Don't Bring Me Down

Album: Animalization (1966)
Charted: 6 12
Play Video
  • When you complain and criticize
    I feel I'm nothing in your eyes.,
    It makes me feel like givin' up
    Because my best just ain't good enough.
    Girl I want to provide for you and
    Do the things you want me to!

    But oh, oh, no, don't bring me down!
    Oh, baby you know!
    Oh, oh, no, don't bring me down!

    Sacrifices I will make,
    I'm ready to give as well as take,
    One thing I need is your respect,
    One thing I can't take is your neglect,
    More than anything I need your love
    Then trouble's easy to rise above.

    But oh, oh, no, don't bring me down!
    Oh, baby you know!
    Oh, oh, no, don't bring me down!

    When you complain and criticize
    I feel I'm nothing in your eyes.,
    It makes me feel like givin' up
    Because my best just ain't good enough.
    Girl I want to provide for you and
    Do the things you want me to!

    But oh, oh, no, don't bring me down!
    Oh, baby you know!
    Oh, oh, no, don't bring me down!
    Oh, oh, no, don't bring me down!
    Oh, oh, no, don't bring me down!
    Oh, oh, no, don't bring me down! Writer/s: Carole King, Gerry Goffin
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 7

  • Sam from Sherman OaksI was listening to a very special interview Carole King did with her daughter Louise Goffin and a published songwriter/author writer about songwriting (Paul Zollo, who I happen to know personally) on their podcast The Great Song Adventure, and in that, Carole casually mentions that this song and “Just Once In My Life” were songs where the lyrics to those two tunes were written by Gerry directly about Carole and the songs were very much confessions about their relationship/marriage which at the time as you can tell from listening to those two songs was pretty rocky.i wish they elaborated more on this in those interviews but I understand if they wanted the interview to be less on her personal life and more on her career achievements and how she wrote the famous hits she wrote with her then husband Gerry Goffin at that time.
  • Jennifur Sun from RamonaOne thing I liked about their music was the ORGAN.
  • Jennifur Sun from RamonaMartin I can so relate to that one. Have felt like this more than once.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn April 17th 1966, the Animals performed "Don't Bring Me Down" on the CBS-TV program 'The Ed Sullivan Show'...
    One month earlier on May 15th, 1966 it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #79; and on June 26th, 1966 it peaked at #12 (for 1 week) and spent 10 weeks on the Top 100...
    It reached #3 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart...
    Was the group's last charted record using the name 'The Animals'; they're next single was "See See Rider" and the name on the label was 'Eric Burton and the Animals'...
    R.I.P. bassist 'Chas' Chandler (1938 - 1996) and Mr. Sullivan (1901 - 1974).
  • Elmer H from Westville, OkI still love this Animals hit whenever I hear it on the radio. When it was released in 1966 I bought the 45 rpm single & noticed the writing credits as "Goffin/King" and I was very familiar with that writing team over the years from their other great hits. But this one didn't sound like their typical composition. I loved it anyway. Mostly because it had attitude. And it told a story about the diffiulties in life and a relationship. Emotions laid bare! Actually, I have always loved The Animals & even their incarnation as Eric Burdon and The Animals. Back in 1964, when they first hit the U.S. as part of the British Invasion, I didn't take to them, but then I changed my mind after my brother got a copy of "House of the Rising Sun" and then "Boom Boom." The latter was their revision of an old John Lee Hooker blues hit from the early Sixties that was a real "roof-raiser" of a song. Good rock & roll.
  • Martin from Fresno, CaGreat song. He is telling her he loves her but please don't be critical.
  • Don Hertel from Dover, NjI never heard Carole King's demo of the song (but I know one exists), but I heard a version by a band called Obsession and I believe the melody is probably close to the way that she wrote it.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Eric Clapton

Eric ClaptonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really write "Cocaine" while on cocaine? This question and more in the Clapton edition of Fact or Fiction.

Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Kim Thayil of SoundgardenSongwriter Interviews

Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

Benny Mardones

Benny MardonesSongwriter Interviews

His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.