"You Don't Own Me" is a popular song written by the Philadelphia songwriters John Madara and David White, and recorded by Lesley Gore in 1963, when Gore was 17 years old. The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart in the United States (just behind The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand").
The song is an example of threatened emancipation, as the singer tells a lover that he does not own her; that he is not to tell her what to do or what to say; that he is not to put her on display.
The song starts out in the key of G Minor. The second part modulates to G Major, and following the second chorus, the song shifts into A-Flat Major and Minor. Finally, following the group of choruses, the song shifts a half step up to the key of A Major, and to B Flat Major before the song's fade. This song features a string section, plus a xylophone with a vibrato.
Read more about You Don't Own Me: Other Versions
Famous quotes containing the word you:
“Listen to me. You come into this town, and you think you’re headed somewhere, don’t you? You think you’re gonna get there with a gun, but you’re not. Get me. You know why, ‘cause you got thousand dollar bills pasted right across your eyes. And someday you’re gonna stumble and fall down in the gutter, right where the horses have been standin’, right where you belong.”
—Ben Hecht (1893–1964)