Song · The Animals
“Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood” by The Animals
From the EP Boom Boom / Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (1965)
“Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood” by The Animals appears on 7 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 2001 and 2026. It was first released in 1965 on the EP Boom Boom / Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood. Its best result is #271 on the WMGK Philly 500 (2025). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,072 indie & aaa song of all time.
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The Animals didn't write "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", and they weren't the first to record it. Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott and Sol Marcus wrote it for Nina Simone, who got there first on her 1964 album Broadway-Blues-Ballads. What the Animals did in 1965 was toughen it into blues rock, and theirs became the first cover of the song to hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
The track also found a home on their album Animal Tracks, and it plays like a confession spat through clenched teeth: moody, muscular and a little menacing, a plea for understanding from someone in no mood to beg.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1226 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2013 | 422 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) | 500 |
| 2023 | 967 | 101.5 WPDH | WPDH Top 1015 (2023) | 1015 |
| 2023 | 409 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2023) | 500 |
| 2024 | 447 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs | 850 |
| 2025 | 271 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2025) | 500 |
| 2026 | 859 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
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