I Don't Need a Man

"I Don't Need a Man" is a song by American girl group The Pussycat Dolls from their debut studio album PCD (2005). The song was written and produced by Rich Harrison, with additional writing from Nicole Scherzinger, Vanessa Brown and Kara DioGuardi. The song was released as the fifth single from the album on September 25, 2006 in the United Kingdom. It became their fifth top-ten single to enter the UK Singles Chart.

"I Don't Need a Man"
Single by The Pussycat Dolls
from the album PCD
B-side"We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going"
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2006 (2006-09-25)
Recorded2005
StudioRecord Plant (Los Angeles)
GenrePost-disco
Length3:39
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
The Pussycat Dolls singles chronology
"Buttons"
(2006)		 "I Don't Need a Man"
(2006)		 "Wait a Minute"
(2006)
Music video
"I Don't Need a Man" on YouTube

Background

"I Don't Need a Man" was written and produced by Rich Harrison, with additional writing from Nicole Scherzinger, Vanessa "VV" Brown and Kara DioGuardi.[1]. Ron Fair provided additional and vocal production for the song. The song was recorded for the group's debut album PCD (2005) and predominately features Scherzinger's vocals with background vocals by VV Brown.[1][2] Tal Herzberg engineered and used Pro-Tools for the track, as well as playing bass for the production. Horns were led and arranged by Jerry Hey, with further contributions from Garry Grant, Dan Higgins and Bill Reichenbach. Wurlitzer, piano and glockenspiel were played by Fair. Further engineering was carried out by Scotty Beats, JD Andrew, Mike Hogue, and Mike "Angry" Eleopoulos. Peter Mokran mixed "I Don't Need a Man" at The Record Plant studios in Los Angeles.[2]

The song was released walongside b-side "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going" which is a medley of the 1975 Labelle song "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going'" written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan and the 1980 single "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" by The S.O.S. Band. The Dolls' version was produced by Far with additional production and Pro-Tools by Herzberg. Lead vocals are credited to Scherzinger whilst Melody Thornton, Carmit Bachar and Kaya Jones are credited with additional vocals. There are no credited background vocals on the song.[2] "We Went as Far as We Felt Like Going" first appeared in September 2004 on the soundtrack to the animated film Shark Tale. An extended play—I Don't Need a Man EP—was released digitally on June 19, 2007 in North America.[3]

Composition

"I Don't Need a Man" is a post-disco song with a length of three minutes and thirty-nine seconds.[4][5] According to EMI Music Publishing's digital sheet music for the song, "I Don't Need a Man" is composed in the key of D minor and set in common time, with a moderate groove of 105 beats per minute. The group's vocal range spans from the low note of A3 to the high note of D5.[5] "I Don't Need a Man" has been described as a song that finds the self-objectifying group flipping the script for female empowerment.[4] Caroline Bologna of HuffPost writes that the song is about masturbation.[6] Stephen Thomas Erlewine likened the song to the music of Beyoncé.[7] Rebecca Deczynski of Nylon magazine wrote that it's a prequel to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008).[8]

Chart performance

On the UK Singles Chart, I Don't Need a Man debuted at number 21 selling 5,448 digital downloads for the week ending September 25, 2006.[9] The following week, it climbed 14 positions to its peak of number seven with sales of 13,220, giving the group their fifth consecutive top-ten single;[10] additionally it topped the UK R&B Chart.[11]

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.[12]

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 one for 3 week 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 Scherzinger is singing to Bachar's vocals. 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.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of PCD.[2]

Mixing

  • Mixed at The Record Plant (Hollywood, California)

Personnel

  • JD Andrews – engineering
  • Scotty Beats – engineering
  • Mike "Angry" Eleopoulos – engineering
  • Ron Fair – incidental additional producer, vocal producer, vocal arrangement, piano, wurlitzer, glockenspiel
  • Gary Grant – horns
  • Rich Harrison – songwriter, producer, track programming
  • Jerry Hey – horn arrangement
  • Tal Herzberg – engineering, Pro Tools, bass
  • Dan Higgins – horns
  • Mike Hogue – assistant mix engineer
  • Peter Mokran – mixing
  • Bill Reichenbach – horn

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[44] Gold 35,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history
Country Date Format Label Ref.
United Kingdom September 25, 2006 Digital download Polydor
[45]
Germany November 10, 2006 CD single Universal Music
[46]
United States June 19, 2007 Digital download
[3]
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References
  1. VV Brown is credited as having written the middle 8 of the song as seen by The Guardian and also ASCAP —
  2. PCD (Media notes). The Pussycat Dolls. A&M Records.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. "Music - I Don't Need a Man - EP by The Pussycat Dolls". iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  4. Arnold, Chuck; Novak, Ralph. "Picks and Pans Review: The Pussycat Dolls". People. Time Inc. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  5. "Pussycat Dolls - I Don't Need a Man Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. EMI Music Publishing. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  6. Bologna, Caroline (August 27, 2015). "22 Sexy Songs That Give Female Masturbation The Love It Deserves". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  7. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "PCD - The Pussycat Dolls". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  8. Deczynski, Rebecca (February 26, 2015). "2 Best Girl Power Anthems of the Aughts". Nylon. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  9. Jones, Alan (September 25, 2006). "Scissor Sisters score chart-topping double". Music Week. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  10. Jones, Alan (October 2, 2006). "Scissor Sisters enjoy second week reign on UK charts". Music Week. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  11. "Official R&B Singles Chart Top 40: 01-10-2006 - 07-10-2006". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  12. "The Pussycat Dolls". PCDmusic.com. Archived from the original on 2007-03-14. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
  13. "Australian-charts.com – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  14. "Austriancharts.at – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  15. "Ultratop.be – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  16. "Ultratop.be – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  17. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200716 into search.
  18. "Hitlisten.NU – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man" (in Danish). Tracklisten.
  19. "The Pussycat Dolls – Chart Search" Billboard European Hot 100 Singles for The Pussycat Dolls. (subscription required)
  20. "The Pussycat Dolls: I Don't Need a Man" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  21. "Lescharts.com – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man" (in French). Les classement single.
  22. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  23. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  24. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Dance Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  25. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – I Don't Need a Man". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  26. "Italiancharts.com – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man". Top Digital Download.
  27. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 44, 2006" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
  28. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  29. "Charts.nz – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man". Top 40 Singles.
  30. "Nielsen Music Control". Archived from the original on 2007-02-07.
  31. "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200641 into search.
  32. "Swedishcharts.com – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man". Singles Top 100.
  33. "Swisscharts.com – The Pussycat Dolls – I Don't Need a Man". Swiss Singles Chart.
  34. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  35. "Official R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  36. "The Pussycat Dolls Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  37. "The ARIA Report - 2006" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  38. "Jaaroverzichten - 2006 Single" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  39. "Rapports Annuels - 2006 Single" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  40. "Rádiós Top 100 - hallgatottsági adatok alapján - 2006". Mahasz. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  41. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2006". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  42. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 2006". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  43. "Year End Charts 2006" (pdf). The Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
  44. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2006 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  45. "I Don't Need A Man (UK Version) - The Pussycat Dolls". 7digital (United Kingdom). Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  46. "I Don't Need a Man: Musik" (in German). Amazon.de. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
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