‘Don't Get Me Wrong’ is a song by British-American rock band the Pretenders. It was the first single released from the band's fourth studio album, Get Close (1986). It was also included on the band's compilation album, The Singles (1987). Chrissie Hynde wrote the song for tennis star John McEnroe, who was an aspiring musician. "He loved playing guitar," she told Uncle Joe Benson on the Ultimate Classic Rock Nights radio show. "He's a big music person, which is how I knew him, because he used to come to our shows and he was friendly with the band and stuff." Hynde added that she found inspiration while aboard a plane. "I had in mind that I was going to write this song for him to do. Years later, when I was on British Airways, I heard an announcement – because I did write some of that song on a plane – and I think I nicked one of the top-line melodies from the overhead announcement: 'Dong-dong-dong-dong … Welcome to British Airways.'"
Billboard wrote that although Hynde is the only original Pretender remaining, this song represents "a pretty upbeat, strutting, confident Pretenders." Cashbox praised Hynde's "sultry vocal" and "powerful songwriting." Classic rock review describes "Don't Get Me Wrong" as a "jaunty rock track". Ultimate Classic Rock critic Matt Wardlaw rated it the Pretenders' eighth-greatest song, saying that it "hammers home the point rather succinctly that when it comes to love from the female point of view, it's best to expect the unexpected." In the United States, ‘Don't Get Me Wrong’ became the group's second top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 10. It also spent three weeks atop the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in November 1986. In the United Kingdom, the song also peaked at No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart. In Australia, it became a top-10 hit, reaching No. 8.
The music video for the song is a tribute to the British 1960s espionage television series The Avengers, with Chrissie Hynde playing Emma Peel searching for John Steed, while being diverted by body doubles and rival agents. She drives a 1983 Reliant Scimitar SS1. Steed actor Patrick Macnee appears in the original series' footage, with Hynde electronically inserted. Two edits to the video were made, the second edit adds alternate shots (including a scene of one of the body doubles being revealed to be a woman) and inserts footage of the band performing in a studio.
This was the last big US hit for The Pretenders. This frustrated Hynde, who remedied the situation by asking the top songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly to write some songs for her. This did the trick, resulting in "I'll Stand By You."
Labels – Real, Sire
Songwriter – Chrissie Hynde
Producers – Jimmy Iovine, Bob Clearmountain
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Don't get me wrong
If I'm looking kind of dazzled
I see neon lights
Whenever you walk by
[Verse 2]
Don't get me wrong
If you say hello and I take a ride
Upon a sea where the mystic moon
Is playing havoc with the tide
Don't get me wrong
[Verse 3]
Don't get me wrong
If I'm acting so distracted
I'm thinking about the fireworks
That go off when you smile
[Verse 4]
Don't get me wrong
If I split like light refracted
I'm only off to wander
Across a moonlit mile
[Bridge]
Once in a while, two people meet
Seemingly for no reason
They just pass on the street
Suddenly, thunder showers everywhere
And who can explain the thunder and rain?
But there's something in the air
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[Instrumental Break]
2:13 - 2:48
[Verse 5]
Don't get me wrong
If I come and go like fashion
I might be great tomorrow
But hopeless yesterday
[Verse 6]
Don't get me wrong
If I fall in the mode of fashion
It might be unbelievable
But let's not say so long
It might just be fantastic
Don't get me wrong