Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: Pop (#1), Mainstream Rock (#1), and Hot Dance/Disco – Club Play (#1); 1985

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

After Johnny and The Self Abusers blew apart on the release date of the band’s first (and only) single, several of ’em returned to sing again another day in Simple Minds.

Named after a line in David Bowie’s Jean Genie – “He’s simple-minded, he can’t drive his module” – and fronted by singer Jim Kerr, the sextet debuted with Life In A Day in 1979. The band’s ensuing albums, full of anthemic pop soundscapes, invited comparisons with U2.

Certainly, the hordes of stadium show fans validated that analogy as did the success of 1984’s Sparkle In The Rain, which debuted atop the UK album chart. In the US, Sparkle created a groundswell of interest in the Scottish combo that translated into sales with the release of Don’t You (Forget About Me).

Written specifically for The Breakfast Club soundtrack, Don’t You was originally slated for Brian Ferry, who passed on it, giving Simple Minds its first American hit in seven years of recording.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Produced by:

  • Keith Forsey

Lyrics Written by:

  • Keith Forsey
  • Steve Schiff

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Ed Osborne

Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).