"Insensitive" is the second single released from Canadian singer-songwriter

Jann Arden Jann Arden (born Jann Arden Anne Richards; March 27, 1962) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress. She is famous for her signature ballads, "Could I Be Your Girl" and "Insensitive (song), Insensitive", which is her biggest hit to date. Ea ...

's second studio album, ''

Living Under June ''Living Under June'' is the second album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Jann Arden, released in 1994. "Could I Be Your Girl", " Insensitive" and "Good Mother" were all significant hits for Arden in Canada, with "Wonderdrug", "Unloved" and " ...

'' (1994). Written by Anne Loree and produced by

Ed Cherney Edward Cherney (1950 – October 22, 2019) was an American recording engineer and record producer, based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Over his career, he earned four Grammy awards, one Emmy Award, and five TEC Awards. Cherney was a ...

, the song became Arden's most successful single, reaching number one in Canada and Australia and number 12 in the United States.

Background

Anne Loree would recall writing "Insensitive" in response to an unhappy tryst with a chef at a

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

restaurant where Loree was waiting tables. "I sat down at my electric piano in the basement of a rented house I shared with four roommates, broke and brokenhearted, full of pain and angst, and wrote 'Insensitive'. It took me probably less than half an hour and I walked away feeling much better for it and much hipper to

Prince Charming Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...

s who aren't really into you." Jann Arden, then based in Calgary, optioned "Insensitive" for ''Living Under June'' after hearing Loree perform the song at a local club. "Insensitive" remains by far Arden's most successful single to date. It reached number one in her native Canada for three weeks, number 12 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number four on ''Billboards

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. The song's US success was assisted by its presence in the film ''

Bed of Roses A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many b ...

''; although ''Bed of Roses'' was not a major success, the video for "Insensitive" was aired on an episode of ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...

'', on which the film had been promoted. Its Italian success was occasioned by its use as a

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

in a TV ad campaign for department store

Coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

. On August 20, 1995, "Insensitive" reached number one on the Australian

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

for one week, and it also charted in New Zealand at number 44 and in the United Kingdom at number 40. At the

Juno Awards of 1996 The Juno Awards of 1996, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 10 March 1996 in Hamilton, Ontario at a ceremony in the Copps Coliseum. Anne Murray was the host for the ceremonies, which were broad ...

"Insensitive" was named Single of the Year. "Insensitive" was also included on Jann's 2001

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, ''

Greatest Hurts ''Greatest Hurts: The Best of Jann Arden'' is a 2001 greatest hits album by Jann Arden. In addition to Arden's best-known hits, the album also includes two new songs ("Thing For You" and "Never Mind"), two songs that Arden recorded for compilati ...

'', in both the original and live versions.

Music video

For the track's US release a video was prepped comprising clips from the film ''Bed of Roses'' interspersed with footage of Jann singing the song;

Jeth Weinrich Jeth Weinrich is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, and music video and commercial director. Early life Weinrich was born in Pittsburgh in 1951 and grew up in Calgary; he was valedictorian of his graduating class at Viscount Bennett High School i ...

directed. The video for "Insensitive" was nominated for Video of the Year at the 1995 Juno Awards.

Track listings

Canadian cassette single :A. "Insensitive" – 4:16 :B. "I Just Don't Love You Anymore" – 3:54 US CD single # "Insensitive" (LP version) – 4:16 # "Gasoline" (live from KKOS) – 4:18 US maxi-CD single # "Insensitive" (LP version) – 4:16 # "Gasoline" (live from KKOS) – 4:18 # "Still Here" – 3:47 # "Cuts" – 2:59 US cassette single # "Insensitive" (remix) – 4:12 # "Gasoline" (live from KKOS) – 4:18 UK CD single # "Insensitive" # "Frankie in the Rain" # "Living Under June" # "It Looks Like Rain" UK cassette single :A. "Insensitive" :B. "Frankie in the Rain" European and Australian CD single # "Insensitive" – 4:16 # "I Would Die for You" – 4:36 # "Gasoline" (live version) – 4:26

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the US cassette single sleeve. Studios * Recorded at Groove Masters (

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, US) * Mixed at Brooklyn Recording Studio (Los Angeles) Personnel * Anne Loree – writing * Jann Arden – vocals, co-production, arrangement *

– production, recording, mixing, arrangement *

Neil MacGonigill Neil MacGonigill (born 1949, Bowden, Alberta) is a Calgary-based music promoter, manager and record label owner. History Neil MacGonigill was born in the farming community of Bowden, Alberta in 1949.Heath McCoyof dreamers ''Calgary Herald'' via Can ...

– executive production * Duane Seykora – recording * Jeffery "C.J." Vanston – arrangement * Dillon O'Brian – background vocals arrangement

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

Country singer

LeAnn Rimes Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at age 13 with 1996's "Blue". She has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Chris ...

also released her own version of "Insensitive" on her 1998 album '' Sittin' on Top of the World''. Jasper Steverlinck remade "Insensitive" for his 2004 album ''Songs of Innocence''. Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario-based punk rock band The Decay also released a cover version on the Juicebox Recording Co. compilation ''Our Favourite Songs''. Australian singer

Beccy Cole Beccy Cole (born Rebecca Diane Thompson, 27 October 1972), also known as Beccy Sturtzel, Rebecca Diane Albeck and Bec O'Donovan, is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She has released ten studio albums, wi ...

recorded a version for her album, '' Preloved'' (2010).

In popular culture

The popular podcast "How to Do Everything" created by the producers of the NPR news quiz " Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" featured the song in a series of podcasts. The song was introduced by a music expert when asked if there was a song she loved, but understood was terrible. This began a segment on the podcast titled "Best-Worst Song Competition" where listeners submitted songs they secretly enjoyed, but knew were generally considered to be poor songs. Each segment opened with a clip of "Insensitive" with the hosts saying "You know what that sound means – it's time for our Best-Worst Song Competition!"

References

External links

Song lyrics
{{Authority control 1994 songs 1995 singles Jann Arden songs LeAnn Rimes songs Number-one singles in Australia RPM Top Singles number-one singles