell Me. Most of the lyrics from Stop were used, but the song got a completely different rhythm and groove.

Album

Music

GHV2

Celebration

Single

Don't Tell Me was the second single release from Music. It was brought to radio in November 2000. It climbed the charts slowly, reaching #4 in the US, and staying in the charts for several weeks, making it the longest growing single since Take A Bow. In March 2001 it was certified Gold. With this 24th golden record, Madonna tied The Beatles for the second spot of most golden records. #1 is for Elvis, who had 51. DTM also reached #4 in the UK and #1 in Canada.

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Video

A video directed by Jean Baptiste Mondino just has to be a beautiful masterpiece. And Don't Tell Me is. Madonna toyed with her new country style, giving it a sexy groove. She's seen walking down a desert road, but as the camera zooms out, she's actually walking in front of a big screen. But then where did that truck go? As the beat kicks in Madonna is joined by four cowboys for a fantastic line dance. It's extraordinary how the video combines images of her wearing plaid and jeans, and blonde curls waving in the wind, with images of a sexy Madonna in a black leather suit. The choreography was done by Alex Magno who also collaborated on the Drowned World Tour. The tour designers D-Squared and Arianne Phillips also designed her cowgirl-outfit in the video.

Tour

As a true cowgirl Madonna performed Don't Tell Me on the Drowned World Tour. First she started singing all alone. Then she asked the audience to sing the chorus for her. With a loud 'WOW!' she then kicked into that fantastic line dance, together with the cowboy dancers on stage. Finally in the end, she's left alone in the spotlight as she vulnerably sings 'please don't... please don't... please don't tell me... to stop...". Beautiful!

Don't Tell Me got a special treatment on the Re-Invention Tour: there were two different versions of the performance. The 'French version' included a French accordeon interlude, while the skyline of Paris was used as backdrop on the video screen. This version was played on most US shows and of course in Paris too. But there was also an 'English version' with a sample of The Verve's 'Bittersweet Symphony' as interlude, an adapted choreography and the London skyline as backdrop. This version was played on some of the late US shows, 1 show in Arnhem, Lisbon and of course all of the British shows. Of course, the classic group dance couldn't fail. At the end Madonna teased the audience by not finishing her sentence 'Don't ever tell me...' After repeating a few times she used to sing 'Don't you ever, ever, never tell me... to what?! To what mother f*ckers??!' with the audience shouting 'To stop!!!'.