"Tell Me Where It Hurts" is the 2007

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

's career-spanning

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

album ''

Absolute Garbage ''Absolute Garbage'' is a greatest hits album by American rock band Garbage. It was released worldwide on July 23, 2007 through Warner Music imprint A&E Records with a North American release through Almo Sounds, Geffen Records, and Universal Mus ...

'', and was released as a physical single by

A&E Records A&E Records is a United Kingdom-based record label imprint, owned by Warner Music Group (WMG). It operates under the WEA International group of labels at WMG. A&E Records was formalised in May 2003, when the NewsCorp Music Group of independ ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and as a

digital single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

-only release in other worldwide territories. "Tell Me Where It Hurts" was written by Garbage members

Duke Erikson Douglas Elwin "Duke" Erikson (born January 15, 1951) is an American musician, songwriter, screenwriter, film producer and record producer, best known as a co-founder and guitarist of the alternative rock band Garbage. Garbage has sold more than 1 ...

Shirley Manson Shirley Ann Manson (born 26 August 1966) is a Scottish musician and actress. She is best known as the lead singer of the American alternative rock band Garbage. Manson gained media attention for her forthright style, rebellious attitude, and di ...

, Steve Marker and

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in March 2007 after an eighteen-month hiatus from working as a group, as they needed to write some new songs for inclusion on ''Absolute Garbage''. The song was written around a

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

by the band coupled with newly written

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

and a title that

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Manson had come up with a few years prior.

Song

Garbage began work on "Tell Me Where It Hurts" in earnest during February and March 2007 at Vig's

home studio Home recording is the practice of recording sound in a private home instead of a professional recording studio. A studio set up for home recording is called a home studio or project studio. Home recording is widely practiced by voice actors, narrat ...

in Los Angeles, ending their self-imposed hiatus to record new tracks following the band's appearance at a benefit show in

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

for musician

Wally Ingram Wally Ingram is an American drummer and musician. He is most famous as a member of the band, Timbuk 3. In recent years, he has toured with the multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, and released several records with him: * 2000 : ''Twango Bango D ...

who had been suffering from

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

. In an interview prior to that event,

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

Vig told ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' "Despite the layoff, the group has been sharing song ideas via the Internet. We need to sit down in a room and play them and get them complete". The genesis of "Tell Me Where It Hurts" came from Garbage jamming in a

Bacharach Bacharach (, also known as ''Bacharach am Rhein'') is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Rhein-Nahe, whose seat is in Bingen am Rhein, although that town is not withi ...

-style, which took shape in the recording studio once

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s were added. Manson did not want the song to be a "simple, lovey-dovey

love song A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order. ...

, it had to have strange

connotations A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation. A connotation is frequently described as either positive or ...

". During the sessions to write new songs for ''Absolute Garbage'', Garbage worked on four songs - "Tell Me Where It Hurts", "Betcha", "All The Good In This Life" and " Girls Talk Shit".''Classic Rock'' magazine, August 2007 Of the four songs, only "Tell Me Where It Hurts" made the album, while of the other three songs, one ended up a

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, one an

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

bonusEmail from Warner UK, dated July 20, 2007, regarding the release of ''Absolute Garbage'': "You can also download the album from iTunes for the iTunes exclusive album featuring an exclusive new track, entitled 'All The Good In This Life'" and one remaining unreleased, respectively. Garbage completed two versions of "Tell Me Where It Hurts": an orchestral version and a "Guitars Up" mix with a rockier arrangement. Bass on "Tell Me Where It Hurts" was performed by

Daniel Shulman Daniel Shulman (born 2 October 1966) is an American performer; playing bass guitar. Although he has made a significant contribution as a session musician, working with Run-DMC and Meredith Brooks, he is best known for his work with the Scottish ...

, who had been Garbage's touring

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

from 1995 until 2002, as well as performing on tracks from both '' Version 2.0'' and ''

Beautiful Garbage ''Beautiful Garbage'' (stylized as ''beautifulgarbage'') is the third studio album by American rock band Garbage. It was released on October 1, 2001, on Mushroom Records worldwide, with the North American release on Interscope Records the follow ...

''. This was his first appearance on a Garbage track since taking up an A&R position with

Island Def Jam Music Group The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordin ...

in 2003.

Single release

On May 22, 2007, "Tell Me Where It Hurts" was confirmed by Garbage for UK release on July 9 preceding ''Absolute Garbage'' on

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

and on two 7" formats. By June 11, that release date had been pushed back a week to July 16 and one of the 7" formats was cancelled and replaced with a

DVD single A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

. On May 31, Garbage's MySpace profile was updated to include "Tell Me Where It Hurts" and its

, a remix of "Bad Boyfriend" on

streaming audio Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

. Promotional singles featuring

radio edit In music, a radio edit or radio mix is a modification, typically truncated or censored, intended to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form. Radio edits may als ...

s of both versions of the track were issued to

radio stations Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-b ...

across the UK,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the end of May. By June 16, "Tell Me Where It Hurts" had been

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sever ...

ed on

XFM Scotland Nation Radio Scotland (formerly ''XFM Scotland (2014), 96.3 Rock Radio'' ''Real XS,'' ''Q96'' and ''96.3QFM'') is a Scottish independent local radio station for Renfrewshire, Glasgow and West Central Scotland, owned by Nation Broadcasting. ...

's Upfront,

Radio Forth Radio Forth is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Edinburgh, Lothians and Fife. Radio Forth is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Edinburgh and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio network and Greatest Hits Radio ne ...

and C-Listed on UK

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

where it remained for five weeks prior to the single release date. In its first week at Australian radio, "Tell Me Where It Hurts" was #2 most added song. On September 14, "Tell Me Where It Hurts" peaked at #1 on

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

's Radyo ODTÜ chart where it stayed for two weeks. Despite debuting on the UK Physical Singles Chart on July 29 at #15, combined sales of physical formats and digital downloads meant that "Tell Me Where It Hurts" charted at #50 on the main

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The following week "Tell Me Where it Hurts" fell to #137. On August 16, the full length orchestral version of the song, titled "Un Belle du Jour mix", was released digitally on iTunes UK store."

UK Store listing In

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, "Tell Me Where it Hurts" was not officially sent to radio; however, Triple A station

WXPK WXPK (107.1 MHz), branded as 107.1 The Peak, is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Briarcliff Manor, New York, and serving the northern suburbs of the New York metropolitan area. It is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts an Adult ...

in White Plains and

stations

KNRK KNRK (94.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Camas, Washington, serving the Portland metropolitan area. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an alternative rock radio format. KNRK's studios and offices are located on SW Bancroft St ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

and

WEQX WEQX is an FM radio station located at 102.7 MHz and broadcasting from Manchester, Vermont, United States with an effective radiated power of 1,250 watts at 759 meters (equivalent to 50,000 watts at 150 meters). Their tower is located on nearby ...

in Albany "added" the song to their station

s from May 29.

Track listings

*UK 7" single (A&E Records WEA424) # "Tell Me Where It Hurts" – 4:10 # "Bad Boyfriend" (Sting Like a Bee remix) – 5:03 *UK CD single (A&E Records WEA424CD) # "Tell Me Where It Hurts" – 4:10 # "Betcha" – 4:39 *UK DVD single (A&E Records WEA424DVD) # "Tell Me Where It Hurts" – 4:10 # "Tell Me Where It Hurts" (video) – 4:13 # "Tell Me Where It Hurts" (making-of) – 5:09 *UK digital single # "Tell Me Where It Hurts" (Guitars Up) – 4:11 # "Tell Me Where It Hurts" (Un Belle de Jour mix) – 4:18 *UK digital EP # "Tell Me Where It Hurts" – 4:10 # "Bad Boyfriend" (Garbage remix) – 5:03 # "Betcha" – 4:39 # "All The Good in This Life" – 4:20

B-sides

"Bad Boyfriend" was originally written by Garbage, and produced by Garbage and John King in 2004 for the ''

Bleed Like Me ''Bleed Like Me'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Garbage. It was released worldwide on April 11, 2005, through Warner Music imprint A&E Records, with a North American release on Geffen Records the following day. For this album ...

'' album. Vig "goofed around" with the track in 2006 while updating his home studio, and while putting the ''Absolute Garbage'' package together thought it could be included. Rather than soliciting an outside producer to remix the song Vig finished it himself. When he presented it to the rest of Garbage, they agreed the remix should be included on the album. The new version was subtitled "Sting Like a Bee remix", and was first released on the 7" of "Tell Me Where It Hurts" as well as on the two-disc edition of ''Absolute Garbage'' (as "Garbage remix"). "Betcha" was written and produced by Garbage at the same time as "Tell Me Where It Hurts" and was exclusively released on the

format.

Press releases A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

for "Tell Me Where It Hurts" gave the impression that "Betcha" was a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the

Pussycat Dolls Pussycat or Pussy Cat may refer to: * Cat, a domestic feline Music Bands * Pussycat (band), a Dutch country and pop group * The Pussycats, a 1960s Norwegian rock band * The Pussycats, a group signed to Kama Sutra Records Albums * ''Pussy Cats'', ...

' 2005 worldwide hit single "

Don't Cha "Don't Cha" is a song written by Busta Rhymes and CeeLo Green, and produced by the latter. The chorus is an interpolation of the song "Swass", which was written and performed by Sir Mix-a-Lot. The song was originally recorded and published by Tor ...

", however the song at most alluded to it in the lyrics: Thomas Callaway, Anthony Ray and Trever Smith, the writers of "Don't Cha" are not given any songwriting credit for "Betcha". While "All The Good in This Life" was initially listed for release on the B-side to a cancelled second 7" format, it was eventually released bundled with ''Absolute Garbage'' as an exclusive online

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

on iTunes Australian and UK stores. In 2008, "All The Good in This Life" was physically released on the

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

compilation '' Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace'', and was included on a "Tell Me Where It Hurts" digital EP available through

7digital 7digital Group Plc is a British publicly listed company that offers access to music, tracking and reporting for clients. London-based, 7digital provides end-to-end music services for the fitness, social media, DSPs, and gaming industries with b ...

and

iTunes Plus The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,000 ...

Music video

The

promotional video In video production, a promotional video is marketing or advertising: Arts, media and entertainment * Promotional recording, an audio or video recording distributed to publicize a recording * Trailer (promotion), a commercial advertisement for a ...

for "Tell Me Where It Hurts" was

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

Sophie Muller Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is a British music video director who has directed more than 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 ''Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's son ...

for Oil Factory and filmed in late April in

. Muller suggested an

homage Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to: History *Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance *Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts *Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and m ...

's 1967 movie '' Belle de jour'' in her treatment for the video, along with an ultra-modern French-inspired set, which Garbage felt was perfect for what they wanted visually accompany the song.''The Making of "Tell Me Where It Hurts"'' (DVD track) Opening with a

tracking shot A tracking shot is any shot where the camera follows backward, forward or moves alongside the subject being recorded. In cinematography, the term refers to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly that is then placed on rails – ...

of Manson arriving at a high-class

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

, dressed like

Catherine Deneuve Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress as well as an occasional singer, model, and producer, considered one of the greatest European actresses. She gained recogni ...

in ''Belle de jour'', where inside she meets the brothel owner, several other girls and three male patrons played by Erikson, Marker and Vig. Picking up a young man in a cafe, Manson partakes in various light

sexual acts Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

with him, shown on screen through subtle visual

innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

, suggestive camera shots, and aggressive

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

. After

night-vision Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, either naturally with scotopic vision or through a night-vision device. Night vision requires both sufficient spectral range and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night v ...

scenes showing Manson with facial

bruising A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur close e ...

, she returns to the brothel

parlour A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessar ...

in defiance of the others, attending to the young man who is now blind and uses a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

. The cafe scene featured a cameo from members of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

band Wandering Sons. On May 19, 2007, Garbage fan sites reported that the video for the song was being aired on UK

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...

provider

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, Cable television, television and Internet access, internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Engla ...

Video on Demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

service. On May 29, the video officially debuted on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's ''Video Exclusive'' slot. While the video featured on

WEA International Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

's worldwide

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

pressings of ''Absolute Garbage'', it was not included on Geffen/ UM^e's North American DVD release. A short "

Making of In cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK (electronic press kit) vid ...

" documenting the filming of the video for "Tell Me Where It Hurts" was included on the

. Directed by Todd Stefani (brother of Manson's friend

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

), it features short interviews with Manson, Vig and 1st A.D. Andy Coffing. In 2008, Sophie Muller was nominated for "Director of the Year" nominee at the 17th Annual MVPA Awards for her videos for "Tell Me Where It Hurts",

's "

4 in the Morning "4 in the Morning" is a song by American singer Gwen Stefani from her second studio album ''The Sweet Escape'' (2006). It was written by Stefani and co-written and produced by Tony Kanal, with additional production by Mark "Spike" Stent. Inte ...

" and

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

's "

Won't Go Home Without You "Won't Go Home Without You" is a song by American band Maroon 5. It was released on November 19, 2007, as the third single from their second studio album ''It Won't Be Soon Before Long'' (2007). Musical content The guitar lines in the song are ...

Critical reception

"Tell Me Where It Hurts" received a positive to mixed reception from music critics. Positive responses came from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' who described the song as "epic", as did

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

's Jaime Gill while ''

Slant Slant can refer to: Bias *Bias or other non-objectivity in journalism, politics, academia or other fields Technical * Slant range, in telecommunications, the line-of-sight distance between two points which are not at the same level * Slant d ...

'' described it as "lush and lilting.. an undeniable sign that, despite their extended hiatuses and internal turmoil, Garbage is very much alive with ideas and ambition".

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

's Alex Fletcher wrote "the track soars with

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

-style violins before a creepy electronic breakdown interjects towards the end. arbagetake a traditional message of

unrequited love Unrequited love or one-sided love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer's deep and pure affection, or may consciously reject it. The Merriam Webster Online Dic ...

and mix it with their inimitable bittersweet lyrics". The '' Sunday Mail''s Avril Cadden describes Manson's vocal as "cute and sexy" while its sister publication '' Daily Record'' "sounding more like

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

from

The Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Fa ...

than the stupid girl we're used to" and also noting that the song had "all the hallmarks of Shirley Manson, the solo artist."''

Rock Sound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, e ...

'' compared the track to Scottish band

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. ''

Classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

''s Johnny Dee praised the band's work at breaking their formula by "adding strings to the dynamic... Tell Me Where It Hurts"sits well alongside their peerless early material". Negative criticism was received from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'''s

Jude Rogers Jude Rogers (born 1978) is a Welsh journalist, lecturer, arts critic and broadcaster. She is a music critic for ''The Guardian'' and also regularly writes features and articles for ''The Observer'', ''New Statesman'' and women's magazines such a ...

, who described "Tell Me Where It Hurts" as "anodyne", while ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' felt that the song "is not out of place n ''Absolute Garbage'' but neither does it better anything already said". ''

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

'''s Adam Moerder felt that the song "provides little hope for a Garbage rebound", while ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

Evan Sawdey nonchalantly wrote "majestic and sweeping,

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

manages to accomplish the rare compilation feat of not being completely worthless". In advance of 2008's

50th Grammy Awards The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonies ...

, Geffen Records submitted "Tell Me Where It Hurts" for consideration in four categories: Song of the Year,

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

Best Rock Song The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several ...

and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group. However it failed to pick up a single

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

Release history

Comprehensive charts

Credits and personnel

Production *Music and lyrics: Garbage * Recorded & produced by Garbage *

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

: Billy Bush *Recorded at Kung Foo Sound & GrungeIsDead,

, CA *

Mastered 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 master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

: Emily Lazar & Sarah Register (The Lodge) *Mastering Assistant: Joe LaPorta Additional musicians *

- Bass Other personnel *

Art Direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

and

Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

: Tom Hington Studios. *

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

by David Hughes. *Original

silkscreen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh ...

and foil blocking printed by Something Else. Official versions *"Album version / Guitars Up mix" – 4:10 *"Guitars Up - Single edit" – 3:45 *"Un Belle du Jour mix / Orchestral mix" – 4:18 *"Orchestral - Single edit" – 3:48 Publishing *Written by Garbage _c.2007 Deadarm Music / Almo Music Corp (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

) and Vibecrusher Music / Irving Music, Inc ( BMI). Administered by Rondor Music. Other credits *Shirley Manson appears courtesy of

Radioactive Records Radioactive Records was an American record label. It was formed as a joint venture between talent manager Gary Kurfirst (who managed such acts as the Ramones, Big Audio Dynamite, Deee-Lite and Deborah Harry) and MCA Records, and it is now out of ...

References

External links

Garbage official website"Tell Me Where It Hurts" music video
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tell Me Where It Hurts (Garbage Song) 2000s ballads 2007 singles Garbage (band) songs Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Song recordings produced by Butch Vig 2007 songs Songs written by Shirley Manson Songs written by Duke Erikson Songs written by Steve Marker Songs written by Butch Vig