Don't Look Back (Fine Young Cannibals song)

"Don't Look Back" is a song by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

-rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

band Fine Young Cannibals

Fine Young Cannibals

Fine Young Cannibals were a British band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1984, by bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox , and singer Roland Gift...

. It was released as the third single from the band's 1989 album The Raw & the Cooked
The Raw and the Cooked (album)
The Raw & the Cooked is the second and final album by Fine Young Cannibals. A remixed version was also released as The Raw and the Remix. Selling over two million copies, The Raw & the Cooked included two US number one songs "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing"...

. The song reached the top 40 charts in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

Music and lyrics

Written by lead vocalist

Lead vocalist

The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...

Roland Gift

Roland Lee Gift is a British singer and actor. He was the lead singer of the band Fine Young Cannibals.-Biography:...

and bassist

Bassist

A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

David Steele

David Steele (musician)

David "Shuffle" Steele is an English musician who was a member of The Beat and Fine Young Cannibals.-Career:...

, the lyrics of "Don't Look Back" are mostly pessimistic, and depict someone who tries desperately to leave their difficult past behind them without looking back.
While the band's previous two hits, the U.S. number ones "She Drives Me Crazy

She Drives Me Crazy

"She Drives Me Crazy" is a song recorded by the Fine Young Cannibals, included on their 1989 album The Raw and the Cooked. The song peaked at #5 as a single in the band's native UK in January 1989 before hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US on 15 April 1989...

" and "Good Thing", were influenced by American rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

, "Don't Look Back" features guitar riffs that are more reminiscent of The Byrds

The Byrds

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...

and 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...

Release and reception

Released in August 1989, "Don't Look Back" peaked at number 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100

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...

, and spent eight weeks in the top 40 section of the chart.
It reached number eight on the Singles Sales

Hot 100 Singles Sales

The Hot Singles Sales chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures sales of commercial singles and is one of three component charts, along with the Hot 100 Airplay and the Hot Digital Songs, that determine the chart positions of singles on the...

chart, number 18 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, and number nine on the Modern Rock chart.
The song peaked at number 10 on the Canadian Singles Chart

Canadian Singles Chart

The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....

in October.
It also reached number 34 in the UK,
number 23 in New Zealand, and number 38 in Australia.

Track listing

7" Vinyl (Europe, Australasia)

"Don't Look Back" - 3:43
"You Never Know" - 4:27

7" Vinyl (U.S., Canada)

"Don't Look Back" - 3:36
"As Hard As It Is" - 3:10

12" Vinyl, CD Maxi-Single

"Don't Look Back" (12" mix) - 5:50
"You Never Know" - 4:27
"Don't Look Back" (7" mix) - 3:43

Chart performance

Chart (1989)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	34
Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	38
Canadian Singles Chart	10
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...	23
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	11
U.S. Dance Music/Club Play	26
U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks	38
U.S. Modern Rock Tracks	9

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