TMS Spotlight: My Favorite Gwen Stefani Song

(Lorenzo Agius)

Anyone who knows me knows exercise does not come naturally to my body. I was always last during jogs/runs in PE and already knew I wasn’t strong or flexible enough for sports or cheerleading. I’m a transparent couch potato. But, in cases of emergency—such as unnecessarily long periods of down time in between college and my career, or an unexpected global pandemic—sometimes drastic times call for drastic measures. Including adding working out to a ridiculously free schedule for something extra to do. In both cases, I created a special iPhone playlist of super catchy tunes to pump me up and keep me in the mood for my weekly ‘power walks.’ Both playlists included Gwen Stefani’s 2004 single ‘What You Waiting For,’ also the opening track of her successful debut solo LP, ‘Love.Angel.Music.Baby.’ Co-written by Gwen and legendary songwriter Linda Perry, and produced by English hitmaker Nellee Hooper; ‘What You Waiting For’ starts with a slow, pseudo-live piano intro before instantly jumping into the fast, paranoid new wave-ish and electropop beats that sound like someone is desperately trying to run away. Unsurprisingly, the song was composed by Gwen and Linda after the former’s famous ska band, No Doubt, had finished the huge promotional tour for their 2001 album ‘Rock Steady,’ which left her exhausted physically and mentally. [♫How did the years go by? Now it’s only me…♫] The song is reminiscent of those moments when you’re swamped with a busy schedule, or perhaps feeling the need to work off a few calories, hence ‘What You Waiting For’ being the one consistent inclusion on my workout playlists the past twenty years.

Though ‘Rich Girl’ and ‘Hollaback Girl’ ended up the standout singles of ‘LAMB,’ ‘WYWF’ had its time on the waves too, paving the way for similarly structured pop singles like Fergie’s ‘Fergalicious’ from her own popular 2006 solo debut ‘The Dutchess’ without her own group Black Eyed Peas. As well as Nelly Furtado’s ‘Maneater’ on her 2006 off-brand pop LP ‘Loose,’ and Aly & AJ’s ‘Potential Breakup Song’ off their 2007 album ‘Insomniatic.’ The lyrics to Gwen’s song reference the hectic, non-stop parts of fame when you barely have time to breathe. ♫You’re still a super hot female, you’ve got your million dollar contract, and they’re all waiting for your hot track.♫ I imagine most music superstars can identify with this at their prime. Though the hypnotic ‘tick, tock, tick, tock’ repeated throughout the track is appropriate, the line “Take a chance, you stupid ho,” is a little silly in retrospect. We also hear some sporadic Japanese at various points of ‘WYWF,’ which is referenced directly in the third verse when Gwen sings about wishing she could visit Japan and see the stylish Harajuku Girls.

(James Devaney)

Gwen would recruit a group of backup dancers from Harajuku to act as her posse for the whole ‘LAMB’ era, to a very perplexing reception. The girls not only performed in her music videos and concerts, but went everywhere with the platinum blonde star, including interviews. They were usually silent and only responded when Gwen spoke to them, with the singer making odd, vague suggestions that the dancers were ‘imaginary’ and ‘in her head.’ This led to Gwen being accused of cultural fetishism and ignorance. In my opinion, though the Harajuku Girls were executed a little awkwardly, I think what Gwen was trying to create was a cyberpunk Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz type thing, where her ‘LAMB’ concept is reality mixed with fantasy. The ‘WYWF’ music vid is literally an Alice homage, so this would make sense. The problem is Gwen didn’t bother to properly phrase this thought process and decided to just let the gimmick speak for itself. So, unfortunately, most people didn’t pick up on the reasoning, and were confused on why this white superstar was bossing around a group of young Asian girls.

Beyond the album’s questionable aesthetic, most of the songs on ‘LAMB’ hold up pretty well melodically and technically. Two other favorites of mine are the lush ballad ‘Cool’ and the smooth R&B heavy ‘Luxurious,’ the latter featuring both Gwen’s then husband Gavis Rossdale, and her former boyfriend and bandmate Tony Kanal. To a lot of ‘00s teens like me, Gwen was the It girl of the decade. By the time Fergie, Nelly and Justin Timberlake were shooting up the charts in 2006/07, Gwen’s second solo album, ‘The Sweet Escape,’ was alongside her pop peers. These are the music artists I distinctly remember as the soundtrack of my life as a high school upperclassman. While ‘The Sweet Escape’ was a worthy follow-up with its polished production and earwormy tunes, it was missing some of the sporadic fun of ‘LAMB.’ Naturally, ‘What You Waiting For’ continued to be the definitive Gwen tune to my mind as her prime reigned. Like her iconic predecessors Cher and Madonna, Gwen is messy, she’s unfiltered, she has fashion sense, she can rock as much as bop, and she was the right star at the right time. And whenever I’ll feel the need to get into shape, she’ll be at the top of my motivational playlist. ♫Take a chance ‘cause you might grow. What you waiting for?♫