Tell Me Why (Spice Girls song)

"Tell Me Why" is a song by British girl group, the Spice Girls, appearing as the second track on their third studio album Forever (2000). The song was written by Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Rodney Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III and Mischke Butler. Jerkins and Daniels produced the song. It was released as a promotional single in December 2000. Originally planned as the second single from Forever, the release was scrapped.

"Tell Me Why"
Promotional single by Spice Girls
from the album Forever
Released	December 2000
Recorded	2000
Genre	Pop R&B
Length	4:13 (album version) 3:42 (radio edit)
Label	Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Victoria Beckham Melanie Brown Emma Bunton Rodney Jerkins LaShawn Daniels Fred Jerkins III Mischke Butler
Producer(s)	Rodney Jerkins LaShawn Daniels
Audio video
"Tell Me Why" on YouTube

Background

Rodney Jerkins writer and producer of "Tell Me Why" (pictured in 2013).

After the Spice Girls released "Goodbye" as their first single without member Geri Halliwell in December 1998, the group took a break. In mid-1999, they began working on their third studio album and for the first time worked with producer Rodney Jerkins.^[1] Jerkins said that he hoped to bring an "urban, danceable" feel to the project: "It will still have a pop appeal, but the beats will be a little harder".^[2]

Release

"Tell Me Why" was released in December 2000 as one of the three songs released as promotional singles from the Spice Girls' third studio album Forever, along with "If You Wanna Have Some Fun" and "Weekend Love".^[3] In January 2001, Virgin Records issued a promotional disc featuring remixes of the song by Thunderpuss and Jonathan Peters. The single and its remixes were not commercially released due to the "disappointing" sales of the parent album.^[4][5] In the summer of 2001, a promotional single featuring the remixes was released in Australia as a competition prize in a cross-promotion with TV Hits Magazine.^[6]

Jonathan Peters' edit of "Tell Me Why" would later be commercially released in November 2007 as a bonus track and the seventeenth song on the deluxe edition of the group's Greatest Hits album.^[7]

The song was performed in the 2012–13 jukebox musical Viva Forever!, which was based on the songs of the Spice Girls.

Composition

The song's lyrics were directed toward Geri Halliwell (pictured in 2019).

"Tell Me Why" was written by the members of the group Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown and Emma Bunton, along with Rodney Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III and Mischke Butler. The production was handled by Jerkins and Daniels. The song is one of the three Spice Girls album tracks that Melanie C didn't receive a writing credit.^[8] It is described as a "sparse, uptempo slice of R&B, flecked with chattering electronics" by Alexis Petridis by The Guardian.^[9] In March 2019, Bunton stated that the song was about fellow Spice Girls member – Geri Halliwell, adding "we were writing songs, we were being very honest and open."^[10]

Critical response

James Hunter of Rolling Stone called the song as a "silky, spiky danceability" track.^[11] Anne T. Donahue of Vulture criticized the song and described it as attempt of the Spice Girls at throwing "shade" at Geri Halliwell, a former group member at the time.^[12] J.D. Considine of The Baltimore Sun described the track as an "itchy, keyboard-driven pulse."^[13] Dorian S. Ham of The Lantern called the song as a "right tune with its jerky guitar driven beat", and describing it as a "fairly entertaining imitation" of an upbeat Mariah Carey song.^[14]

Format and track listing

Promotional CD^[3]

1. "Tell Me Why" (radio edit) – 3:42
2. "Tell Me Why" (Thunderpuss edit) – 3:39
3. "Tell Me Why" (Thunderpuss Club Mix) – 10:55
4. "Tell Me Why" (Jonathan Peters edit) – 3:22
5. "Tell Me Why" (Jonathan Peters Club Mix) – 9:19

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Forever.^[8]

• Victoria Beckham – lyrics, vocals
• Melanie Brown – lyrics, vocals
• Emma Bunton – lyrics, vocals
• Melanie Chisholm – vocals
• Rodney Jerkins – lyrics, production, music, audio mixing
• LaShawn Daniels – lyrics, vocal production
• Fred Jerkins III – lyrics
• Mischke Butler – lyrics
• Paul Foley – recorder
• Ben Garrison – audio mixing

Published by EMI Full Kneel Music, EMI Blackwood Inc., Rodney Jerkins Productions Inc., EMI April Music Inc., LaShawn Productions Inc., Ensign Music Corp. and Fred Jerkins Publishing.

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Tell Me Why"

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
United Kingdom	December 2000	Promotional CD	Virgin	[3]
Greece				[15]
Canada				[16]
Australia	2001			[17]

References

1. Rubin, Daniel (9 February 1999). "Master of Beat at 21, Songwriter And Producer Rodney Jerkins Jr. Is An R&b Wunderkind Who Goes For Energy With Beat". Philly.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013.
2. "Spice Girls Producer Jerkins Promises Urban Feel on New Album". MTV. 8 January 1999. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
3. "Spice Girls Tell Me Why (2000, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
4. "Spice on Ice". NME. 15 January 2001. Archived from the original on 24 January 2001. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
5. Rigby, Sam (5 November 2018). "Why the Spice Girls' Third Album Forever Deserves More Love". Attitude. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
6. "Mega Win Competition". TV Hits Magazine. Pacific Publications. June 2001.
7. "Greatest Hits - Album by Spice Girls". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
8. Forever (CD Album liner). Spice Girls. Virgin Records. 2000. 7243 8 50467 42.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
9. Petridis, Alexis (8 November 2018). "All 43 Spice Girls songs – ranked!". Retrieved 21 October 2020.
10. Cragg, Michael (23 March 2019). "Emma Bunton: 'We made Victoria clean the bathroom!'". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
11. Hunter, James (21 November 2000). "Forever - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
12. Donahue, Anne T. (29 May 2019). "Every Spice Girls Song, Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
13. Considine, J.D. (7 November 2000). "Spice Girls fall into well-worn groove". Retrieved 21 October 2020.
14. Ham, Dorian S. (29 November 2000). "Spice Girls Lose 'Pop' and Fizzle Out Forever". The Lantern. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
15. "Spice Girls - Tell Me Why (2000, CDr)". Discogs. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
16. "Spice Girls - Tell Me Why (2000, CDr)". Discogs. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
17. "Spice Girls - Tell Me Why (2000, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 23 October 2020.