Zombies – Tell Her No

This band was musician’s musicians… Not a weak link in the Zombies.

This was written by Zombies keyboardist Rod Argent. The group had a big hit with their first single, “She’s Not There.” The band followed it up in the UK with “Leave Me Be,” which flopped. The band did not want that song to be next but the producer and all the people that were making the decisions released it anyway.

The Zombies then recorded “Tell Her No,” which became their second single in the US and third in the UK. In America, it did very well, but in the UK it fared worse as the band had lost some momentum by releasing “Leave Me Be.”

The song peaked at #6 in the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, and #42 in the UK. Some critics point to this song as a precursor to jazz fusion for the way the song moves.

This is one of the three big hits the band had in America. She’s Not There, Tell Her No, and Time of the Season. I also have to include their great album Odessey and Oracle which personally I would put up there in the same league as Sgt Pepper and Pet Sounds.

Tell Her No

And if she should tell you “come closer”
And if she tempts you with her charms

Tell her no no no no no-no-no-no
No no no no no-no-no-no
No no no no no
Don’t hurt me now for her love belongs to me

And if she should tell you “I love you”
And if she tempts you with her charms

Tell her no no no no no-no-no-no
No no no no no-no-no-no
(Don’t take her love for your arms)
No no no no no
Don’t hurt me now for her love belongs to me

I know she’s the kind of girl
Who’d throw my love away
But I still love her so
Don’t hurt me now, don’t hurt me now

If she tells you “I love you”
Just remember she said that to me

Tell her no no no no no-no-no-no
No no no no no-no-no-no
(Don’t take her love from my arms)
No no no no no
Don’t leave me now for her love belongs to me

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

17 thoughts on “Zombies – Tell Her No”

  2. The Zombies are great. Their songs have a very complicated sense of rhythm. I’ve never understood why the critics don’t like them more. Anyway, this song is very special to me. When my youngest daughter was 18 months or so, she hated hearing the word No. So naturally her older sister liked to tease her about it. I must admit, I like to tease too, so we would sing the chorus to her. She would get so mad! Ha ha!! It was funny seeing an obstinate baby getting all puffed out.

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    1. Thats a great story! Now that is a good use of a song.

      Odessey and Oracle still rank up with my favorite 60s albums. Most of the other bands at the time really liked them because they were so good of musicians.

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  4. I can see the move toward jazz fusion with this. The “tell her no” section gets into some odd syncopation and maybe a different time signature, and the chords aren’t simple triads. It’d have been nice to hear some soloing over the chord changes. Great song regardless.

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    1. I’ve heard McCartney talk about them and how the Beatles admired them…and they as you know didn’t admire many peers.
      Their Odessey and Oracle cemented it all. I love that album.

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    1. Before I started to blog I thought they were my secret…you don’t run into Zombie fans everyday but I’ve met many on here.

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  10. Ummm….to round out public opinion on the post….am I allowed to say I’ve never liked this band at all? Don’t know what it is exactly. Some of the chord choices (not this one) seem awkward or somehow contrived. Always thought that other bands do the same sort of thing better — but clearly I’m in the minority!

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