"Don't Bother" is a song performed by Colombian singer-songwriterShakira, taken from her seventhstudio album and second English-language album,Oral Fixation, Vol. 2. The song was released on 11 October 2005, byEpic Records as thelead single from the album. The song was written by Shakira, along withThe Matrix and Heather Reid andLeisha Hailey ofThe Murmurs. It was produced by Shakira with additional byGustavo Cerati.Lester Mendez also served as an assistant producer. "Don't Bother" is arock-influenced song in which Shakira assures her former lover that she does not need his sympathy and can move on without him.
Upon its release, "Don't Bother" received generally mixed reviews frommusic critics, who praised Shakira's vocals but felt that the lyrics of the song were strange. Commercially, the track fared well onrecord charts, entering the top ten in twelve countries worldwide. In the United States, the song peaked at number 42 on the USBillboard Hot 100, and at number 25 on theBillboardMainstream Top 40 chart. "Don't Bother" was latercertifiedGold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for digital downloads of 500,000 units. An accompanying music video for the song was directed by Jaume de Laiguana, and features Shakira tormenting her former lover by crushing his car in a wrecking yard. For additional promotion, Shakira performed the song on a number of award and reality shows. It was also included on the setlist of her 2006–07Oral Fixation Tour and the 2025Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour.
"Don't Bother" was co-written by Shakira,Leisha Hailey, Heather Reid, and Americanpop music production trioThe Matrix.[2][3][4] Shakira also produced the song.[3] Additional production was provided by Argentinian singer-songwriterGustavo Cerati.Lester Mendez served as an assistant producer. Similar to her seventh studio albumOral Fixation, Vol. 2, (2005), "Don't Bother" musically shifts to a morerock-styled composition as compared to Shakira's previous English releases.[5][6] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com bySony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is published in the key ofE minor (the relative keyG major is in the chorus) and has a moderate rocktempo of 130 beats per minute.[7] Shakira's vocal range on the song spans from the note of E3 to E5.[7] Through the lyrics of the song, Shakira urges her former lover not to "bother" feeling sorry for her after he chose another woman over her.[8] She assures him that he "won’t ever see me [Shakira] cry" and that she will move on in her life without him.[8] The song contains a spoken bridge in which Shakira lists a number of things she could do to make him stay with her, such as "move(ing) to acommunist country", but admits that they would not have an effect on him.[8] Pam Avoledo fromBlogcritics found the theme of the song similar to the one in Shakira's 2002 single "Objection (Tango)".[8] Shakira described the song as afeministanthem, saying:
"I think 'Don't Bother' has a lot of pain in it as a song, but also a lot of humour and sarcasm. Yes, it is a way of exorcising all of these feelings, a form of catharsis, getting rid of all of those emotions that torture us women at some point in our lives"[9]
"Don't Bother" was issued byEpic Records as thelead single fromOral Fixation, Vol 2 and premiered on 9 October 2005 in the United States byAOL Music's First Listen initiative.[10][11] The single saw its European physical release on 4 November 2005,[3] having been made available fordigital download on theiTunes Store on 18 October.[12] In the United Kingdom, "Don't Bother" was issued as aCD single on 27 February 2006.[13]
The song received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Matt Cibula fromPopMatters praised its theme and Shakira's "furious and sexual and self-mocking" vocal delivery, but found the song "strange" and "internally inconsistent".[14] Alexis Petridis fromThe Guardian complimented the unpredictable nature of the song, although he also noted that the lyrics at times suggested a "faltering grasp of English".[15] Edward Oculicz fromStylus Magazine gave it a positive review, calling the song's chorus "bruised" and "anthemic" and the lyrics "impossible for native speakers to emulate".[16] Pam Avoledo from Blogcritics was also positive towards the song, noting improvement in Shakira's vocal delivery and calling them "brassy yet sensitive".[8] Spencer D. fromIGN Music felt the highlight to the song was Shakira's spoken bridge, saying that it lets the "light tinges of her accent roll of her tongue and present her as herself rather than the obvious result of previous pop matrons".[17]Stephen Thomas Erlewine fromAllMusic picked the song as a highlight from the album.[5]Chuck Taylor ofBillboard magazine offered a more mixed review, noting how "there are moments where she barks like a sea lion," but praised the track for its similarity toThe Cure's "Just like Heaven" at its midsection; despite that he continued to criticize Shakira's vocals, "which at best are an acquired taste" and described the song as "just a little...too Shakira."[18]
In Austria, the song entered the singles chart at number 17 and peaked at number six, spending a total of 24 weeks on the chart.[19] In Finland, the song entered and peaked at number four on the chart, becoming Shakira's highest-peaking single in the region since "Whenever, Wherever", (2001).[20] Its stay in the chart, however, was very short and lasted for only a week.[20] "Don't Bother" reached number five on the singles chart in Hungary,[21] and also peaked at number six on the airplay chart.[22] In Italy, the song performed moderately well, entering the chart at number 12 and peaking at number eight; it spent a total of 11 weeks on the chart.[3] In Norway, the song narrowly missed the top five by peaking at number six.[23] In Switzerland, the song entered the chart at number 10 and peaked at number eight; it stayed on the chart for a long period of 31 weeks.[24] In the United Kingdom, the song debuted and peaked at number nine on the singles chart, spending a total of five weeks on the chart.[25][26] It was Shakira's first single since "Objection (Tango)" (2002), to chart in the country.[26]
The accompanyingmusic video for "Don't Bother" was directed by Jaume de Laiguana, who had previously collaborated with Shakira on the video for "No",[30][31] and was released on 15 November 2005.[32] The video begins with a man parking his sports car in front of a house and proceeding to enter it.[33] Shakira is seen lying on a bed in the house and the man comes up and lies beside her, indicating that they are a couple.[34] As soon as the man falls asleep, Shakira wakes up and lies atop the man and begins to caress him and bite and whisper in his ear a few times, although he does not wake up.[34] Shakira takes the keys of the man's car and drives it to awrecking yard.[34] The video then interludes to scenes of Shakira sexually romancing the man in a shower.[34] The scene then changes back to the wrecking yard, where Shakira begins playing a pink guitar. After the spoken bridge of the song, Shakira places her partner's car in acar crusher, which soon commences demolishing it.[34] The man reacts in a similar manner to the car being crushed and begins experiencing continuous body jerks and spasms, indicating a connection between his car and his body.[33][34] After the car is fully destroyed, Shakira leaves the man unconscious on the bed, exits the house, and begins walking on the street triumphantly.[34] Shakira explained the usage of the car symbolism in the video, saying that "A man's car is like an extension of their ego and their manhood. I thought this would be a video that would make women say, 'Yeah, yeah!' and it would make men feel".[35]
Sal Cinquemani fromSlant Magazine positively reacted to the video and found it "rich with symbolism".[33] Shakira revealed that a nun from a Catholic high school she had attended was angered by the video by saying that "One of the nuns is looking for me after seeing the "Don't Bother" video".[36]
After 14 years of release, in the second week of September 2019, the official music video witnessed an unexpected surge in views onYouTube, racking up over 15 million views in 4 days.[37]
Shakira performing "Don't Bother" atRock in Rio in Madrid, Spain
Shakira performed "Don't Bother" live for the first time at the 2005 Nordic Music Awards, held on 29 October 2005.[38] She next went on to perform the song at the2005 MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony held on 3 November 2005, where she also won the award for "Best Female Artist".[39] In November, the singer gave a surprise concert atTimes Square and performed "Don't Bother" along with "La Tortura" and "Hey You".[40] "Don't Bother" was also performed on television showJensen! along with "La Tortura".[41] It was followed by performances on Good Morning America on 2 December,[42] andThe Ellen DeGeneres Show three days later.[43] On 10 December 2005, she performed the song along with "La Tortura" onSaturday Night Live.[44][45] Five days later, Shakira performed the song during an appearance onLate Night with David Letterman.[46] It was also included the song to her set on Z100's Jingle Ball atMadison Square Garden in New York which happened the day after.[47] The singer also performed "Don't Bother" live onMTV's New Year of Music atTimes Square, on 31 December 2005.[48]
She returned to Europe to another promotional tour for the song, starting on 21 January 2006 at theNRJ Music Awards in France.[49] Shakira later went to the United Kingdom to perform "Don't Bother" onTop of the Pops on 29 January,[50] andCD:UK on 4 February.[51] On 2 March, she appeared onGMTV to promote the song,[52] also appearing onSanremo Music Festival 2006 the same day,[53] andPopworld two days later.[54] She then traveled to Germany to perform the song on 12 March 2006 at theEcho Awards.[55]
Shortly before the start of her tour, Shakira performed the song during theRock in Rio festival in Lisbon, Portugal, on 26 May 2006.[56] "Don't Bother" was included in the concert setlist of herOral Fixation Tour, which was launched in 2006 to promote the albumsFijación Oral, Vol. 1 andOral Fixation, Vol. 2.[57] While headlining at the 2007Live Earth concert held in Hamburg on 7 July 2007, Germany, Shakira performed "Don't Bother" along with three other songs.[58] She also included the song on the set list for her concert atRock in Rio held at Madrid, Spain, on 4 July 2008.[59]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 06. týden 2006 in the date selector. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
