"Don't Leave Home" is the third single released from English singer

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (located ...

's second album, ''

Life for Rent ''Life for Rent'' is the second studio album by English singer Dido, released by Arista Records on 29 September 2003. The album was produced by her brother Rollo Armstrong and American songwriter Rick Nowels. Work on the album began in mid-20 ...

'' (2003). The song was first released as a digital download in various territories on 10 April 2004 before its physical UK release two days later. "Don't Leave Home" peaked at number 25 on the UK Singles Chart and charted for nine weeks. A remix of the song's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, "Stoned", by American

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

duo Deep Dish topped the US ''

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 ...

Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart.

Background

"Don't Leave Home" deals with

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

. It is written and sung from the point of view of the drug singing to the person who is addicted to it. It was originally a demo recorded for her 1999 album '' No Angel'', but it was included instead on the 2003 album, ''

.'' It was written and produced by Dido Armstrong and her brother

Rollo Armstrong Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong (born 8 May 1966), known professionally as both Rollo and R Plus, is an English DJ and music producer. He is one half of the remix/production duo Rollo & Sister Bliss and is a founding, non-touring, membe ...

. The song is set in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

composed in a moderate

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 80 beats per minute, written in

F major F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...

with a vocal range from the tone of F₄ to the note of C₆.

Music video

The

Jake Nava Jake Nava is a British director, mostly known for his work in music videos for Beyoncé, Arctic Monkeys, Adele, Britney Spears and The Rolling Stones. He also directs TV commercials, notably for Guinness and Levi Strauss & Co. Early life and ed ...

-directed music video for "Don't Leave Home" starts with the singer driving on a desert road as it gets dark. Suddenly, she finds herself in front of a forest. Dido leaves the car, drops her suitcase on the ground, and enters the forest. Some of the themes and scenery imply drug addiction, like the hazy affects, the forest filled with mushrooms and hallucinations of spiders and snakes. She leaves the forest and comes across a huge rock-like cliff by the ocean. She sings calmly by the cliff before jumping into the ocean and finds herself on a wide strand with white sand singing out to the ocean. The video ends with the car driving on with broken white lines. The video was shot in Cape Town, South Africa.

"Stoned"

The

of the "Don't Leave Home" single, "Stoned", was released as a promotional single from ''Life for Rent''. The song tells the story of an unwinding relationship, clouded through drugs. "Stoned" was remixed by Deep Dish; this version peaked at number one on the US ''

chart on the week dated 24 January 2004. At the end of 2004, ''Billboard'' ranked the remix as the second-most-successful dance club track of year.

Track listings

UK CD single # "Don't Leave Home" # "Stoned" (Deep Dish Stoner remix edit) European CD single # "Don't Leave Home" – 3:48 # "Stoned" (Deep Dish remix edit) – 4:00 # "Don't Leave Home" (video with lyrics)

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the "Don't Leave Home" UK CD single liner notes and the ''

'' booklet. Studios * Recorded at The Ark, The Church,

Wessex Studios Wessex Sound Studios was a recording studio located at 106a Highbury New Park, London, England. Many renowned popular music artists recorded there, including King Crimson, Queen, Sex Pistols, the Clash, Pete Townshend and the Pretenders. The prop ...

(London, England), and Cubejam (Miami, Florida) * Mixed at The Church (London, England) * "Don't Leave Home" strings recorded at

AIR Studios Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producers George Martin, John Burgess (record producer), John Burgess, Ron Richards (producer), Ron Richards, and Peter Sullivan (rec ...

(London, England) * Mastered at

Metropolis Studios Metropolis Studios is a music production and entertainment industry company established in 1989 by Gary Langan, Carey Taylor, Karin Clayton and Alexander Skeaping. Donald Brackett It is located in the Power House, a Grade II listed building, ...

(London, England) Artwork * Simon Corkin – artwork design * Bev Jones – photography "Don't Leave Home" personnel * Dido – writing (as Dido Armstrong), production *

Rollo Rollo (, ''Rolloun''; ; ; – 933), also known with his epithet, Rollo "the Walker", was a Viking who, as Count of Rouen, became the first ruler of Normandy, a region in today's northern France. He was prominent among the Vikings who Siege o ...

– writing (as Rollo Armstrong), production * Richard Parfitt – guitar *

Sister Bliss Ayalah Deborah Bentovim (born 30 December 1970), better known by her stage name Sister Bliss, is a British keyboardist, record producer, DJ and songwriter. In the studio, she is best known for her work with Rollo Armstrong as one half of the pr ...

– additional keyboards, drum programming * Makoto Sakamoto – drums *

Mike Hedges Mike Hedges (born 1954) is a British audio producer/engineer best known for his work with the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Manic Street Preachers. During his career, Hedges has worked with an eclectic roster of artists ranging from rock ...

– production * Matthieu Clouard – production assistance * Ash Howes – mixing *

Phill Brown Phill Brown (born 1950) is an audio engineer who has worked with a number of well-known musicians, including: Traffic, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Bob Marley, Babasonicos and Talk Talk. He is also the younger brother of Terry Bro ...

– recording * Ger McDonnell – recording * James Sanger – programming * Mark Bates – programming assistance * Pete Davies – programming assistance *

Nick Ingman Nicholas Ingman (born 29 April 1948) is an English arranger, composer and conductor in the commercial music field. His collaborators include Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Björk, and the British X-factor. Born and educated in London, Ingman move ...

– string arrangement *

Gavyn Wright Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He is best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions (including Elton John, Simply Red, Bush, Mecano, ...

–

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

* Miles Showell – mastering "Stoned" (Deep Dish remix) personnel * Dido – writing (as Dido Armstrong), production * Rollo – writing (as Rollo Armstrong), production *

Lester Mendez Lester Mendez is a multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning record producer, songwriter and composer. His production/writing credits include a multitude of successful hits with Shakira, Jewel, Nelly Furtado, Jessica Simpson, Enrique Iglesias, and ...

– writing, original recordings * Adam Zimmon – acoustic guitar * Carlos Paucer – percussion * Sister Bliss – piano * Mark Bates – additional keyboards, programming * Ash Howes – mixing * Phill Brown – recording * Steve Sidelnyk – additional drum programming * Deep Dish – remix and additional production (as

Dubfire Ali Shirazinia (), commonly known by his stage name Dubfire, is an Iranian American house and techno DJ and producer. Prior to his solo career, Dubfire made up half of the duo Deep Dish. Dubfire's style is noticeably different from that of Deep ...

and

Sharam Sharam Tayebi (, born August 12, 1970), better known as Sharam, is an Iranian techno and house DJ and producer. Born in Tehran, Iran, he emigrated to Washington D.C. at the age of 14. A mainstay of the Washington underground dance music scene ...

), remix mixing * Matt Nordstrom – remix mixing

Charts

"Don't Leave Home"

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

"Stoned" (Deep Dish remix)

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2003 songs 2004 singles Arista Records singles Cheeky Records singles Dido (singer) songs Music videos directed by Jake Nava Song recordings produced by Dido (singer) Song recordings produced by Mike Hedges Song recordings produced by Rollo Armstrong Songs about drugs Songs written by Dido (singer) Songs written by Rollo Armstrong

Background

Music video

"Stoned"

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Charts

"Don't Leave Home"

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

"Stoned" (Deep Dish remix)

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

See also

References