I Don't Need a Man

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“I Don't Need a Man”
“I Don't Need a Man” cover
Single by Pussycat Dolls
from the album PCD
B-side "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going"
Released September 25, 2006 (Europe, Canada)
October 21, 2006 (Australia)
May 2007 (U.S.)
Format Digital download, CD single
Genre Dance-pop, R&B
Length 3:39
Label A&M
Writer(s) Rich Harrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Kara DioGuardi
Producer Rich Harrison
Pussycat Dolls U.S. singles chronology
"Wait a Minute"
(2006)
"I Don't Need a Man"
(2007)
"When I Grow Up"
(2008)


Pussycat Dolls worldwide singles chronology
"Buttons"
(2006)
"I Don't Need a Man"
(2006)
"Wait a Minute"
(2007)

"I Don't Need a Man" is the fifth single released from the Pussycat Dolls' debut album, PCD (2005). The European and Canadian release date for the single was September 25, 2006, and the release date in Australia (according to HMV) was October 21. In the United States, the video premiered on April 18, 2007 on MTV's show Total Request Live, leading to a single release in the U.S. in May 2007.

Contents

[edit] Background

The song is co-written by lead singer Nicole Scherzinger, producer Rich Harrison and professional songwriter Kara DioGuardi. Scherzinger's previous group, Eden's Crush, had recorded one song by DioGuardi. Scherzinger and DioGuardi also co-wrote the PCD bonus track "Flirt". "I Don't Need a Man" is produced by Rich Harrison and co-produced by Ron Fair. The official instrumental version of this song, that is featured on the CD single, contains some other samples than the album version.

[edit] B-side

The single's B-side is a cover version of "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going", written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. This was a 1975 single for Labelle and a follow-up to their previous hit "Lady Marmalade". The Pussycat Dolls' version first appeared in September 2004 on the soundtrack to the animated film Shark Tale.

[edit] Formats and track listings

European maxi CD
  1. "I Don't Need a Man" (album version) – 3:39
  2. "I Don't Need a Man" (instrumental) – 3:39
  3. "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going" – 3:50
  4. "I Don't Need a Man" (video) – 3:39
UK single
  1. "I Don't Need a Man" (album version) – 3:39
  2. "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going" – 3:50

[edit] Music video

Nicole Scherzinger singing in the music video
Nicole Scherzinger singing in the music video

The music video for "I Don't Need a Man" was directed by Chris Applebaum and was first announced and described by group member Ashley Roberts in a blog entry on their official website.[1]

On August 25, 2006, the music video premiered on The Box in the UK, and on September 14, it premiered on MuchOnDemand in Canada. The video took the number one spot on MMMTop10.com multiple times. It reached number nine on MTV's Total Request Live and number two on the MTV Asia Chart Attack. The video was uploaded to the iTunes Store on April 18, 2007.

The first verse begins with Roberts doing her nails dressed in white clothing. The video features Nicole Scherzinger singing, Carmit Bachar doing her hair and Jessica Sutta having a shower as they prepare to go out. In the chorus, the Dolls mimic a hair salon scene. During the second verse, the video shows Kimberly Wyatt in a bath getting ready to go out, Melody Thornton putting on her make-up and Scherzinger singing. In the second chorus, it shows the Dolls performing a dance routine before breaking into different slides of the Dolls dancing separately. Following this, it shows Scherzinger and Thornton singing "Let it Go", a bridge in the middle of the song but actually is Carmit Bachar that is singing "Let it go". This then breaks to more dance clips of the Dolls with Scherzinger singing. The video concludes with the Dolls performing another dance routine against a black background in the final chorus before confetti falls down.

To stay true to the Dolls live show routines, the video features the silhouette of bodies before the second verse of the song. The main background colour for the song is pink, contributing to the girly theme. There are two versions of the video: one full-version and the other which edits dance routines with clips/frames previously shown in the video.

The video of the single "Zgodna Mlada" of the duet Trik FX is a copy of the "I Don't Need a Man" video.[2]

[edit] Vocals

Nicole Scherzinger provides lead vocals, whilst Carmit Bachar and Melody Thornton provide background vocals, Thornton providing additional ad-libs. During live performances, group member Melody Thornton adds additional ad-libs which are not on the album version (that contains her background and original ad-libs) throughout the song and joins in the duet sections between Nicole Scherzinger and formerly Carmit Bachar. Now that Bachar has left the group, her vocals are sung by Jessica Sutta.[3]

[edit] Chart performance

"I Don't Need a Man" has reached the top ten in several countries and has also made the top five in some countries. The single has reached number six in Australia and number seven in the UK, breaking the group's string of top three hits in those countries. "I Don't Need A Man" has also performed slightly weaker in Germany where it has reached number twenty. Although performing slightly weaker than the previous singles, "I Don't Need a Man" was one of four Pussycat Dolls songs to appear on the Australian 2006 end of year chart, reaching number fifty-five.

On the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, it debuted at number ninety three in the issue dated May 12, 2007.

Chart (2006–2007) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[4] 6
Austria Singles Chart[4] 19
Belgium Singles Chart[4] 7
Ireland Singles Top 50[4] 9
Italian Singles Chart[4] 13
Dutch Singles Top 40[4] 4
Europe Official Top 100 14
French SNEP Singles Chart[4] 12
Germany Singles Top 100[4] 20
Chart (2006–2007) Peak
position
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[4] 7
Romanian Singles Chart 4
Romania End Year 2007 83
Sweden Singles Top 60[4] 27
Switzerland Singles Chart[4] 15
UK Singles Chart[4] 7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4] 93
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 83
United World Chart[4] 30

[edit] References