"Don't Misunderstand" is a ballad in the key of F, written by Gordon Parks, who composed both the music and the lyrics. It was written for the soundtrack of Shaft's Big Score!, the 1972 blaxploitation film that Parks also directed. Parks composed and performed the score after Isaac Hayes declined to do so. O. C. Smith recorded the song on 20 June 1972, and it was first released that year on the album Shaft's Big Score! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). The song is written in the style of a jazz standard and has since been recorded widely by jazz singers and instrumentalists. Vocal versions include those by Nancy Wilson (1973), Carmen McRae (1977), Etta Jones (1978), Mark Murphy (1980) and Jimmy Heath (2020). Instrumental recordings were made by Ahmad Jamal (1974), Stanley Turrentine (1980) and Ron Carter (1981).
