Format Digital download Label 222Interscope | Recorded 2016 Length 3:34 | |
Released October 11, 2016 (2016-10-11) | ||
"Don't Wanna Know" is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5. It features guest vocals from American rapper Kendrick Lamar. The song was released on October 11, 2016, as the first single from the band's upcoming sixth studio album (2017). The song reached the top ten in 15 countries, including number six in the United States.
Contents
Composition
"Don't Wanna Know" is written in the key of E minor in common time with a shuffling tempo of 100 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of CMaj7 – D6 – Em7 – Bm/E, and Levine's vocals span from D4 to C6.
Critical reception
Mike Wass of Idolator stated "there's nothing bloated or excessive about the finished product. In fact, this is a case of less is more. [Don't Wanna Know] freshens up Maroon 5's sound and goes HAM on the repetition (the cornerstone of hitmarking circa 2016) — all but guarantees the band a smash hit in the process. Kendrick's verse feels like an afterthought, but apart from that, this is hard to fault." Vulture's Halle Kiefer said "it'll be on the soundtrack to every car commercial, Target ad, and drunken breakup you flounder through for the next three months" and went on to say "Don't Wanna Know has a distinctly non-Maroon 5 sound, putting a breezy, bouncy, lighthearted spin on drinking to forget, and dancing to dull the pain of losing the one true connection you ever had."
Music video
On October 14, 2016, a music video for the non rap version of the song without Kendrick Lamar was released. The video was directed by David Dobkin (who directed the band's music video, "Sugar") premiered on The Today Show. The video released on YouTube later that day. The video spoofed the augmented reality game Pokémon Go. In the video, Adam Levine is dressed as a bug dealing with heartbreak over another bug played by Sarah Silverman. Amanda Cerny, Shaquille O'Neal, Ed Helms and Vince Vaughn also make cameo appearances.