1989Released
4:31

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Don't Take It Personal. By Songfacts®.

In this breakup ballad, Jermaine Jackson is ready to move on from a relationship that's run its course, but he doesn't want his girl to blame herself. "Don't take it personal," he sings. "Take the bitter with the sweet, some good things come to an end."

This was written and produced by David Conley and David Townsend, both of the R&B group Surface, along with Derrick Culler, an R&B singer/songwriter who wrote tunes for Surface and Jackson's sister Rebbie, among others. The song was inspired by Culler's relationship with his ex-wife.

When Conley brought the song to Arista Records, the A&R department suggested he contact Milli Vanilli, the German R&B duo who was poised to explode in the US with the release of Girl You Know It's True. But Conley couldn't see eye-to-eye with their producer, Frank Farian. "He was trying to work it out so I could produce the music here and send the tapes to Germany and have them sing the song. I wasn't accustomed to doing things like that," he explained to Billboard. Clive Davis, Arista's president, let the songwriters decide between Milli Vanilli and Jermaine Jackson.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Don't Take It Personal.
D♯Key
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
95BPM

Album

The album Don't Take It Personal is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Don't Take It Personal.
Legacy Recordings
(P) 1989 Sony Music Entertainment

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