"Don't Tell Me" has been noted as having a "grungy sound", which builds from a folk-rock verse to a hard rock chorus like a Morissette song When asked what "Don't Tell Me" was about, Lavigne said: She also said in a 2007 interview:
Critical reception
In a review of the albumUnder My Skin, David Browne of Entertainment Weekly said "Lavigne herself sounds more burdened;... the ska8erboi of the first album has turned out to be a selfish, nasty creep who leaves when she won't go to bed with him" in reference to Don't Tell Me. Blender Music wrote that unlike Sk8er Boi the up-with-abstinence single "Don’t Tell Me" finds her kicking him out of bed. The Guardian was mixed: "Current single Don't Tell Me at least has some relevant advice to impart to her pubescent female fans: it depicts a confused and angry Lavigne fending off an over-eager boyfriend." PopMatters was favorable: "The first single, "Don't Tell Me", is probably the best song on the album, with the kind of wonderfully effusive movement that makes the best pop so damn irresistible. It starts slow and quiet, building to the first chorus, ebbs back, builds to another chorus, drops down into a bridge before coming back with a skull-crunching third chorus that leaves the riff firmly implanted in your skull. One or two reprises and we're out like a light, end of song. At that point you're either convinced or not." Rolling Stone was positive: "The lead single, "Don't Tell Me," might be her most Avril-ish song yet, a petulant kiss-off to a horny boy. As the guitars get revved up behind her, she asks, "Did I not tell you that I'm not like that girl/The one who gives it all away, yeah/Did you think that I was going to give it up to you?" The syntax may be tortured, but the singer sounds just fine: a righteous prude, confidently fending off the creeps." Yahoo Music! liked the song but was angry because there are spelling mistakes in booklet: "we now have a stronger, more confident Avril - forthright in her determination not to lose her cherry on "Don’t Tell Me", which coyly spells ‘ass’ with an ‘a’ and two asterixes on the CD booklet, bitterly writing songs about doomed relationships."
The video tells the story of the song. It opens with Lavigne's boyfriend leaving her apartment. After taking her anger out on her bedroom and mirror, she follows him around the city. During the bridge of the song, her boyfriend sees her in many places at once, so he is feeling guilty and her feelings are weighing heavily on his mind. At the end of the video, she decides that he is better off without her and lets him walk away, and in the final shot she begins to float above the surface.
