"Give Me Something" is a song by Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono

is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...

, originally released in 1980 on John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 and Ono's duet album Double Fantasy

Double Fantasy

Double Fantasy is an album released by John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, in 1980. Though initially poorly received, the album is notable for its association with Lennon's murder three weeks after its release, whereupon it become a worldwide commercial success, and went on to win the 1981 Album...

. The song appeared in Ono's off-Broadway musical New York Rock

New York Rock

New York Rock is an off-Broadway musical by Yoko Ono. It is a thinly veiled account of her life with John Lennon. The musical contains many songs from Ono's albums throughout the years, as well as several new tracks, some of which were reworked for inclusion on Rising.-Track listing:# "It Happened"...

and her compilation albums Walking on Thin Ice

Walking on Thin Ice (album)

Walking on Thin Ice is a greatest-hits compilation of Yoko Ono's work from 1971 to 1985. It was released by Rykodisc in 1992, along with the more comprehensive 6-disc Onobox set...

and Onobox

Onobox

Onobox is a 1992 comprehensive 6-disc collection of Yoko Ono's work from 1968 to 1985. The discs are grouped by era and theme. Disc six is the previously unreleased 1974 album A Story, which was later reissued separately along with the rest of Ono's back catalogue. There was also an accompanying...

. In 2010, the Junior Boys remix of the song was released as a free download on MySpace Music and RCRD LBL

RCRD LBL

RCRD LBL is the premier online destination for free, curated, legal MP3 downloads from the hottest marquee and emergent artists. RCRD LBL delivers free music downloads and more directly to readers with multiple personalized email properties, including the RCRD of the Day email newsletter, RCRD...

.

Background

"Give Me Something" was written by Yoko Ono, while the music, like the rest of the songs on Double Fantasy

Double Fantasy

Double Fantasy is an album released by John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, in 1980. Though initially poorly received, the album is notable for its association with Lennon's murder three weeks after its release, whereupon it become a worldwide commercial success, and went on to win the 1981 Album...

, was produced by John Lennon, Ono, and Jack Douglas. Ono stated in an interview that "Give Me Something" was written as as "feeling that I had about society. [...] We’re all getting very cold now as a society." Ono further explained the song's theme of coldness to Spinner

Spinner (website)

Spinner is an AOL Music property, which bills itself as "the ultimate music blog for free MP3s, free CD listening, [and] discovering new artists."...

: "I remember I was envisioning a gray, cold city with people walking with hands in their pockets and putting the collars of their coats up."

Critical reception

Larry Fitzmaurice from Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 described the original version as a "spiky new-wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 tune featuring a particularly angry vocal performance," but commented that the Junior Boys "smooth out some of the tune's rougher edges, morphing Ono's cries into elastic bursts and turning the track into a Danceteria-worthy disco jam."

Chart performance

The song became Yoko Ono's fourth consecutive number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Dance Club chart.

Track listing

• Digital download (Vocal Mixes)

1. "Give Me Something" (More
   Richard Morel
   Richard Morel is an American singer-songwriter, DJ, remixer and record producer from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked extensively with Washington D.C.-based duo Deep Dish, co-writing, co-producing, performing and singing on many of their tracks, most notably on their albums Junk...
   
   l's I Gave You My Heart Mix) – 6:55
2. "Give Me Something" (Dave Audé
   Dave Audé
   Dave Audé is a Grammy nominated producer, house DJ, and remixer. He has done production for musicians such as KoЯn, t.A.T.u., DJ Keoki, Barenaked Ladies, Faith No More, Cause and Effect, Hilary Duff, Wanessa, Ashley Tisdale, The Pussycat Dolls, Lady Gaga, Lunascape, Madonna, Britney Spears, CeCe...
   
    Club Mix) – 8:14
3. "Give Me Something" (TWISTED Sound+Vision Club Mix) – 7:13
4. "Give Me Something" (Stonebridge
   Stonebridge (DJ)
   StoneBridge is the pseudonym for the Swedish DJ and record producer, Sten Hallström.-History:StoneBridge won international renown with the remix of the 1993 hit "Show Me Love" with Robin S. Until then, he had been running the Swedish DJ/remix outfit Swemix, formed at the end of the 1980s...
   
    Club Mix) – 5:53
5. "Give Me Something" (Ralphi
   Ralphi Rosario
   Ralphi Rosario was a founding member of the influential Chicago DJ group, The Hot Mix 5. When this group formed in 1981 on radio station WBMX, Rosario, the youngest member of the group, was still in high school...
   
   's BIG Vocal) – 8:19
6. "Give Me Something" (Roberto Rodriguez Extended Vocal Mix) – 10:06
7. "Give Me Something" (Junior Boys
   Junior Boys
   -History:Junior Boys formed in 1999 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada as a duo of Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark. Years of collaboration followed and a demo was produced, but after many rejections and near-misses, they were resigned to being bedroom beat constructors. Soon after, Johnny Dark left the...
   
    Club Mix) – 4:52
8. "Give Me Something" (Alex Trax Club Mix) – 7:02
9. "Give Me Something" (Floppy Kid Original Re-edit) – 2:43
10. "Give Me Something" (BONUS TRACK: Sparks
    Sparks (band)
    Sparks is an American rock and pop band formed in Los Angeles in 1968 by brothers Ron and Russell Mael , initially under the name Halfnelson...
    
     Reinvention) – 4:19

• Digital download (Dub Mixes)

1. "Give Me Something" (Morel's I Gave You My Heart Dub) – 7:04
2. "Give Me Something" (Dave Audé Dub Mix) – 6:45
3. "Give Me Something" (Stonebridge Dub Mix) – 5:53
4. "Give Me Something" (TWISTED Sound+Vision Dub) – 6:57
5. "Give Me Something" (Ralphi's BIG Club Dub) – 8:14
6. "Give Me Something" (Alex Trax Dub) – 6:34
7. "Give Me Something" (Roberto Rodriguez Let's You Have It Mix) – 7:49
8. "Give Me Something" (Roberto Rodriguez Instrumental Dub) – 7:53

Weekly charts

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Chart (2010)	Peak position

Year-end charts

Chart (2010)	Position
US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... )	23