The Sweet Escape (song)
"The Sweet Escape" is a song by American singer Gwen Stefani from her 2006 second solo studio album of the same name. It was written by Stefani, Aliaune "Akon" Thiam and Giorgio Tuinfort, and produced by the latter two. Akon, who is also a featured artist, developed the song's beat before collaborating with Stefani. He designed it based on her previous work with No Doubt, and Stefani later commented that it put her "on the yellow brick road to the No Doubt record I might do".[1] "The Sweet Escape" is an apology for a fight between two lovers and describes a dream of a pleasant life for them. As the album's title track, its title was chosen to help market Stefani's music and fashion lines.
This article is about the song by Gwen Stefani. For the song by Alesso, see Sweet Escape."The Sweet Escape"
December 19, 2006
2006
- Right Track Recording (New York City)
- Doppler (Atlanta)
- Henson Recording (Hollywood)
4:06
- Gwen Stefani
- Aliaune Thiam
- Giorgio Tuinfort
- Aliaune "Akon" Thiam
- Giorgio Tuinfort
Interscope Records released "The Sweet Escape" on December 19, 2006, as the album's second single and was commercially successful in mainstream and adult contemporary markets. It reached the top 10 of most charts and topped the New Zealand Singles Chart. "The Sweet Escape" was also well-received by music critics upon release. It was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. The accompanying music video for "The Sweet Escape" was directed by Joseph Kahn and shows Stefani attempting to escape from a golden prison.
Background and writing[edit]
Interscope Records' CEO Jimmy Iovine, who helped with A&R for The Sweet Escape, arranged the collaboration between Stefani and Akon.[2] Interscope sent Stefani a copy of Akon's 2004 debut album Trouble and repeatedly encouraged her to work with him. Akon readily accepted,[2] and Stefani accepted after several people had pushed her to work with him.[3]
When Akon was asked to work with Stefani, he reviewed her work, ranging from her music with No Doubt to her solo career. He noted that the sound Stefani had cultivated with No Doubt was missing from her solo work.[2] Iovine called Stefani, telling her, "You can cancel everything else in your life, but don't cancel this session."[4] She decided to work with Akon and expected that they would work on writing a generic hip hop song,[4] one that would not fit her well.[3]
When they met, Akon played some of his tracks for her.[3] They thought about words that would suit the marketing of Stefani's music and her clothing lines L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers, settling on "Sweet Escape". Akon played her the beat he had developed, and they began working on the song.[2] They came up with a doo-wop song rather than the hip hop sound Stefani had expected.[4]
Music and lyrics[edit]
"The Sweet Escape" is a dance and doo-wop song composed in the key of B♭ minor.[5][6][7] It is written in compound quadruple meter, commonly used in doo-wop, and has a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. Stefani's vocal range covers nearly two octaves, from G3 to F5.[5]
The song uses two-measure phrases that, aside from the choruses, use a i–III–IV–VI chord progression. The B♭ minor chord is held for 1⅓ of a beat, and a relative transformation is then used to produce a second-inversion D♭ major chord, which is held for 1⅔ of a beat. In the second measure, a first-inversion E♭ major chord with an added ninth precedes a G♭ major major seventh chord; the chords are held for the same durations as the previous two.[5]
The song opens with an introduction which consists of eight measures of instrumentals, followed by eight measures in which Akon sings "Woohoo, yeehoo". The introduction has been claimed to be similar to that in the 1986 song "Sweet Sweet Gwendoline" by German band Die Ärzte.[8] Overdubbing is introduced in the middle of the first verse to produce a sequence of eighth note B♭ minor chords from Stefani's vocals. Stefani's voice is overdubbed again when she sings the chorus twice. Akon performs, and Stefani then sings the second verse and the choruses again. She returns to the latter part of the first verse and repeats the choruses. The song closes as Akon repeats the lines "Woohoo, yeehoo" and "I wanna get away to our sweet escape" as the song fades.[5]
The song's lyrics discuss an argument between spouses.[9] Stefani apologizes "for acting stank" to her lover. She asks her lover for forgiveness and describes wanting to be a better wife.[10] Although Stefani acknowledges her misdeeds, she nonetheless pushes off some of the blame in a manner that drew comparisons to Monica's 1995 single "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" and TLC's 1999 single "I'm Good at Being Bad".[11] In contrast to her songwriting on No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom (1995), Stefani intimates a desire for a pleasant domestic life, most extensively during the chorus.[12]
Critical reception[edit]
"The Sweet Escape" received generally positive reviews from contemporary pop music critics. In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the song as "an irresistible ... track, driven by a giddy 'wee-oh!' hook and supported by a nearly anthemic summertime chorus".[7] John Murphy of musicOMH referred to "The Sweet Escape" as "a lovely, summery bouncy pop song with a very infectious chorus".[13] Murphy compared the song to Weezer's 2002 single "Keep Fishin'",[13] and Blender's Ben Sisario compared it to the work of the Beach Boys.[12] Alex Miller from NME compared the song to Madonna's early work but added that it sounded "cringey and saccharine".[14] Anna Britten from Yahoo! Music commented that it sounded like music from 1970, specifically that of soul group Chairmen of the Board.[15] Bill Lamb of About.com called the song "a welcome change from the over-produced 'Wind It Up'", but noted that it "easily jets in one ear and out the other leaving little trace of its presence".[16] MuchMusic's video review program Video on Trial referred to the song as "incredibly intoxicating".[17]
Akon's presence as a featured artist on the track received negative reviews. Quentin B. Huff of PopMatters found that Akon contributed too few vocals to the song and that they were wasted.[11] Rolling Stone reviewer Rob Sheffield agreed, viewing the song as a fumbled attempt to capitalize on the success of Akon's "Smack That" featuring Eminem.[9] The Observer's Paul Flynn was displeased with his presence in lieu of higher profile hip hop artists such as Dr. Dre and André 3000 on Stefani's previous album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004). He added that the song sounded like a "weirdly flat" version of Madonna's 1986 single "True Blue".[18] Charles Merwin of Stylus Magazine described his vocals as "yelping".[19]
Live performances[edit]
"The Sweet Escape" was featured on Stefani's The Sweet Escape Tour. She also performed the song with Akon at the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards, American Idol, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
In popular culture[edit]
The song and video were parodied on the February 17, 2007, episode of Mad TV as "Aren't Asians Great?". The video features Nicole Parker as Stefani and discusses the singer's love of Asian culture as well as Asian contributions to the world.[50]
The song was also featured in the November 13, 2017, episode of Supergirl called "Midvale". The song is played in a scene where the characters Alex and Kara Danvers go on a road trip.[51]