"Don't Laugh at Me" is a song written by

Allen Shamblin Allen Shamblin is a country music songwriter who was born in Tennessee, and was brought up in Huffman, Texas. Biography After graduating from Sam Houston State University he worked in Austin as a real estate appraiser. In 1987, he quit his job ...

and

Steve Seskin Steve Seskin is an American singer, songwriter, and musician whose songs have been recorded by recording artists Choya Partridge Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Waylon Jennings, Tim McGraw, Collin Raye, and Mark Wills among others. The debut sing ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Mark Wills Mark Wills (born Daryl Mark Williams; August 8, 1973) is an American country music artist. Signed to Mercury Records between 1996 and 2003, he released five studio albums for the label – '' Mark Wills'', '' Wish You Were Here'', ''Permanently'' ...

. It was released in July 1998 as the second single from album ''

Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to: Film, television, and theater Film * ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland * ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...

''. Like "I Do (Cherish You)" before it, "Don't Laugh at Me" was a number 2 hit on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country charts. The song received

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

nominations for Country Music Association's Single, Song and Video of the Year in 1998.

Background

Allen Shamblin was inspired to write the song after his school-aged daughter came home and confided that she was being teased by her peers because of her

freckles Freckles are clusters of concentrated melaninized cells which are most easily visible on people with a fair complexion. Freckles do not have an increased number of the melanin-producing cells, or melanocytes, but instead have melanocytes that ...

Content

The song is a ballad in which various characters, from teased children to a homeless man on a street corner, seek acceptance from those around them. Wills has received letters from teachers and students who have said that they can identify with the song's story. According to him, "everyone can relate to

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

��Everyone at some point in their life has been picked on, made fun of or put down." He told ''

'' magazine that the song is "one of the strongest songs I've ever recorded in terms of dealing with life in general."

Music video

The music video was directed by Jim Hershleder and premiered in mid-1998. It features Wills performing the song at a school playground at night, witnessing scenes of bullying as depicted in the song.

Chart performance

"Don't Laugh at Me" debuted at number 69 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of July 18, 1998. The song peaked at number 2 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart on October 10, 1998, for two weeks and was kept out of the top spot by "

Where the Green Grass Grows "Where the Green Grass Grows" is a song written by Jess Leary and Craig Wiseman, and recorded by American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released on July 13, 1998, as the fifth single from McGraw's ''Everywhere'' album. The song reached n ...

" by

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

Year-end charts

Peter, Paul and Mary version

Peter Yarrow Peter Yarrow (May 31, 1938 – January 7, 2025) was an American singer and songwriter who found fame as a member of the 1960s folk music, folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary along with Paul Stookey and Mary Travers. Yarrow co-wrote (with Lenny Lipton ...

attended a performance by co-writer Seskin at the

Kerrville Folk Festival The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival with camping, held for nearly three weeks each year, in late spring/early summer, at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The festival draws around 30,000 people. It aims to present establish ...

, which led to his recording the song with

Peter, Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary were an American Contemporary folk music, folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival. The trio consisted of Peter Yarrow (guitar, tenor vocals), Paul Stookey (guitar, baritone vocals), ...

. Their version appeared as the sole new recording on their compilation album Songs of Conscience and Concern. The song helped inspire Yarrow to found the non-profit organization Operation Respect, promoting tolerance and civility programs in education. The organization distributes curriculum programs under the "Don't Laugh At Me" name. In conjunction with this program, the song has been made into a

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

including an

afterword An afterword is a literary device that is often found at the end of a piece of literature. It generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or of how the idea for the book was developed. An afterword may be written by someone oth ...

by Yarrow. Part of the proceeds from the book go to Operation Respect.

Lagwagon version

In 2014

Lagwagon Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, California, just outside Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara. They formed in 1989, went on hiatus in 2000, and reunited several times over the years. Their name comes from the ba ...

recorded a punk rock version of this song which was published as "bonus track" from their record Hang.

References

{{authority control Songs about bullying 1998 singles 1998 songs Mark Wills songs Songs written by Steve Seskin Songs written by Allen Shamblin Song recordings produced by Carson Chamberlain Mercury Records singles 1990s ballads Country ballads