You Don't Understand Me


"You Don't Understand Me" is a song by Swedish pop duo Roxette. Written by Per Gessle with American composer Desmond Child, it was released as the lead single from the duo's first greatest hits compilation album, Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! Roxette's Greatest Hits. The song was a hit in several European countries, reaching the top 20 in Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the duo's native Sweden. The song was also a hit in Germany where, despite peaking at number 44, it would spend over three months on the German Singles Chart.

Composition and style

The song was written by Per Gessle and Desmond Child. In the Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! liner notes, Per called it: "the first song ever to be written with someone from the 'outside'. It wasn't intended to be recorded by Roxette. Desmond came to Halmstad this summer, just to see if we could create something together. He had this idea, I changed it around a bit, and asked Marie to sing on the demo. Then I realised it suited us very well." According to Ultimate Guitar, "You Don't Understand Me" is an alternative pop ballad, with a slow tempo of 77 beats per minute. Each verse is composed of two repetitions of a C–D–Em–C–C–D–Em sequence, and the bridge consists of a Gm–B♭–F–C–B♭–F–C–B♭–F–Gm sequence. The chorus is composed of two repetitions of B♭–C–F–C sequence, with the final note amended to a Gm during the final bar.
The duo recorded acoustic versions of several songs for inclusion as b-sides on UK editions of this single. New versions of "You Don't Understand Me", "The Look" and "Listen to Your Heart", as well as a cover of The Beatles' "Help!", were recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London in early 1995, although the latter would remain unreleased until it appeared on the 2006 box set The Rox Box/Roxette 86-06.

Formats and track listings

All songs written by Per Gessle, except "Listen to Your Heart" music by Gessle and Mats MP Persson.
  1. "You Don't Understand Me" – 4:28
  2. "Crazy About You" – 3:57
  3. "Harleys & Indians " – 3:45
  1. "You Don't Understand Me" – 4:28
  2. "The Look" – 3:46
  3. "Listen to Your Heart" – 3:38
  4. "You Don't Understand Me" – 3:43
  1. "You Don't Understand Me" – 4:28
  2. "Almost Unreal" – 3:25
  3. "Harleys & Indians " – 3:45
  4. "The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" – 4:47

    Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! Roxette's Greatest Hits.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts