The meaning behind “The Sweet Escape” by Gwen Stefani deals with experiencing personal drama, sure. But at the time the track was released, the singer’s personal life was on the upswing.
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Unintended, Pleasant Consequences
After the massive success of Gwen Stefani’s debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby., she planned on resuming work with No Doubt. But if you’ve followed No Doubt’s career, things don’t always go according to plan for them.
A new album from No Doubt remained on hold—so it was on to another solo album. Stefani had planned on an EP of leftover tracks, but Pharrell Williams convinced her to make L.A.M.B., Part 2. Stefani released The Sweet Escape in 2006.
The album received mixed reviews, and critics noted that some of the material discarded from the first album probably shouldn’t have made this one either. The New York Times said Stefani “rebooks some of the same producers and repeats some of the old tricks with less flair.”
However, Stefani did work with a new producer on the album’s title track. The same music legend who connected Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith connected Stefani with a Senegalese American rapper and producer. Together, they created one of Stefani’s most successful solo singles.
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Love and Marriage
Jimmy Iovine introduced Stefani to Akon. Speaking with MTV News, Akon thought Stefani’s solo work was missing the sound she created with No Doubt. But she was skeptical of the collaboration, expecting a run-of-the-mill hip-hop production, but Iovine convinced her to keep the session he’d booked. She was surprised when Akon played the beat that became “The Sweet Escape.” The duo wrote a tender doo-wop song where the Tragic Kingdom singer longs for peaceful domesticity.
The song is about an argument between spouses, and Stefani pleads for forgiveness, though not without placing a little blame on her man.
If I could escape
I would, but first of all, let me say
I must apologize for acting, stinking, treating you this way
’Cause I’ve been acting like sour milk all on the floor
It’s your fault you didn’t shut the refrigerator
Maybe that’s the reason I’ve been acting so cold
She imagines escaping the madness of everyday life, where she promises to be your favorite girl. Akon’s production sounds similar to Chairmen of the Board’s 1970s soul, “Give Me Just a Little More Time.” While General Johnson begs for more time, Stefani’s escape is a time-stop, a pause, and a reset from a nasty fight.
If I could escape
And recreate a place as my own world
And I could be your favorite girl
Forever, perfectly together
And tell me, boy, now wouldn’t that be sweet?
Stefani and Akon co-wrote and produced the song with Giorgio Tuinfort, a frequent Akon collaborator who became known for the 2010 David Guetta hit “Who’s That Chick?” featuring Rihanna.
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Harajuku Girls
Joseph Kahn directed the music video for “The Sweet Escape,” where Stefani’s romantic escape becomes a law-breaking getaway. In the video, she’s locked in a golden jail cell, dressed in black and white stripes echoing Elvis Presley in “Jailhouse Rock.” Stefani’s Japanese backup dancers and frequent entourage, the Harajuku Girls, appear in the video.
At one point, Stefani is running from a 7-Eleven, and it’s unclear if she’s just pinched a Big Gulp. She escapes in Akon’s getaway car, followed in hot pursuit by the Harajuku Girls driving a police cruiser.
Everything Zen
The dream of domestic bliss paralleled Stefani’s personal life during “The Sweet Escape.” She had started a family with Bush singer Gavin Rossdale, and the couple’s complicated relationship was already made public in the No Doubt song “Ex-Girlfriend.”
Stefani was juggling a lot. Will she return to No Doubt? What’s her equally famous husband up to? Can she be a mother and a pop star? It was all a big, ugly reminder of the questions women in music face that the men never have to.
Songs are interesting in the way they evolve in meaning. “The Sweet Escape” is multi-layered in how it paralleled Stefani’s life personally and professionally. The internal drama of No Doubt became a feature of the SoCal ska group. But drama produces both comedy and tragedy, and Gwen Stefani is best known for wearing a smile. She escaped after all.
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
