You Don't Own Me
Encyclopedia
"You Don't Own Me" is a popular song written by the Philadelphia songwriters John Madara and David White
, and recorded by Lesley Gore
in 1963, when Gore was 17 years old. The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart
in the United States (just behind The Beatles
' "I Want to Hold Your Hand
").
The song is an example of threatened emancipation, as the singer tells a former lover that he does not own her, and that tells him not "What to do", and not "What to say", and not to be put on display, and not be used as a toy, or to not "Go out with any boys", or be tied down to stay from being free, and that she's free and wants to be loved in a certain way. She tells him that she does not do all of those things that the lover tells her to do or to say.
The song starts out in the key of G Minor with the second part in G Major, following the second chorus, the song shifts into A-Flat Major and Minor as well, and following the group of choruses, shifts a half step up to the key of A Major, and finally to B Flat Major before the song's fade. This song features a string section, plus a xylophone with a vibrato.
, Dusty Springfield
on her debut album, A Girl Called Dusty
, cello rock group Rasputina on their album How We Quit the Forest
, Joan Jett
on her self-titled debut album, Klaus Nomi
on his self-titled debut album
, The Blow Monkeys
on Dirty Dancing Soundtrack, and by Jack Killed Jill on their album Hello Neighbor.
At the time the song was originally released, versions were recorded in several other languages, both by Lesley Gore herself, and by other artists. The German
version was "Goodbye Tony", recorded by Lesley Gore. The Italian
version was "Va... Tu Sei Libero", recorded by Lesley Gore, Isabella Iannetti, and Dalida
. The French
version was "Je Ne Sais Plus", recorded by Lesley Gore, Dalida
, and Jacqueline Boyer
. An alternate French version, "Je Suis Libre", was performed by the Quebec
ois singer Michèle Richard.
It was also recorded in Swedish
, as "Jag Vill Ha Dig" by Marianne Kock, and in Dutch
, as "Ik Wil Vrij Zijn", by Liliane Saint-Pierre
, as the B-side to her first hit record, "We Gotta Stop", as well as having been recorded in Japanese
by Mieko Hirota
.
"You Don't Own Me" was sung by Diane Keaton
, Bette Midler
and Goldie Hawn
in the 1996 movie The First Wives Club
.
During the early 1980s a Dutch version of the song, "Zeg Maar Niets Meer" by Andre Hazes
, was popular in Europe
. It reached No. 2 in the Dutch charts. In 1998, Eva Pilarová sung a Czech
version under the name "Cesta končí" on the album Requiem.
On the finale night of The Sing-Off
in 2009, Nicole Scherzinger
performed "You Don't Own Me" accompanied by the Beelzebubs
.
In 2000, the song was featured on the original soundtrack of The Convent, a horror movie by Mike Mendez. Eminem
used a sampled version of the song for the song "Untitled" on his 2010 album, Recovery. The song was later featured in another horror film, The Woods directed and written by Lucky McKee
. The song was also featured in the films Hairspray and First Wives Club.
In 2010 and 2011, NFL Women's Wear features the song in their commercial. The song was performed by April Smith and the Great Picture Show.
David White (musician)
David White toured the country with his parents prior to attending school in their acrobatic/hand-balancing act called Barry and Brenda and Company....
, and recorded by Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore is an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of the 1960s.- Biography :Gore was born in New York City, New York. She was raised in...
in 1963, when Gore was 17 years old. The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in the United States (just behind The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "I Want to Hold Your Hand
I Want to Hold Your Hand
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment....
").
The song is an example of threatened emancipation, as the singer tells a former lover that he does not own her, and that tells him not "What to do", and not "What to say", and not to be put on display, and not be used as a toy, or to not "Go out with any boys", or be tied down to stay from being free, and that she's free and wants to be loved in a certain way. She tells him that she does not do all of those things that the lover tells her to do or to say.
The song starts out in the key of G Minor with the second part in G Major, following the second chorus, the song shifts into A-Flat Major and Minor as well, and following the group of choruses, shifts a half step up to the key of A Major, and finally to B Flat Major before the song's fade. This song features a string section, plus a xylophone with a vibrato.
Other versions
The song has been covered by The TremeloesThe Tremeloes
The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, Essex, and still active today.-Career:They formed as Brian Poole and the Tremoloes influenced by Buddy Holly and The Crickets...
, Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
on her debut album, A Girl Called Dusty
A Girl Called Dusty
A Girl Called Dusty was the debut album of British singer Dusty Springfield. It was released in the UK on Philips Records in 1964.Dusty Springfield had been a member of the girl group The Lana Sisters from 1958 to 1960, and the folk-pop trio The Springfields from 1960–1963, in the latter case with...
, cello rock group Rasputina on their album How We Quit the Forest
How We Quit the Forest
-Credits and personnel:Rasputina* Melora Creager - Artwork, Cello, Producer, Vocals* Julia Kent - Cello* Agnieszka Rybska - CelloProduction and personnel* Chris Vrenna - Drums, Producer, Programming* Critter - Engineer, Mixing...
, Joan Jett
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
on her self-titled debut album, Klaus Nomi
Klaus Nomi
Klaus Sperber , better known as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona....
on his self-titled debut album
Klaus Nomi (album)
Klaus Nomi is the debut album by German countertenor Klaus Nomi.-Track listing:#"Keys Of Life" – 2:26#"Lightning Strikes" – 2:59#"The Twist" – 3:10#"Nomi Song" – 2:47...
, The Blow Monkeys
The Blow Monkeys
The Blow Monkeys are a British new wave band that formed in 1981 as a new wave-oriented act. The first single, "Live Today Love Tomorrow" was released in 1982. They subsequently recorded more commercial pop rock hit makers, and finally became a dance group, shortly before splitting up at the...
on Dirty Dancing Soundtrack, and by Jack Killed Jill on their album Hello Neighbor.
At the time the song was originally released, versions were recorded in several other languages, both by Lesley Gore herself, and by other artists. The German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
version was "Goodbye Tony", recorded by Lesley Gore. The Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
version was "Va... Tu Sei Libero", recorded by Lesley Gore, Isabella Iannetti, and Dalida
Dalida
Dalida , born with Italian name of Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, was a world-famous singer and actress born in Egypt with Italian origins but naturalised French with the name Yolanda Gigliotti. She spent her early years in Egypt amongst the Italian Egyptian community, but she lived most of her adult...
. The French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
version was "Je Ne Sais Plus", recorded by Lesley Gore, Dalida
Dalida
Dalida , born with Italian name of Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, was a world-famous singer and actress born in Egypt with Italian origins but naturalised French with the name Yolanda Gigliotti. She spent her early years in Egypt amongst the Italian Egyptian community, but she lived most of her adult...
, and Jacqueline Boyer
Jacqueline Boyer
Jacqueline Boyer is a French singer and actress, the daughter of performers Jacques Pills and Lucienne Boyer....
. An alternate French version, "Je Suis Libre", was performed by the Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
ois singer Michèle Richard.
It was also recorded in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, as "Jag Vill Ha Dig" by Marianne Kock, and in Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, as "Ik Wil Vrij Zijn", by Liliane Saint-Pierre
Liliane Saint-Pierre
Liliane Saint Pierre is a Belgian singer of Dutch language.Saint Pierre was born in Molenstede, Flemish Brabant. She started her career in the 1960s when she was 13 years old and her great hit was We gotta stop sung in Dutch. She has sung several songs in English and Dutch. At that time she sang...
, as the B-side to her first hit record, "We Gotta Stop", as well as having been recorded in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
by Mieko Hirota
Mieko Hirota
is a Japanese popular singer. Her nickname is Mico .Hirota was born in Setagaya, Tokyo. She grew up listening to pops and jazz in places like Tachikawa frequented by Occupation troops. She made her debut in 1961 at age 14...
.
"You Don't Own Me" was sung by Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
, Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
and Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
in the 1996 movie The First Wives Club
The First Wives Club
The First Wives Club is a 1996 comedy film, based on the best-selling 1992 novel of the same name by Olivia Goldsmith. Narrated by Diane Keaton, it stars Keaton, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler as three divorced women who seek revenge on their husbands who left them for younger women...
.
During the early 1980s a Dutch version of the song, "Zeg Maar Niets Meer" by Andre Hazes
André Hazes
André Gerardus Hazes was a Dutch singer in a genre called levenslied which is a form of emotional folk music about everyday life sung in the Dutch language. André Hazes was one of the most successful singers in this genre...
, was popular in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. It reached No. 2 in the Dutch charts. In 1998, Eva Pilarová sung a Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
version under the name "Cesta končí" on the album Requiem.
On the finale night of The Sing-Off
The Sing-Off
The Sing-Off is an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It premiered on NBC on December 14, 2009, and is produced by Sony Pictures Television....
in 2009, Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, model, and actress. Scherzinger is perhaps best known for being the lead vocalist of the Pussycat Dolls....
performed "You Don't Own Me" accompanied by the Beelzebubs
Beelzebubs
The Beelzebubs, frequently referred to as "The Bubs", are an all-male a cappella group from Tufts University that performs a mix of pop, rock, R&B, and other types of music while spreading their motto of "Fun through Song." They have toured in Europe, Asia, and North America, and they competed in...
.
In 2000, the song was featured on the original soundtrack of The Convent, a horror movie by Mike Mendez. Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
used a sampled version of the song for the song "Untitled" on his 2010 album, Recovery. The song was later featured in another horror film, The Woods directed and written by Lucky McKee
Lucky McKee
Edward Lucky McKee is an American director, writer, and actor, largely known for the 2002 film May, which has acquired a cult following.-Biography:...
. The song was also featured in the films Hairspray and First Wives Club.
In 2010 and 2011, NFL Women's Wear features the song in their commercial. The song was performed by April Smith and the Great Picture Show.