Why Do You Love Me
Encyclopedia
"Why Do You Love Me" is a 2005 song written, performed and produced by alternative rock
band Garbage
and was released worldwide as the lead single
to promote their fourth studio album
Bleed Like Me
. The single was the first taste of the band's change in direction, eschewing the electronic
-leaning production of their previous album for guitar
-led rock
.
The song became a surprise hit when it was released. In the United States
, "Why Do You Love Me" gave Garbage its first showing on the Billboard Hot 100
in six years, since "Special
" reached #52 in May 1999; and the band's fifth Modern Rock
top ten, and first since "I Think I'm Paranoid
" spent the month of September 1998 at #6. Across the Atlantic, the song was Garbage's first UK Singles Chart
top ten since "When I Grow Up" peaked at #9 in January 1999. "Why Do You Love Me" propelled the Bleed Like Me album to the top five in Australia
, United Kingdom and in the United States, where the album debuted at a career-high #4.
In 2007, "Why Do You Love Me" was remastered
and included on Garbage's greatest hits
album Absolute Garbage
.
in Madison, Wisconsin
. Garbage had quietly disbanded during the sessions for Bleed Like Me in October 2003, before reforming to make a fresh start on the album early the next year. Drummer Butch Vig
found himself confused over which direction to take the band's sound, before deciding to strip back to the basics of electric guitar
, bass guitar
and drums, using more first takes from vocalist and lyricist Shirley Manson
's vocals, and reducing the synth components. Preferring to oversee the recording of drum tracks from the studio control booth, Vig approached Matt Walker
to perform drums on some of the album; Walker's provided these for "Why Do You Love Me". Similarly, bass was performed by session musician
Justin Meldal-Johnsen
. "Why Do You Love Me" was mastered by Emily Lazar and Sarah Register at The Lodge in New York
.
Garbage's record company were keen to release "Why Do You Love Me" as the lead single for Bleed Like Me; the band agreed. Manson: "We chose "Why Do You Love Me" as the first single because it has a lot of mood shifts and embodies the whole record. I feel that at the base of everyone there's a belief that we're truly lovable. But we often question it, which is why we seek out exclusive relationships."
release of "Why Do You Love Me" kicked off on February 15, 2005, when Geffen
scheduled the song to impact Alternative
, Modern Rock
and Triple-A
radio stations across the United States. "Why Do You Love Me" was championed by a number of stations including WXRK in New York
, WKQX in Chicago
, KNDD
in Seattle, XTRA
in San Diego and Orlando
's WOCL
. After it's first week on air "Why Do You Love Me" was the #1 Most Added track at Modern Rock radio; and debuted at #39 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart at #39. On March 8, "Why Do You Love Me" was made available as a digital download
in the United States
and Canada
. At the end of its first week on commercial sale, the song broke into both the Modern Rock Top Ten (at #10) and debuted on the Pop 100
(at #81) and the Hot 100 at #94. The song dipped a little after this early peak, leaving the Hot 100 and dropping to #11 on the Modern Rock chart and #97 on the Pop 100. Three weeks later, in the wake of the release of Bleed Like Me, "Why Do You Love Me" rebounded to #8. The song then began to drop on the Modern Rock chart after this second peak.
In the United Kingdom, A&E Records
began their single release campaign by licensing a short clip of "Why Do You Love Me" for use on the Brit Awards
broadcast as an intro theme for Shirley Manson who was there to announce the nominees and winner of that year's Best Live Act award (the winner that year was Garbage's label-mates Muse
). A few days later, on February 18, "Why Do You Love Me" received its UK
premiere
on the BBC Radio One Jo Whiley Show
. Radio One later C-listed
the single, while XFM
playlisted it as their "Single of the Week", reaching #1 on their airplay chart for several weeks. Beyond this, "Why Do You Love Me" struggled for support from mainstream radio.
On March 27, the single was released on CD maxi in Australia, where debuted at #19 in the ARIA Singles chart, and in a similar format across Europe
the following day.
Garbage support the Bleed Like Me album, and the "Why Do You Love Me" single from March 29 with a European promotional campaign that includes three live dates in Paris
, London
and Cologne
; a performance of the song and the band's debut single, "Vow
", on an XFM radio session; and a notably large number of televised performances of "Why Do You Love Me" on CD:UK
, Popworld
, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
, Top of the Pops
, Napster Live
in the United Kingdom and on Album de la semaine, 20h10 petantes and Traffic music in France
. Warner re-issue "Why Do You Love Me" to radio stations in a brand new configuration, omitting the opening guitar riff from throughout the song in an attempt to gain more radio exposure.
"Why Do You Love Me" is physically released in the UK on April 4 on CD
, DVD
and limited edition 7", as well as digital download. Warner encourages Garbage fans to purchase each format by issuing a wallet to house the singles through the band website. After reaching #4 in the mid-week chart flashes, it debuts on the UK Singles chart
at #7 after selling 10,089 copies and is their highest charting single since 1996's "Stupid Girl". "Why Do You Love Me" also breaks a run of six consecutive Garbage singles to fall short of the UK Top 10. The airplay of "Why Do You Love Me" also benefits from the chart position; and the track moves up to #98 on the UK Airplay chart during the week of release.
Returning to North America in mid-April, Garbage tape an in-studio show for music show Fuse
Comp'd on April 20. The set includes "Why Do You Love Me", and is the last TV recording of the song of the initial campaign as follow up single "Bleed Like Me" is released in May. The band perform "Why Do You Love Me" acoustically for a number of radio sessions, including for DC 101 and 92.3 Xtreme Radio
. Later in September of that year, Garbage wrap up touring and promotion for the entire Bleed Like Me album with a short Australian tour that includes a performance of "Why Do You Love Me" on Rove Live.
On the week of February 19, 2008, "Why Do You Love Me" was released as a downloadable master track for use in the video game Rock Band
.
for "Why Do You Love Me" was shot
over two days at the end of January 2005 on a Los Angeles
, CA
, soundstage and was helmed by director Sophie Muller
. Scenes shot on January 31 included actual Garbage fans who applied via the band's website, in lieu of agency-hired models, at the band's request. Shirley Manson thanked all those who took part in a post on the website a few days later.
The first two and a half minutes of the video was shot in black and white, evoking a "neo-noir
" element; Shirley's bath scene and the outro crowd scenes were shot in colour. The storyline centred around cryptic references to the band's difficulty in maintaining proper relations over the previous years, as well as veiled references to Blondie
lead singer Debbie Harry
and their album Parallel Lines
.
In the United Kingdom, a short clip of the "Why Do You Love Me" video was broadcast on MTV's Gonzo, before being playlisted across the music networks. In North America, the video was playlisted by Fuse
the week ending March 20; in its third week becoming their #3 most played clip. Geffen licensed the music video
to run in over 3,000 movie theaters, on the TV walls of Macy's
, Steve Madden
and JC Penney stores, and inclusion on Victoria's Secret
's Pink in-store sampler.
The "Why Do You Love Me" video was first made commercially available on the "Why Do You Love Me" DVD single and on the CD-ROM
enhanced section
of the "Why Do You Love Me" CD maxi singles. A remastered version of that video was included on Garbage's 2007 greatest hits DVD Absolute Garbage, and made available as a digital download
via online music services
the same year. In 2008, a second edit of the video was released to iTunes
; this version edited out the title of the book Shirley read in the video: J. D. Salinger
's The Catcher in the Rye
.
"Why Do You Love Me" was edited
numerous times for radio airplay after its initial radio impact dates. The first versions sent to radio worldwide had varied between the album version and a clean version, removing the word "shit
". In France, the middle 8 section of the song was removed for airplay.
In the United Kingdom, Warner Music sent out a revised version of "Why Do You Love Me" to help increase the song's audience as the singles commercial release date approached. This revision replaced the intro
guitar riff with a few bars
of the verse
on rhythm guitar
. A shortened version of this revision was also released, which completely removed the opening guitar riff from throughout the song, as well as removing the first bridge
and middle 8 sections. This version was edited so that instead of ending abruptly, the last four bars are repeated over and over while fading out
.
, Keith Caulfield wrote, "Listeners will find themselves involuntarily bobbing their heads and tapping their toes. Matched with smart (yet cryptic) lyrics, this has all the makings of a monster hit".
A On April 17, 2005, the first combined physical
and downloaded singles
sales charts were published by The Official Charts Company, in an attempt by the record industry to boost singles sales in the United Kingdom. This also led to the debut of the Physical Singles Chart, in which "Why Do You Love Me" registered at #14, after its second week of sales.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Garbage
Garbage (band)
Garbage are an alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. The group consists of Scottish singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson , Steve Marker and Butch Vig . All four members are involved in songwriting and production...
and was released worldwide as the lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
to promote their fourth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
Bleed Like Me
Bleed Like Me
Bleed Like Me is the fourth studio album recorded and produced by alternative rock group Garbage. It was released in April 2005 by Warner Bros...
. The single was the first taste of the band's change in direction, eschewing the electronic
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
-leaning production of their previous album for guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
-led 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...
.
The song became a surprise hit when it was released. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, "Why Do You Love Me" gave Garbage its first showing on the 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...
in six years, since "Special
Special (Garbage song)
"Special" is an alternative rock song written, performed and produced by Garbage, and was the third international single to be released from the band's platinum second album Version 2.0...
" reached #52 in May 1999; and the band's fifth Modern Rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
top ten, and first since "I Think I'm Paranoid
I Think I'm Paranoid
"I Think I'm Paranoid" is an alternative rock song written, performed and produced by Garbage and was the second single released from their second album Version 2.0....
" spent the month of September 1998 at #6. Across the Atlantic, the song was Garbage's first 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 ...
top ten since "When I Grow Up" peaked at #9 in January 1999. "Why Do You Love Me" propelled the Bleed Like Me album to the top five in 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...
, United Kingdom and in the United States, where the album debuted at a career-high #4.
In 2007, "Why Do You Love Me" was remastered
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
and included on Garbage's greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
album Absolute Garbage
Absolute Garbage
Absolute Garbage is the 2007 greatest hits album released by alternative rock group Garbage. The album was compiled and released by Geffen imprint Almo Sounds through Universal Music Enterprises backcatalogue division in North America and Warner Music's record label A&E Records throughout the rest...
.
Song profile
"Why Do You Love Me" was written and recorded at the band's own Smart StudiosSmart Studios
Smart Studios was a recording studio located at 1254 E Washington Ave in Madison, Wisconsin. It was set up in 1983 by Butch Vig and Steve Marker to produce local bands....
in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
. Garbage had quietly disbanded during the sessions for Bleed Like Me in October 2003, before reforming to make a fresh start on the album early the next year. Drummer Butch Vig
Butch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
found himself confused over which direction to take the band's sound, before deciding to strip back to the basics of electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and drums, using more first takes from vocalist and lyricist Shirley Manson
Shirley Manson
Shirley Anne Manson is a Scottish recording artist and actress, best known internationally as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Garbage. For much of her international career Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh to the United States to record with Garbage but now lives and...
's vocals, and reducing the synth components. Preferring to oversee the recording of drum tracks from the studio control booth, Vig approached Matt Walker
Matt Walker (drummer)
Matt Walker is a musician and former drummer for Filter, The Smashing Pumpkins and current drummer for Morrissey.Matt Walker began his career in Chicago in the mid 80s, when Matt began playing drums for the already well known Scott Bennett of Scott Bennett & The Obvious and did double duty playing...
to perform drums on some of the album; Walker's provided these for "Why Do You Love Me". Similarly, bass was performed by session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Justin Meldal-Johnsen is an American musician and bassist, best known for his work with Grammy Award-winning artist Beck. He served as the touring bassist for Nine Inch Nails during their final tours.-Recording career:...
. "Why Do You Love Me" was mastered by Emily Lazar and Sarah Register at The Lodge in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Garbage's record company were keen to release "Why Do You Love Me" as the lead single for Bleed Like Me; the band agreed. Manson: "We chose "Why Do You Love Me" as the first single because it has a lot of mood shifts and embodies the whole record. I feel that at the base of everyone there's a belief that we're truly lovable. But we often question it, which is why we seek out exclusive relationships."
Single release
The North AmericanNorth American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
release of "Why Do You Love Me" kicked off on February 15, 2005, when Geffen
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
scheduled the song to impact Alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, Modern Rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
and Triple-A
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
radio stations across the United States. "Why Do You Love Me" was championed by a number of stations including WXRK in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, WKQX in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, KNDD
KNDD
KNDD , also known as "107.7 The End", is an alternative rock radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is operated by Entercom Communications Its studios are located in the Metropolitan Park West tower between Downtown and South Lake Union in Seattle...
in Seattle, XTRA
XETRA-FM
XETRA-FM — branded 91X, and sometimes identified as XTRA-FM — is an English language, Mexican-owned modern rock music station broadcasting from Tijuana, Baja California on 91.1 MHz. The studios are located in the Mira Mesa area of San Diego...
in San Diego and Orlando
Orlando
Orlando is a major city in the U.S. state of Florida.Orlando may also refer to-Places:* in Florida** Orlando, a major city** Greater Orlando, the 27th-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
's WOCL
WOCL
WOCL is a radio station broadcasting in Orlando, Florida. The station airs a Classic hits format, focusing on music from 1964-1989 with the core being the 1970s. It is similar to the format used by sister station WCBS-FM in New York...
. After it's first week on air "Why Do You Love Me" was the #1 Most Added track at Modern Rock radio; and debuted at #39 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart at #39. On March 8, "Why Do You Love Me" was made available as a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and 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...
. At the end of its first week on commercial sale, the song broke into both the Modern Rock Top Ten (at #10) and debuted on the Pop 100
Pop 100
The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...
(at #81) and the Hot 100 at #94. The song dipped a little after this early peak, leaving the Hot 100 and dropping to #11 on the Modern Rock chart and #97 on the Pop 100. Three weeks later, in the wake of the release of Bleed Like Me, "Why Do You Love Me" rebounded to #8. The song then began to drop on the Modern Rock chart after this second peak.
In the United Kingdom, A&E Records
A&E Records
A&E Records is an United Kingdom-based record label imprint, owned by Warner Music Group, and operates under the WEA International group of labels at WMG....
began their single release campaign by licensing a short clip of "Why Do You Love Me" for use on the Brit Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
broadcast as an intro theme for Shirley Manson who was there to announce the nominees and winner of that year's Best Live Act award (the winner that year was Garbage's label-mates Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
). A few days later, on February 18, "Why Do You Love Me" received its UK
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...
premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
on the BBC Radio One Jo Whiley Show
The Jo Whiley Show
The Jo Whiley Show was a British weekday radio show on BBC Radio 1 hosted by Jo Whiley. The programme was on air from February 2001 to September 2009 and was broadcast each morning between 10:00am and 12:45pm. And Bank Holidays And Good Fridays At 10.00-13.00-Show Format:The show began at 10:00am...
. Radio One later C-listed
Playlist
In its most general form, a playlist is simply a list of songs. They can be played in sequential or shuffled order. The term has several specialized meanings in the realms of radio broadcasting and personal computers.-In radio:...
the single, while XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
playlisted it as their "Single of the Week", reaching #1 on their airplay chart for several weeks. Beyond this, "Why Do You Love Me" struggled for support from mainstream radio.
On March 27, the single was released on CD maxi in Australia, where debuted at #19 in the ARIA Singles chart, and in a similar format across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
the following day.
Garbage support the Bleed Like Me album, and the "Why Do You Love Me" single from March 29 with a European promotional campaign that includes three live dates in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
; a performance of the song and the band's debut single, "Vow
Vow (Garbage song)
"Vow" is a 1994 song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock band Garbage and was released as their debut single in early 1995. The song, which had its themes of revenge and retaliation inspired by a newspaper article on domestic abuse, began as a demo during sessions between band...
", on an XFM radio session; and a notably large number of televised performances of "Why Do You Love Me" on CD:UK
CD:UK
CD:UK was a British music television programme. Originally run in conjunction with SMTV Live, the programme was first aired on ITV on 29 August 1998 to rival the BBC's Live & Kicking and was the replacement for The Chart Show, which had been airing on the network for nine and a half years.In...
, Popworld
Popworld
Popworld was a British television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4, offering pop news, trivia, gossip, interviews and music videos, as well as musical performances from the most recent top artists....
, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross was a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 November 2001. The programme featured Ross's take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...
, Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, Napster Live
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
in the United Kingdom and on Album de la semaine, 20h10 petantes and Traffic music in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Warner re-issue "Why Do You Love Me" to radio stations in a brand new configuration, omitting the opening guitar riff from throughout the song in an attempt to gain more radio exposure.
"Why Do You Love Me" is physically released in the UK on April 4 on CD
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
, DVD
DVD single
A DVD single is a music single in the form of a DVD. The format was introduced in the late 1990s/early 2000s as a replacement for the VHS single...
and limited edition 7", as well as digital download. Warner encourages Garbage fans to purchase each format by issuing a wallet to house the singles through the band website. After reaching #4 in the mid-week chart flashes, it debuts on the 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 ...
at #7 after selling 10,089 copies and is their highest charting single since 1996's "Stupid Girl". "Why Do You Love Me" also breaks a run of six consecutive Garbage singles to fall short of the UK Top 10. The airplay of "Why Do You Love Me" also benefits from the chart position; and the track moves up to #98 on the UK Airplay chart during the week of release.
Returning to North America in mid-April, Garbage tape an in-studio show for music show Fuse
Fuse TV
Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....
Comp'd on April 20. The set includes "Why Do You Love Me", and is the last TV recording of the song of the initial campaign as follow up single "Bleed Like Me" is released in May. The band perform "Why Do You Love Me" acoustically for a number of radio sessions, including for DC 101 and 92.3 Xtreme Radio
WKRK-FM
WKRK-FM — branded Sports Radio 92.3 The Fan — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, WKRK-FM is owned by CBS Radio and broadcasts a sports format...
. Later in September of that year, Garbage wrap up touring and promotion for the entire Bleed Like Me album with a short Australian tour that includes a performance of "Why Do You Love Me" on Rove Live.
On the week of February 19, 2008, "Why Do You Love Me" was released as a downloadable master track for use in the video game Rock Band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
.
Track listings
- UK 7" single A&E Records WEA385
- "Why Do You Love Me" - 3:52
- "Space Can Come Through Anyone" - 4:28
- UK CD single A&E Records WEA385CD
- European CD single A&E Records/WEA 50467-8002-2
- "Why Do You Love Me" - 3:52
- "Nobody Can Win" - 4:28
- UK DVD single A&E Records WEA385DVD
- "Why Do You Love Me" - 3:52
- "Cherry Lips (Le Royale mix)" - 3:15
- "Why Do You Love Me (video)" - 3:52
- "Bleed Like Me: Interview (video)" - 10:00
- International Digital E.P.
- "Why Do You Love Me" - 3:52
- "Space Can Come Through Anyone" - 4:28
- "Nobody Can Win" - 4:28
- "I Just Wanna Have Something To Do" - 2:31
- European E-CD Maxi WEA International 50467-8073-2
- Mexican E-CD Maxi WEA International 50467-8073-2
- Australian E-CD Maxi FMR 5046780732
- "Why Do You Love Me" - 3:52
- "Space Can Come Through Anyone" - 4:28
- "Nobody Can Win" - 4:28
- "I Just Wanna Have Something To Do" - 2:31
- "Why Do You Love Me (video)" - 3:52
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Why Do You Love Me" was shot
Shot (film)
In film, a shot is a continuous strip of motion picture film, created of a series of frames, that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Shots are generally filmed with a single camera and can be of any duration. A shot in production, defined by the beginning and end of a capturing process, is...
over two days at the end of January 2005 on a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, CA
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, soundstage and was helmed by director Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller is a British music video director, noted for her long-time collaborations with artists like Sophie Ellis-Bextor, No Doubt, Sade, Shakira, Shakespears Sister, Garbage, Blur, Annie Lennox and Eurythmics.-Background:...
. Scenes shot on January 31 included actual Garbage fans who applied via the band's website, in lieu of agency-hired models, at the band's request. Shirley Manson thanked all those who took part in a post on the website a few days later.
The first two and a half minutes of the video was shot in black and white, evoking a "neo-noir
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
" element; Shirley's bath scene and the outro crowd scenes were shot in colour. The storyline centred around cryptic references to the band's difficulty in maintaining proper relations over the previous years, as well as veiled references to Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
lead singer Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
and their album Parallel Lines
Parallel Lines
Parallel Lines is the third studio album by American New Wave band Blondie, released in 1978 by Chrysalis Records. Their most popular and best-selling effort, Parallel Lines was the first Blondie album to be produced by Mike Chapman. The album reached number one in the United Kingdom in February 1979...
.
In the United Kingdom, a short clip of the "Why Do You Love Me" video was broadcast on MTV's Gonzo, before being playlisted across the music networks. In North America, the video was playlisted by Fuse
Fuse TV
Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....
the week ending March 20; in its third week becoming their #3 most played clip. Geffen licensed the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
to run in over 3,000 movie theaters, on the TV walls of Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
, Steve Madden
Steve Madden
Steve Madden is the founder and former CEO of Steve Madden Ltd., a footwear company.Born in Far Rockaway, Queens, Madden grew up in adjoining Lawrence in Nassau County, New York....
and JC Penney stores, and inclusion on Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is the largest segment of publicly-traded Limited Brands with sales of over US$5 billion and an operating income of $1 billion in 2006...
's Pink in-store sampler.
The "Why Do You Love Me" video was first made commercially available on the "Why Do You Love Me" DVD single and on the CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
enhanced section
Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD, also known as CD Extra and CD Plus, is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players....
of the "Why Do You Love Me" CD maxi singles. A remastered version of that video was included on Garbage's 2007 greatest hits DVD Absolute Garbage, and made available as a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
via online music services
Online music store
An online music store is an online business which sells audio files, usually music, on a per-song and/or subscription basis. It may be differentiated from music streaming services in that the music store offers the actual music file, while streaming services offer partial or full listening without...
the same year. In 2008, a second edit of the video was released to iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
; this version edited out the title of the book Shirley read in the video: J. D. Salinger
J. D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980....
's The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major...
.
Alternate versions
| Track title | Length | Producer |
|---|---|---|
| "Why Do You Love Me (Clean Album version)" | 3:52 | Garbage Garbage (band) Garbage are an alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. The group consists of Scottish singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson , Steve Marker and Butch Vig . All four members are involved in songwriting and production... |
| "Why Do You Love Me (French Radio edit)" | 3:26 | |
| "Why Do You Love Me (Radio edit)" | 3:55 | |
| "Why Do You Love Me (Brand New Radio edit)" | 3:08 |
"Why Do You Love Me" was edited
Radio edit
In music, a radio edit is a modification to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form...
numerous times for radio airplay after its initial radio impact dates. The first versions sent to radio worldwide had varied between the album version and a clean version, removing the word "shit
Shit
Shit is usually considered vulgar and profane in Modern English. As a noun it refers to fecal matter and as a verb it means to defecate or defecate in; in the plural it means diarrhea...
". In France, the middle 8 section of the song was removed for airplay.
In the United Kingdom, Warner Music sent out a revised version of "Why Do You Love Me" to help increase the song's audience as the singles commercial release date approached. This revision replaced the intro
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
guitar riff with a few bars
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
of the verse
Song structure (popular music)
The structures or musical forms of songs in popular music are typically sectional, repeating forms, such as strophic form. Other common forms include thirty-two-bar form, verse-chorus form, and the twelve bar blues...
on rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
. A shortened version of this revision was also released, which completely removed the opening guitar riff from throughout the song, as well as removing the first bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
and middle 8 sections. This version was edited so that instead of ending abruptly, the last four bars are repeated over and over while fading out
Fade (audio engineering)
In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theater lighting, in much the same way ....
.
Critical reception
"Why Do You Love Me" received a mostly positive reception from contemporary music critics. In a review for BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Keith Caulfield wrote, "Listeners will find themselves involuntarily bobbing their heads and tapping their toes. Matched with smart (yet cryptic) lyrics, this has all the makings of a monster hit".
Release history
| Release Date | Territory | Record Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 15, 2005 | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Almo Sounds Almo Sounds Almo Sounds is a record label which was started in 1994 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss after they sold A&M Records to PolyGram. The intent of the label was to recreate the initial concept of A&M Records as a small, "boutique" label.... /Geffen Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:... |
Airplay |
| February 18, 2005 | United Kingdom 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... |
A&E Records A&E Records A&E Records is an United Kingdom-based record label imprint, owned by Warner Music Group, and operates under the WEA International group of labels at WMG.... |
|
| February 15, 2005 | 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... |
Almo Sounds/Geffen | Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
| United States | |||
| March 27, 2005 | 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... |
FMR | Enhanced Enhanced CD Enhanced CD, also known as CD Extra and CD Plus, is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players.... -CD maxi |
| March 28, 2005 | Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... |
Warner Music | Enhanced-CD maxi, CD single |
| April 4, 2005 | United Kingdom | A&E Records | 7", DVD single DVD single A DVD single is a music single in the form of a DVD. The format was introduced in the late 1990s/early 2000s as a replacement for the VHS single... , CD single |
Comprehensive charts
| Chart (2005) | Peak |
|---|---|
| Australia Singles Chart (ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... ) |
19 |
| Belgium (Wallonia) Ultratip 50 (GfK GfK The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health... ) |
17 |
| European Hot 100 (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... /Music & Media) |
22 |
| Germany Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... (Media Control) |
63 |
| Netherlands Single Top 100 (GfK GfK The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health... ) |
100 |
| Ireland Singles Chart (IRMA Irish Recorded Music Association Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:... ) |
27 |
| Switzerland Singles Top 100 Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... (Media Control) |
75 |
| United Kingdom 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 ... (The Official Charts Company) |
7 |
| United Kingdom Airplay (TOCC) | 93 |
| United Kingdom Downloads UK Official Download Chart The UK Official Download Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company on behalf of the music industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being published on a Wednesday afternoon, so as to not to clash with the release of the main UK Singles Chart... (TOCC) |
22 |
| United Kingdom Physical Singles (TOCC) | 14 |
| United Kingdom Scottish Singles Scottish Singles and Albums Chart The Scottish Singles Chart and Scottish Albums Chart are charts compiled by The Official Charts Company, based on physical and digital sales in the STV North, STV Central and ITV Border regions.... (TOCC) |
4 |
| 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... |
94 |
| U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard) | 8 |
| Year-End Chart (2005) | Peak | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom 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 ... (The Official Charts Company) |
223 | 28,500 units |
A On April 17, 2005, the first combined physical
Audio format
An audio format is a medium for storing sound and music. The term is applied to both the physical recording media and the recording formats of the audio content – in computer science it is often limited to the audio file format, but its wider use usually refers to the physical method used to...
and downloaded singles
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
sales charts were published by The Official Charts Company, in an attempt by the record industry to boost singles sales in the United Kingdom. This also led to the debut of the Physical Singles Chart, in which "Why Do You Love Me" registered at #14, after its second week of sales.