"I Don't Care" is a song recorded by English recording artist

Cheryl Cheryl is a feminine given name with multiple origins. The name might have originated as a combination of the name Beryl with the prefix ''Cher-'' from the French ''chérie'', meaning ''darling'' (from the past participle of the verb ''chérir'' ...

from her fourth studio album, '' Only Human'' (2014). It was co-written by Jocke Åhlund,

Bonnie McKee Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album '' Trouble'' was released in 2004 by Reprise Records. After being dropped, she took a musical hiatus and established herself as a songwriter. She ...

, John Stuart Newman and Cheryl, and was produced by Åhlund and Oliver "Oligee" Goldstein. The song was released on 2 November 2014 through

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

as the second single from the album. Musically, "I Don't Care" is a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

song, which features breezy

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s and pumping

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched P ...

and lyrically sees Cheryl taking on a dismissive attitude to former lovers and critics. Upon its release, "I Don't Care" received positive reviews from contemporary

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

, who praised its production and commended Cheryl's choice to departure from overproduced songs. The song was a commercial success, debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart, giving Cheryl her fifth number-one single as a solo artist, and making her the first British female solo artist to do this, overtaking then current record sharers

Geri Halliwell Geraldine Estelle Halliwell-Horner (''née'' Halliwell; born 6 August 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, author, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which ...

and

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

. Additionally, it is the ninth number-one single of her entire career, including those from when she was part of British-Irish girl group

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud are a British-Irish pop music, pop girl group that was created through the ITV (TV network), ITV talent show ''Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl (singer), Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, N ...

. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "I Don't Care" was directed by past collaborator

Colin Tilley Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos. Tilley directed, pr ...

in August 2014 in Málaga, Spain. The video depicts Cheryl on the beach, dancing on a cliff top and on a luxury boat. The music video was met with mixed reviews, with some calling it fearless and others calling Cheryl's attitude disappointing. To further promote the single, Cheryl performed it on ''The X Factor'' eleventh series' results show on 2 November 2014; the performance was questioned by fans and critics, who accused Cheryl of miming.

Background

Following the release of Cheryl's third studio album, ''

A Million Lights ''A Million Lights'' is the third studio album by English singer Cheryl, released on 15 June 2012 through Fascination Records. Following her divorce from Ashley Cole, this is Cheryl's first album to be released under the mononym Cheryl, droppin ...

'', in June 2012 and embarking on her debut solo headlining tour, Cheryl confirmed that a

's reunion would occur in November 2012. The group released their second greatest hits compilation, ''

Ten Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910, 2010, 2110 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA c ...

'' on 26 November 2012 and In 2013, the group embarked on Ten: The Hits Tour. In March 2013, following the completion of the tour, Girls Aloud released a statement via their official

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to confirm that they were splitting permanently. On 30 September 2014, Cheryl announced that "I Don't Care" would receive its radio debut on the following day, 1 October on Capital FM, serving as the second single from her fourth studio album '' Only Human''. That same day, she revealed the single's artwork through

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

; it sees Cheryl with her head in her hand and laughing while sat on a chair. It also gave a glimpse of her rose tattoo. While being interviewed by Capital FM, Cheryl told that "A lot of the time I'm on set, so I had a lot of freedom. .. I Don't Care'it sums up pretty much how I feel right now. t'svery pop, but fun pop!" "I Don't Care" was officially released as the second single from ''Only Human'' on 2 November 2014.

Composition

"I Don't Care" is a

and

song which lyrically finds Cheryl singing "It feels so fucking good to say, I swear that I don't care".

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolator or Idolater may also refer to: * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), a 2005 album by Blood Stain Child * ''Idolator'', a 1986 album by Ole Evenrud * "Idolater", a ...

website editor Bianca Gracie noted that the song carries "an 80s carefree vibe to it, thanks to the breezy synths and pumping bass line", and in contrast to her other songs like " Ghetto Baby", there are no "massive bass drops or an in-your-face dance theme". According to journalist Harriet Gibsone from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', the song had the same energy as

Erasure Erasure may refer to: Arts and media * Erasure (duo), an English pop group * ''Erasure'' (album), 1995, by the British group Erasure * Erasure poetry, a form of found poetry created by erasing words from an existing text * ''Erasure'' (novel), ...

's song "

A Little Respect "A Little Respect" is a song written and recorded by British synth-pop duo Erasure (duo), Erasure, released in September 1988 by Mute Records, Mute. It was written by Vince Clarke and Andy Bell (singer), Andy Bell. The lyrics are a plea to a love ...

" (1988). EntertainmentWise commented that "I Don't Care" "sums up the underlying message of the whole project quite nicely". According to Lewis Corner from

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 initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

, the song showcases Cheryl's new-found "F-You" attitude in a "spectrum of rasping electronics, jump-around beats and a massive middle-finger chorus". He considered that the lyrics were directed "at a collective of former love rats, keyboard warriors and sensationalised headlines". Songwriter

has revealed the song, originally titled "Waking Up Diagonal" after the opening lyric, had been originally written for herself to perform, given the lyrics drew from McKee's life experiences. Along the way, Cheryl and songwriters changed some lyrics and changed the title to "I Don't Care.

Critical reception

"I Don't Care" received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Harriet Gibsone, while writing for ''

'' newspaper called it a "bombastic pop blast teetering on the edge of ridiculousness. ..Song of the year". While reviewing ''Only Human'' for the same publication, Caroline Sullivan also gave a positive review and described it as an "actual radio-ready chorus to I Don't Care hich hasa jaunty bit of

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It ...

-pop". Bianca Gracie from Idolator website gave a positive review for the song, stating that on the current "haze of over-produc d songs it's actually quite refreshing", and emphasising that Cheryl's vocals "shine" in the song. Matthew Horton, while reviewing ''Only Human'' during its week of release for

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...

, commented that "the utterly addictive bounce of new single I Don't Care is an equally striking departure rom her previous releases and not just because she's swearing her head off", in relation to its lyrics.

Popjustice Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 by UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for ''NME'', ''The Guardian'', ''Attitude'' and many others. It is composed of the work of editor Robinson, features editor Michael C ...

rated it eight stars, out of ten. EntertainmentWise website noted that "I Don't Care" was a particular highlight from the album. However, Edwin McFee from ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'' gave a negative review for the album, and called "I Don't Care" a "club-tinged plastic pop song". Bradley Stern of MuuMuse said that the song "undeservedly stole the crown from Geri Halliwell" for most British female number-one singles. Kim Gregory from ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'' magazine wrote a negative review for the song, criticizing the

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies. It uses a proprietary device to measure and Pitch correction, correct pitch in music. It operates on different principles ...

usage and repetition of the line "I don't care".

Chart performance

In the United Kingdom, "I Don't Care" debuted at number one with 82,000 sales in its first week of release, as predicted by mid-week sales data. In doing so, Cheryl achieved her ninth number-one single (including those from

), and fifth as a solo artist, therefore becoming the British female artist with the most solo UK number ones at the time, overtaking previous record sharers

and herself. It additionally peaked at number one in Scotland. "I Don't Care" debuted at number 92 on Flanders'

Ultratip Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created in 1995 on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organiza ...

chart in Belgium on the issue dated 8 November 2014. The next week, it reached number 82.

Music video

The accompanying

for "I Don't Care" was directed by

in August 2014 in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, Spain. The pair had previously collaborated on previous single " Crazy Stupid Love". The same month, the singer teased her followers on social media with pictures from the video. It starts with a honey-skinned Cheryl skipping around a beach with long locks and smiling, wearing oversized woolly jumper. In another scene, Cheryl is on a luxury boat with a group of friends in a white crop-top, denim shorts and bright pink sunglasses. During the video she also dances in a yellow crop-top, while shots of her on top of a cliff are also shown. At one point, the singer is in a bed wearing nothing but a white shirt and smudged eyeliner, with glimpses of black, lace underwear underneath, and looks directly into the camera and mouthing "zero fucks given". The music video received mixed reviews from critics. Kim Gregory from ''Now'' magazine provided a negative review for the video, pointing out her "dodgy" outfits and makeup, and stating she was disappointed with Cheryl's entire attitude in the video.

Live performance

Cheryl performed "I Don't Care" on ''The X Factor'' eleventh series' results show on 2 November 2014, where she is also a judge. Following the performance, fans and critics alike accused the singer of miming during her set. Reportedly, the 3,300 lights used as a backdrop during the performance caused a 66-year-old viewer to have an epileptic seizure.

Remixes

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...

member

Liam Payne Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer and songwriter. He was a member of the pop band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, alongside Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Loui ...

remixed "I Don't Care" under his DJ

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

Payno. Cheryl publicly thanked the singer for the remix version, and it was included on "I Don't Care"'s remix EP, under the title "Payno Vs. Afterhrs Remix". Four other remixes were available through the EP.

Track listing

*Digital download #"I Don't Care" – 4:00 *Digital download – The Remixes #"I Don't Care" – 4:03 #"I Don't Care" ( Payno Vs. Afterhrs Remix) – 3:58 #"I Don't Care" (Sonic Matta Club Edit) – 5:38 #"I Don't Care" (Cahill Club Mix) – 6:33 #"I Don't Care" (TIEKS Remix) – 5:42 #"I Don't Care" (Clutch Real Club Mix) – 6:28

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the ''Only Human'' liner notes. Locations *Recorded at Apmammann Studio,

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden; mixed at MixStar Studios in

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, Virginia Personnel *

Cheryl Tweedy Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. She rose to fame as a member of Girls Aloud, a pop girl group created through ITV's reality competition show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. Named the ...

— vocals, writing *Jocke Åhlund — writing, production, recording, original vocal production, synthesizer, programming *Bonnie McKee — writing *John Newman — writing *Oligge — co-production, programming, additional synthesizer *Figge Bostrǒn — recording *Red Triangle — vocal recording, vocal production *Mellatron — original vocal production, *Maegan Cottone — backing vocals *George Tizzard — backing vocals *Rick Parkhouse — backing vocals *Serban Ghenea — mixing *John Hanes — mixing

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles Cheryl (singer) songs Polydor Records singles Music videos directed by Colin Tilley Music videos shot in Spain Number-one singles in Scotland UK singles chart number-one singles Songs written by Bonnie McKee Songs written by Cheryl (singer) Songs written by Joakim Åhlund