"You Don't Know Anything" is a song by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern ...

. It was released by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

on April 29, 1999 as the fourth and final single from their second studio album, ''

Apartment Life ''Apartment Life'' is the second studio album by American band Ivy, released by Atlantic Records on October 6, 1997. After being dropped from Seed Records following the release of '' Realistic'' in 1995, the group signed to Atlantic due to con ...

'' (1997). The single was made available exclusively in Europe and featured the same two

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 ...

s as previous single, " This Is the Day", which had been released by

550 Music 550 Music (originally known as Sony 550 Music) was a unit of Sony Music Entertainment, which operated through Sony Music's Epic Records division while in activity. Launched in 1992, the "550" name was inspired by the address of the Sony building ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. The track was written by Dominique Durand,

Adam Schlesinger Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was also a member of the ban ...

and

Andy Chase Andy Chase is an American musician, record producer, and label owner. He formed the band Ivy with Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Dominique Durand, now his wife. Chase owns Unfiltered Records and co-owned Stratosphere Sound studio with ...

while production was handled by the latter two and Peter Nashel. Released alongside "This Is the Day", "You Don't Know Anything" received promotion by Atlantic Records after the former track was included on the soundtrack for the 1998 film, ''

There's Something About Mary ''There's Something About Mary'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ed Decter and John J. Strauss. The film features Cameron Diaz as the title character, while Ben S ...

''. The recording received generally favorable reviews from music critics who compared the song to the works of Irish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

group My Bloody Valentine.

Background and composition

"You Don't Know Anything" was written by Ivy band members Dominique Durand,

and

. The production of the track was handled by Chase and Schlesinger, with additional production provided by Peter Nashel. Musically, "You Don't Know Anything" is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

/indie rock song, also incorporating elements of

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

and guitar accords. Lyrically, the song discusses a lover being "clueless" and "in the wrong". The single was heavily compared to My Bloody Valentine; in their review of the track, Sputnikmusic stated that it "comes off like a My Bloody Valentine song with intelligible vocals, with a sliding, reverb heavy hook and pummeling drums", while

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

writer

Jack Rabid ''The Big Takeover'' is a bi-annual music magazine published in New York City since May 1980 by critic Jack Rabid. History Establishment Jack Rabid and Dave Stein began publishing ''The Big Takeover'' in May 1980 as a fanzine dedicated to New ...

drew similar comparisons. Patrick Carmosino of ''Consumable Online'' stated that with "You Don't Know Anything", Ivy "have an indie-ethic rock side that compliments their pop sensibilities to the tee".

Release

The recording was released simultaneously with the release of the single "This Is the Day"; this occurred after the latter track was featured in the 1998 film, ''There's Something About Mary''. "You Don't Know Anything" was released as a

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

exclusively in European countries; the CD included two B-side tracks, "Sleeping Late" and "Sweet Mary".

Critical reception

"You Don't Know Anything" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Stephen Thompson of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' praised the track and ''Apartment Life'' for "sound ngslickly pretty and mannered". AllMusic named the song "a knockout" and praised it for allowing "the guitars oget mean". Reviewer Scott Floman was more mixed with his review, finding the track to "pass by pleasantly but unremarkably".

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel adapted from "You Don't Know Anything" liner notes and Andy Chase's discography. ;Recording * Recorded at The Place,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

; Duotone Studios, New York City; and Compositions, New York City ;Personnel *

–

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

, mixing *Dominique Durand – lead and background vocals *Matthew Ellard – assistant mixing *Philippe Garcia – photography *Josh Grier – legal advisor *

James Iha (born March 26, 1968) is an American rock musician. He is best known as a guitarist and co-founder of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. He was a member until the band's initial breakup in 2000 and rejoined in 2018. Iha has als ...

– background vocals, additional production *Paul Q. Kolderie – mixing *Bob Ludwig – mastering *Q Prime – management *Brenda Rotheiser – art direction, design *

– engineering, executive producer, mixing *Sean Slade – mixing

Release history

References

{{Ivy (band) Ivy (band) songs 1997 songs 1999 singles Atlantic Records singles Songs written by Adam Schlesinger Songs written by Andy Chase Songs written by Dominique Durand