Nothing 'Bout Me

"Nothing 'Bout Me"
Single by Sting
from the album Ten Summoner's Tales
Released14 February 1994 (1994-02-14)[1]
Length3:39
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Sting
Producer(s)
  • Sting
  • Hugh Padgham
Sting singles chronology
"Love is Stronger Than Justice"
(1993) 		"Nothing 'Bout Me"
(1994) 		"When We Dance"
(1994)

"Nothing 'Bout Me" is a song by English singer-songwriter Sting as the final single from his fourth studio album, Ten Summoner's Tales (1993). In Canada, the single was released in autumn of 1993, although in the rest of the world, it was released in early February 1994 by A&M Records. The song peaked at numbers 57 and 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and also reached the top 50 in the UK, Canada, and the Netherlands.

The song features an AABA song structure with ascending chords at the end of the verses and the coda. A walking bass line is also present throughout. The melody uses 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 13 tones within the key of E-flat, creating a hexatonic scale, although according to Christopher Rait's 2019 doctoral dissertation on Sting's music for Canada's York University, it can be "more readily heard as a tertiary stack".[2]

Sting commented that the song was "a tongue-in-cheek reaction to all the amateur psychology I'm subjected to whenever I put an album out. Listeners figure they can work you out through the songs. And they probably can. I'm not sure it suits my purpose to be so transparent though, so this is my attempt at diverting that. It's supposed to be a funny song."[3]

Critical reception and analysis

Most publications that mentioned "Nothing 'Bout Me" in reviews for Ten Summoners Tales discussed the song's lyrical content. The Baltimore Sun identified "Nothing 'Bout Me" as a song where the "singer laughs at those armchair psychiatrists who presume that by reading all his interviews and sifting through his lyric sheets that they have some understanding of who he really is".[4] Rolling Stone wrote that the song "chides his critics for trying to freeze him in their notions about his life".[5] The San Antonio Express described the lyrics to "Nothing 'Bout Me" as "pointed", but thought that the song itself was "more lighthearted than it sounds".[6] Rock critic Victor Garbarini thought that "the funniest thing about "Nothing About Me" is that that it sits at the end of the most revealing album of Sting's career."[4]

The Daily Telegraph was more critical of the song's merits, saying that "the pub rock of 'Nothing 'Bout Me' sounds like an out-take [sic] from fellow Geordie Jimmy Nail".[6]

Track listings

  • 7-inch and cassette single[7][8]
  1. "Nothing 'Bout Me (remix)"
  2. "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" (Miracle Of Science Edit)
  1. "Nothing 'Bout Me (remix)"
  2. "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" (Miracle Of Science Edit)
  3. "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" (Hoax Mix)
  4. "Demolition Man" (Soulpower 12")

Charts

Chart (1993-1994) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[11] 10
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[12] 12
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 41
UK Singles (OCC)[14] 32
US Billboard Hot 100[15] 57
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[16] 17
US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[17] 33
US Cash Box Top 100[18] 43

References

  1. ^ "Single Releases". Music Week. 12 February 1994. p. 21.
  2. ^ Rait, Matthew (May 2019). The Music of Sting (PhD thesis). York University. pp. 178, 198. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Sting Interview: The Independent on Sunday (1994)". Sting.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b Considine, J. D. (25 February 1994). "'Tales' speak for silent Sting". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  5. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (18 March 1993). "Sting: Ten Summoner's Tales". Rolling Stone. No. 652. p. 38.
  6. ^ a b "Ten Summoner's Tales". Sting.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Nothing 'Bout Me, 7"". Sting.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Nothing 'Bout Me, Cassette". Sting.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Nothing 'Bout Me, 12"". Sting.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Nothing 'Bout Me, CD". Sting.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2277." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 2315." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  13. ^ "Sting – Nothing 'Bout Me" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Sting Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Sting Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Sting Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Top 100 Pop Singles" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. LVII, no. 10. 30 October 1993. p. 10. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 January 2024. Retrieved 22 April 2024.