"Don't Ask Me Why" by Eurythmics

Song#:  4055

Date:  09/30/1989

Debut:  81

Peak:  40

Weeks:  9

Genre:  Pop

Pop Bits:  The duo's sixth album, '87's Savage, signaled a decline in popularity. The LP stopped at #41 and failed to reach gold-level status mainly because none of its singles was able to crack the Pop Top 40. Nearly two years later, the pair would return with their next effort We Too Are One. In their UK homeland, the album was seen as a return to form and it would hit #1. In the US, it would only do slightly better than Savage getting to #34. That was mostly due to this first single, which just barely made the Pop Top 40 and got to #12 at Modern Rock. It would end up being the duo's final single to reach the US Pop chart.

ReduxReview:  I was always surprised this track didn't do better. The mood of it along with the opening pizzicato strings was reminiscent of their #4 hit "Here Comes the Rain Again." It chugged along quite well and featured a haunting vocal by Lennox. It was a chilly and mature track that I loved. The song was the first single released in the US, but over the in the UK the first release was the upbeat workout "Revival." That tune was a bit more bluesy and forceful, but I think "Don't Ask Me Why" was the better choice. It doesn't rank among their most memorable singles, but it should have done a whole lot better on the chart. Eurythmics remain one of my all time favorite artists.

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) After We Too Are One, the duo of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart would split. Each would go on to solo careers. Then in 1998, the pair began to write together again following a performance they did for an event. The following year they would put out their eighth album Peace. It would be a #25 gold seller in the US. A remix of the track "17 Again" would hit #1 on the US Dance chart. The pair would go their own ways again and have yet to reunite for another album. However, a song from the 2005 compilation Ultimate Collection, "I've Got a Life (It's the Only Thing That's Mine)," would make it to #1 on the Dance chart. In 2022, Eurythmics would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  2) As far as solo careers for the pair, Stewart would release a couple albums with his band The Spiritual Cowboys along with some other solo efforts. In addition, he would work as writer/producer for hire and work on film music. His score for the 1989 Dutch film Lily Was Here would generate Stewart's only US Pop chart hit. The instrumental title track featuring Dutch jazz saxophonist Candy Dulfer would end up reaching #11 later in '91. In 2003, Stewart would get a hit as co-writer of "Underneath It All" by No Doubt. Written with band leader Gwen Stefani, the song would reach #3 on the Pop chart. Annie Lennox would go on to have a highly successful solo career. Her debut album, '92's Diva, would be a #23 double platinum hit that would earn Lennox three Grammy nods including one for Album of the Year. She would win for Best Longform Music Video. She'd win another Grammy with a track from her second album Medusa (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "No More 'I Love You's'"). In 2003, Lennox would supply the closing theme to the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. "Into the West" would achieve the trifecta of awards winning a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and an Oscar.

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