Peak
34
Weeks
20
Score
1,462
Chart Year
1992
The accompanying music video for the song was directed by British director Sophie Muller and was filmed in Venice, Italy[16] during the shoot for the Diva album cover. The video shows Lennox sitting in front of a vanity mirror staring and marveling at herself before slowly putting on makeup. By the middle of the video, Lennox is fully made up and in the outfit she wears on the Diva album cover. The rest of the video consists of shots of Lennox posing for the cameras along with in-between shots of her singing the song. The video won Lennox an award for Best Female Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.[17][18] It was later published on YouTube in October 2009 and by May 2023, the video had received more than 74.8 million views
"Why" is the first solo single of Scottish singer Annie Lennox, released on 16 March 1992. It was taken from her debut solo album, Diva (1992), and reached number five in the United Kingdom. In the United States, "Why" peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number six on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was also a big hit internationally, reaching number one in Italy and peaking within the top 10 in Belgium, Canada, Ireland and five other countries. In 2015, Stereogum ranked "Why" number one in their list of the 10 best Annie Lennox songs
How many times do I have to try to tell you That I'm sorry for the things I've done But when I start to try to tell you That's when you have to tell me Hey... this kind of trouble's only just begun I tell myself too many times Why don't you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut That's why it hurts so bad to hear the words That keep on falling from your mouth Falling from your mouth Falling from your mouth Tell me... Why Why I may be mad I may be blind I may be viciously unkind But I can still read what you're thinking And I've heard is said too many times That you'd be better off Besides... Why can't you see this boat is sinking (this boat is sinking this boat is sinking) Let's go down to the water's edge And we can cast away those doubts Some things are better left unsaid But they still turn me inside out Turning inside out turning inside out Tell me... Why Tell me... Why This is the book I never read These are the words I never said This is the path I'll never tread These are the dreams I'll dream instead This is the joy that's seldom spread These are the tears... The tears we shed This is the fear This is the dread These are the contents of my head And these are the years that we have spent And this is what they represent And this is how I feel Do you know how I feel ? 'cause i don't think you know how I feel I don't think you know what I feel I don't think you know what I feel You don't know what I feel
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 16, 1992 | 100 | 26 |
| 2 | May 23, 1992 | 87 | 39 |
| 3 | May 30, 1992 | 77 | 49 |
| 4 | Jun 6, 1992 | 64 | 62 |
| 5 | Jun 13, 1992 | 53 | 73 |
| 6 | Jun 20, 1992 | 46 | 80 |
| 7 | Jun 27, 1992 | 42 | 84 |
| 8 | Jul 4, 1992 | 41 | 85 |
| 9 | Jul 11, 1992 | 37 | 89 |
| 10 | Jul 18, 1992 | 34 | 92 |
| 11 | Jul 25, 1992 | 38 | 88 |
| 12 | Aug 1, 1992 | 45 | 81 |
| 13 | Aug 8, 1992 | 56 | 70 |
| 14 | Aug 15, 1992 | 61 | 65 |
| 15 | Aug 22, 1992 | 69 | 57 |
| 16 | Aug 29, 1992 | 78 | 48 |
| 17 | Sep 5, 1992 | 90 | 36 |
| 18 | Sep 12, 1992 | 94 | 32 |
| 19 | Sep 19, 1992 | 98 | 28 |
| 20 | Sep 26, 1992 | 95 | 31 |