You Don’t Understand Me

The first official single release taken from the Greatest Hits Collection, and it’s rather emotional.

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“I’ve been up all night…”

One of only a handful of occasions where Per has teamed up with another writer. This time with the legendary Desmond Child.

For those who don’t know him, do look him up as he’s responsible for many hits over the years…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_written_by_Desmond_Child

Per and Desmond had writing and recording sessions in July 1995, resulting in ‘You Don’t Understand Me‘ plus another unreleased song ‘Only You‘, which Per has previously described as a “bad Bon Jovi song“. Would be interesting to still hear it though don’t you think?

‘You Don’t Understand Me‘ wasn’t even written with Roxette in mind, however, when Marie heard it she was insistent on recording it, so the rest as they say is history. Marie came in and recorded vocals for the demo which we got to hear many years later as part of ‘Bag of Trix‘.

It was lead single from Roxette’s Greatest Hits album ‘Don’t Bore Us – Get To The Chorus!‘, that is, not counting the UK-only single ‘The Look ’95‘ that was released as a hype single some time earlier (it’ll pop up later in the Countdown). ‘YDUM‘ was released in October 1995 in multiple formats, including another 2-Part CD Single.

As part of the whole album promotion, Roxette recorded an acoustic set at the legendary ‘Abbey Road Studios‘ in London. ‘You Don’t Understand Me‘ was transformed into an intimate piano-led performance, totally opposite to the powerful studio recording. The songs were aired on BBC Radio in the UK, then went on to be features on various releases.

The single was a so-so hit across Europe, it spent over 3 months on the German chart, but again, most people were investing in buying the album. The accompanying video was shot in the UK and it’s almost like an outdoor, much darker version of ‘The Big L‘ video. It’s very atmospheric and we love the black and white palette as it adds to the mood of the song. This one was directed by Gregg Masuak.

‘YDUM‘ was also translated and recorded for inclusion on ‘Baladas en Español‘ released in 1996, however it was for whatever reason left off. We wouldn’t get to hear this version until much later as part of the ‘Bag of Trix‘ release in 2020.

We have omitted it here for that reason, ‘Tu No Me Comprendes‘ will feature later in the #ROX40 Countdown as a single in it’s own right.

Currently on Streaming

01 You Don’t Understand Me (T&A Demo – July 30, 1995)
02 You Don’t Understand Me (Album Version)
03 You Don’t Understand Me (Abbey Road Session – November 15, 1995)

04 You Don’t Understand Me (T&A Demo – July 30, 1995) – Per Gessle Talks
05 You Don’t Understand Me (Abbey Road Session – November 15, 1995) – Per Gessle Talks