Not Gonna Get Us


"Not Gonna Get Us" is a song recorded by Russian music duo t.A.T.u. for their first English-language studio album 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane. It was originally released as "Nas Ne Dogonyat" on their debut album 200 По Встречной. The song was written by Sergio Galoyan, Trevor Horn, Elena Kiper and Valery Polienko, while production was handled by Horn. The song was included on the duo's compilation album The Best. The English version was released on 5 May 2003, by Interscope Records as the second single from the album. Musically, the song is a Eurodance-inspired song, and lyrically it talks about the group running away from people as they don't understand their love towards one another.
"Not Gonna Get Us" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics, praising the production and highlighted the song as an album standout, however some critics were not impressed by the lyrical content. It was, however, a commercial success worldwide, peaking inside the top-ten in countries including Finland, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The single also peaked at number one on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, becoming the duo's only number-one single on the US component charts.
An accompanying music video was filmed for the single, where it starts with the girls getting a mugshot, until escaping to a truck, where they drive off through snow in Siberia. The video was directed by Ivan Shapovalov, who also features in a cameo appearance in the video as a construction worker. The song also received a minor controversial image, where it featured a more rebel image. The song has also been performed on all of the duo's concert tours, and was also performed at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards. In 2009, t.A.T.u. played a special concert featuring the song at the Eurovision Song Contest with a Russian Army Choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble.
The words "нас не догонят" made their way into 2006 Russian Dictionary of Modern Quotes.
In February 2014, during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sochi, t.A.T.u performed "Нас не догонят". Additionally, the song was sung later in the ceremony when Russia's competitors entered the stadium.

Background and composition

Prior to becoming t.A.T.u. Yulia and Lena had auditioned as members of Neposedi, a group produced by Ivan Shapolavov and his business partner Alexander Voitinskyi. Shapolavov has said the two girls stood out from the rest of those who auditioned; however, 14-year-old Katina was initially the only one chosen for the band. While the album was in development, their producer Alexander Voitinskyi left the production, leaving the album unreleased. However, Shapolavov later signed Elena Kiper as the new co-producer and co-writer for the album, who had eventually written "Not Gonna Get Us". There is also the Russian counterpart entitled "Nas Ne Dogonyat".
The song was written by Elena Kiper, Ivan Shapovalov, Valeriy Polienko and Sergio Galoyan, while production was handled by Trevor Horn. The song was included in the groups compilation album The Best. The song was added to their YouTube channel five years later on 6 February 2008.
"Not Gonna Get Us" is a eurodance-inspired song. The song incorporates influences from pop, dance-pop, eurodance and rock music. Lyrically, it talks about teenage lovers, which was usually exampled by Volkova and Katina, as people did not understand their love towards each other, so they run away from people to start fresh.

CD single information

Various CD singles were released, along with legal digital downloads for the song, plus an official music video was made. The song did appear on a promo CD released in Poland in 2003, along with other singles of the album, though the CD is not considered an official single for this song. The song would only be made available as an individual legal download when the band's debut album was released on iTunes in 2004. It can also be legally downloaded individually off their greatest hits album, The Best. There was a promotional CD single which was released in Poland by Universal Music Polska, the Polish label for Universal Music. However, it was used as an A-Side for "Ya Soshla S Uma" at the time.

Critical reception

"Not Gonna Get Us" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic highlighted the track on the album saying it was an "exhausting offering hit" but continued saying; "Well, it's easy not to be into it when Julia and Lena appear to have been run through a marketing processor so they could become two Sapphic tarts who sing songs with suggestive titles like "Not Gonna Get Us", "Show Me Love" and "All the Things She Said" ." Popdirt commented that the "high-pitched helium voices" on the song work at "complementing the sensitivity they feel for each other and the reckless abandonment of the outside world perfectly". Furthermore, Pitchfork listed this as the 33rd best single of 2003.
The song was nominated "Best Russian Act" on the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards.

Chart performance

"Not Gonna Get Us" was released in Europe in 2003. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number seven, where it eventually peaked. It stayed in the charts for eight weeks in total. The song also sold over 43,000 copies there. The song also peaked at number ten on the Irish Singles Chart. In the European markets, it was a success. In Sweden, it debuted at number ten, peaked at number nine and stayed in the charts for nine weeks. In Finland, it debuted at number three and stayed in the charts for five weeks. In Italy, it debuted at number four and stayed in the charts for a total of seven weeks. In Austria, it debuted at number 22. After two weeks, it rose and peaked at number five for two non-consecutive weeks. It stayed in the charts for sixteen weeks in total. In Switzerland, the song debuted at number 37. The next week, it rose and peaked at 18, and stayed in the charts for 18 weeks in total. The song peaked at numbers twelve and ten in Belgium. The song reached number ten in the Europe Official Top 100.
In the Oceanic region, it received more moderate success. The song debuted at number 11 on the Australian Singles Chart, where it eventually peaked and stayed in the charts for 11 weeks. It was certified gold by ARIA, selling over 35,000 copies. The song spent only a sole week in the New Zealand Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 25, becoming the group's poorest performing single in the country. It was the group's last single to chart in New Zealand.
The song was eventually released in North America, charting in Canada and the United States. The single version peaked at number 31 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart. Dave Audé then released a remix of the single in the United States, which peaked at number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs Chart, where it became the group's first and only number one in North America. Not Gonna Get Us also managed to peak at 35 on the US Top 40 Mainstream Charts.

Music video

The video starts off with Julia and Lena's mugshots being placed on screen, with the truck's engine starting up and steam surrounding the two girls and the vehicle. They then are outside in a snowy environment, where they steal a large truck and ride off through an airfield, breaking through a fence while singing. The two girls later find themselves in snow-covered Siberia. They run over a construction worker in the middle of the road, who is played by Ivan Shapovalov. After breaking through another fence, some family photos of both the girls as young children are shown during the video. Towards the end, Yulia and Lena climb to the roof of the truck and stand on top, hugging and smiling as they continue to sing the song, until they crack the lens of the camera as they leave.
The song was directed by their former producer Ivan Shapovalov. The music video is also the same music video taken from the Russian version "Nas Ne Dogonyat". The English music video for this song is a re-edited version of the Russian video, altered to remove the lip synching.
A video game was created by a fan based on the music video. In the game, the band is inside a truck trying to get away from the bad guys. The game course also features land mines that the player must dodge. It was uploaded by a user on game-sharing web site Newgrounds.

Media appearances

In the 2009 film, Thick as Thieves the song is played twice. First in a club in Russian, on the first encounter of the characters played by Antonio Banderas and Radha Mitchell and at the end of the film in English when they meet again in the same club.
It also appears in Lilya 4-ever and Chechenia Warrior 3.
A Russian/English remix of this song used during Russian team's entrance at Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Track listing and formats

US CD single

Released 5 May 2003
  1. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  2. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  3. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  4. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  5. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  6. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  7. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  8. "Not Gonna Get Us"
European CD maxi single

Released 5 May 2003
  1. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  2. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  3. "All the Things She Said"
  4. "All the Things She Said"
New Zealand CD single

Released 5 May 2003
  1. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  2. "Ne Ver Ne Boisia"
  3. "All the Things She Said"
UK CD single

Released 26 May 2003
  1. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  2. "Ne Ver Ne Boisia"
  3. "All the Things She Said"
Australian CD single
  1. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  2. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  3. "All the Things She Said"
  4. "All the Things She Said"
Japanese CD single

Released 11 June 2003
  1. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  2. "Not Gonna Get Us"
  3. "All the Things She Said"

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Radio add dates and release history

Radio add dates

Release history

Cover versions and derivatives

"Not Gonna Get Us" was sampled in the song "Miss Love Tantei" by W. The song was used as the closing song in the 2008 film, The Code, which had Russian characters and clubs as central to the plot.
The song was covered by Japanese singer Maki Nomiya on her 2005 album Party People.
In 2014, Tori Amos covered the song in Moscow while on her Unrepentant Geraldines Tour.
In 2004, a cover of the song by Eurobeat artist Dave Rodgers was featured on Super Eurobeat Vol.147