"Excuse Me Mr." is a song by American band
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, they ...
for their third studio album, ''
Tragic Kingdom
''Tragic Kingdom'' is the third studio album by American rock band No Doubt, released on October 10, 1995, by Trauma Records and Interscope Records. It was the final album to feature original keyboardist Eric Stefani, who left the band in 1994. Th ...
'' (1995). The song was written by
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...
and
Tom Dumont
Thomas Martin Dumont (born January 11, 1968) is an American guitarist and producer. Dumont is a member of third wave ska band No Doubt, and during the band's hiatus, he began Invincible Overlord as a side project and produced Matt Costa's ''Song ...
, while produced by
Matthew Wilder
Matthew Wilder ( Weiner; January 24, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. In early 1984, his single "Break My Stride" hit No. 2 on the ''Cash Box'' chart and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ...
. It was released as the fourth single from the album on August 21, 1996. The song has also been included on the band's 2003 greatest hits album, ''
The Singles 1992–2003
''The Singles 1992–2003'' is a greatest hits album by American rock band No Doubt, released on November 14, 2003, by Interscope Records. It features 13 of the band's singles from three studio albums—''Tragic Kingdom'' (1995), ''Return of Satu ...
''. Musically, the former is a
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
-influenced
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
track with lyrics describing a woman trying to get the attention of a man. A
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
version of the song was also created but never released. The single received positive reviews from music critics who labelled it a successful breakup song and as one of the best tracks on ''Tragic Kingdom''.
Commercially, "Excuse Me Mr." had a minimal impact on record charts, reaching the top 40 of the alternative charts in both the United States and Canada and peaking at number 11 on the
Official New Zealand Music Chart
The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Musi ...
.
Sophie Muller
Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is a British music video director who has directed more than 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 ''Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's son ...
directed the accompanying music video in January 1997. The visual features two different storylines, with the first showing No Doubt playing the song to an empty room that eventually becomes crowded with paparazzi, while the second storyline has Stefani tying herself to train tracks in the hopes that a man will come to her rescue. No Doubt has performed the song for a number of live appearances, including during their 1995–97
Tragic Kingdom World Tour
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, they ...
, on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' in December 1996 while serving as the guest musical act, and at the band's Return of Saturn Tour (2000).
Background and release
![No Doubt at Summer Tour 8](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/No_Doubt_at_Summer_Tour_8.jpg)
"Excuse Me Mr." was written by
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...
and
Tom Dumont
Thomas Martin Dumont (born January 11, 1968) is an American guitarist and producer. Dumont is a member of third wave ska band No Doubt, and during the band's hiatus, he began Invincible Overlord as a side project and produced Matt Costa's ''Song ...
, while produced by
Matthew Wilder
Matthew Wilder ( Weiner; January 24, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. In early 1984, his single "Break My Stride" hit No. 2 on the ''Cash Box'' chart and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ...
. It was featured as the second track on No Doubt's third studio album, ''Tragic Kingdom'', which was released on October 10, 1995.
The album was the band's first record with minimal contributions from Gwen's brother,
Eric Stefani
Eric Matthew Stefani (born June 17, 1967) is an American musician, composer, writer and animator best known as the founder and former member of the ska punk band No Doubt. He is the older brother of former bandmate Gwen Stefani and is also a forme ...
, who had left the group due to creative differences earlier in 1995.
Kenneth Partridge from ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' felt that this encouraged the members of No Doubt to incorporate the influences that helped popularize the band; Partridge later stated that this allowed ''Tragic Kingdom'' songs like "You Can Do It", "
Hey You!
"Hey You!" is a song recorded by American rock band No Doubt. It was released as the seventh and final single from their third studio album ''Tragic Kingdom'' (1995). The single was released as a CD single in the Netherlands on February 23, 199 ...
", and "Excuse Me Mr." to be recorded.
The original version of "Excuse Me Mr." was more melodic and mellow, according to
Tony Kanal
Tony Ashwin Kanal (born 27 August 1970) is a British-American musician, record producer, songwriter, and animal rights activist. Kanal is the bassist and co-writer for the American rock bands No Doubt and Dreamcar. His musical work outside of ...
, but the members preferred the "harder version" that was released as a single. No Doubt disagreed with their then-producer Wilder, who wanted the band to record a
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
-influenced rendition.
Member
Adrian Young
Adrian Samuel Young (born August 26, 1969) is an American drummer and member of the rock bands No Doubt and Dreamcar.
Biography
When not performing, in the studio or touring, Young likes to spend his time out on the golf course, as he is an ...
said:
When we recorded Excuse Me Mr.' we used to play it the way it is now, and our producer wanted us to play it almost kind of like a country-shuffle, and so we gave it a shot. We later decided that we didn’t really like that, but the other version was erased from the tape. We had to go back in—it must’ve been months later—we re-recorded it the way we used to play it.
According to the
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
for No Doubt's 2003 greatest hits album, ''
The Singles 1992–2003
''The Singles 1992–2003'' is a greatest hits album by American rock band No Doubt, released on November 14, 2003, by Interscope Records. It features 13 of the band's singles from three studio albums—''Tragic Kingdom'' (1995), ''Return of Satu ...
'', the debate over which version of "Excuse Me Mr." would be featured on ''Tragic Kingdom'' became a debacle. The band told
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
that they would refuse to record "
Spiderwebs", the latter's eventual second single, unless they could re-record the
punk rock version of "Excuse Me Mr.".
The song was first released as an
airplay
Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
single in the United States on August 21, 1996.
Commercial
CD single
A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...
s for "Excuse Me Mr." were not distributed in the United States;
however,
promotional CD singles were created and sent to radio stations across that country.
A Japanese promotional CD single was also made using the same cover art from No Doubt's "
Sunday Morning" (1997).
Composition and lyrics
Musically, "Excuse Me Mr." is a
ska punk
Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardc ...
,
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
and
punk rock song that is reminiscent of No Doubt's previous releases.
Partridge described the track as a
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
-influenced song that pays homage to the music which helped form the band.
Diffuser.fm
Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...
's Brendan Manley noted the track's "
Dixieland
Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
breakdown" during the
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
and cited "Excuse Me Mr." as an example of the one of many different styles of songs on ''Tragic Kingdom''.
David Browne discussed in his ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' review of the album that the track is able to combine various genres within a duration of three minutes.
According to Musicnotes.com, "Excuse Me Mr." is set in
common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
, with a
double time
In popular music, half-time is a type of meter and tempo that alters the rhythmic feel by essentially ''doubling the tempo resolution'' or metric division/level in comparison to common-time. Thus, two measures of approximate a single measure o ...
-like feel and has a very fast
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
of 146 beats per minute.
The key of the song is set in
F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...
, with Gwen Stefani's vocal range spanning nearly an
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
and a half, from A
3 to F
5 in
scientific pitch notation
Scientific pitch notation (SPN), also known as American standard pitch notation (ASPN) and international pitch notation (IPN), is a method of specifying musical Pitch (music), pitch by combining a musical Note (music), note name (with accidental ...
.
The song progresses in the following chord progressions of F–C–Dm–C in each of the two verses.
The song's lyrics describe a woman who is actively trying to capture the attention of a male.
The message is the opposite of that conveyed within "Spiderwebs", and Stefani sings in an anxious tone. Partridge felt that the point in the song where it switches to
circus music
Circus music (also known as carnival music) is any sort of music that is played to accompany a circus, and also music written that emulates its general style. Popular music would also often get arranged for the circus band, as well as waltzes, fox ...
helps secure the idea that love is absurd.
Loren Diblasi from
MTV News
MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
noted that the lyrics of "Excuse Me Mr." suggest that No Doubt was detailing a painful breakup; Stefani sings during the middle eight, "It's almost as if I'm tied to the tracks / And I'm waiting for him to rescue me / The funny thing is, he's not going to come".
These lyrics, specifically, were described as "sonically
slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
" by
Noisey
''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...
's Nick Levine,
while Browne from ''Entertainment Weekly'' compared the lyrics' "rescue-me blankness" to
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
's songwriting abilities.
Seija Rankin speculated that the subject of the song was Kanal, who Stefani had broken up with prior to writing the material for the album.
Reception
"Excuse Me Mr." was met with positive reviews from music critics, with several describing it as one of the highlights on ''Tragic Kingdom''. In honor of the 20th anniversary of the album, a panel of critics from ''The A.V. Club'' reanalyzed it.
Annie Zaleski
Annie Zaleski is an American music journalist and author.
Career
Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The A.V. Club and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio where she has won firs ...
from the publication admired the track in addition to "
Happy Now?" and "Sunday Morning"; she noted that all three of the songs "have just the right amount of pep".
Marah Eakin described "Excuse Me Mr." as a "banger" that "aged well" despite being released over 20 years ago; she also selected the track as one of the album's singles that sounds "fucking good".
Expressing a similar opinion, Ilana Kaplan from ''
The New York Observer
''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...
'' called it "one of the buzzy tracks that erupted" from ''Tragic Kingdom''; she also classified the track as perhaps the "fastest song ever made".
Diblasi was impressed by the track and listed it as the fifth-best "breakup song" on the album. She also found the track to be emotive and one of the "most gut-wrenching tracks" on ''Tragic Kingdom'' because of its ability to help someone "survive a breakup".
In the US, "Excuse Me Mr." peaked at number 17 on ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''s
Alternative Airplay
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
chart.
It did not enter the
''RPM'' singles chart in Canada, though it did reach the Top Rock/Alternative Tracks chart, with the track debuting at number 27. Similarly, it became the fourth consecutive entry from ''Tragic Kingdom'' to make an appearance on the chart.
During its 9th week within the rankings, the track reached a peak of number 12 on March 31, 1997.
Outside of the alternative charts in the United States and Canada, "Excuse Me Mr." only charted in one country. On May 25, 1997, the song debuted at number 38 on the
Official New Zealand Music Chart
The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Musi ...
. The track ultimately peaked at number 11, becoming the 4th top 40 entry from the album.
Music video
The music video for "Excuse Me Mr." was directed by
Sophie Muller
Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is a British music video director who has directed more than 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 ''Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's son ...
and released in early 1997. It served as the fourth of five videos created for the songs of ''Tragic Kingdom''.
Filming for the visual had been completed by January 1997 and took place around No Doubt's touring schedule.
The video opens with the band performing in a dimly-lit room. As the camera pans to the other members, Stefani tries her best to remain in front of it whenever possible, with her resorting to pushing them out of her way. Various women dressed in
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
-inspired outfits are spaced evenly throughout the room and dance provocatively, as the camera approaches them. Before the song's second verse begins, Stefani ties herself to rail tracks in front of an oncoming train with the hopes that nearby people Dumont, Kanal, or Young will come to her rescue. The men fail to do so and Stefani stands up, departs the scene and reenters the dark room. The band resumes playing while a group of paparazzi enters and disrupts them. The video ends with No Doubt posing for a group picture in front of the paparazzi.
The clip was selected for rotation on several music-related television networks, including
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, where it charted within the top 10 on the channel's official "most-played clips" playlist.
In 2004, the video was featured on No Doubt's compilation
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
''
The Videos 1992–2003
''The Videos 1992–2003'' is a DVD featuring all of the music videos released by the American third wave ska band No Doubt, between 1992 and 2003. It was released first in 2003 as the second disc of the '' Boom Box'' box set, and was the compani ...
''.
It was also included as a bonus feature on the second
CD of a two part CD single series for "Spiderwebs" that was released exclusively in the United Kingdom.
Live performances
"Excuse Me Mr." was performed as the second song on No Doubt's 1995–97
Tragic Kingdom World Tour
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, they ...
. The performance of the song at the July 1, 1997 show in
Anaheim
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
, at
The Arrowhead Pond, was recorded and released on the band's first live album, ''
Live in the Tragic Kingdom
''Live in the Tragic Kingdom'' is a video album by American rock band No Doubt. It was released on VHS on November 11, 1997, by Interscope Records, and consists of a filmed concert at The Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California, on May 3 ...
'' (1997).
On the December 7, 1996 episode of the American television series ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'', No Doubt served as the special musical guest, whereas
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada.
He ...
was the episode's host.
During their appearances, they performed their previous single, "
Don't Speak
"Don't Speak" is a song by American rock band No Doubt from their third studio album, ''Tragic Kingdom'' (1995). It was released as the third single from ''Tragic Kingdom'' in the United States on April 15, 1996, by Interscope Records. Lead sin ...
", followed by "Excuse Me Mr.".
The song was performed for No Doubt's Return of Saturn Tour in 2000. A majority of the tracks performed during the event featured Stefani singing about marriage and romance, but when No Doubt returned with tracks from ''Tragic Kingdom'', like the song and "Happy Now?", ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''s
Greg Kot
Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...
found the audience to be more engaged. Kanal and Stefani "bounc
d around the stage during the performance, and Kot compared Stefani's vocals to a cross between cartoon character
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.Pointer (2017) She originally appeared in the ''Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer ...
and American performer
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...
.
For No Doubt's 2002
Rock Steady Tour
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
, the song was performed during the concert's middle segment, in between them singing "
In My Head" and "Different People".
The band's performance of "Excuse Me Mr." at the November 22–23 and 29, 2002 shows at the
Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center
The Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center is a convention center located in Long Beach, California. Built on the former site of the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, the venue is composed of the Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach Ar ...
in
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
were recorded and featured on their second live album, ''
Rock Steady Live
''Rock Steady Live'' is a video album by American ska punk band No Doubt, released on DVD on November 25, 2003 under the Interscope records label. The DVD was directed by Sophie Muller. It is a recording of two of No Doubt's concerts during their ...
'' (2003).
During a reunion concert in 2009, their first official show since 2004, No Doubt performed a revised version of "Excuse Me Mr." to the crowd. According to ''Rolling Stone''s Christopher R. Weingarten, the song had a "radical makeover" as it was "slowed down and skanked up until it sounded like the
English Beat
The Beat (known in the United States and Canada as the English Beat and in Australia as the British Beat) are a British band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978. Their music fuses Latin, ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock.
The Beat, c ...
".
At the first
Rock in Rio USA
Rock in Rio USA was a music festival held in Las Vegas, Nevada from May 8–9 and 15–16, 2015 at the MGM Resorts Festival Grounds on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.
The event was conceived as an American version of Rio de Janeiro's ...
music festival in 2015, No Doubt headlined the main stage during the beginning day of the event. They performed several songs from ''Tragic Kingdom'', including "Don't Speak", "Sunday Morning", and "Excuse Me Mr.".
Track listings
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Tragic Kingdom''.
* Gwen Stefaniwriter, vocals
* Tony Kanalbass
* Matthew Wilderproducer
* Adrian Youngdrums, percussion
* Tom Dumontwriter, guitar
* Eric Stefanikeyboards, piano
* Phil Jordantrumpet
* Robert Vosgienmastering
* David Holmanmixing
* Paul Palmermixing
* Phil Kaffelrecording
* George Landressrecording
Charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
1995 songs
1996 singles
No Doubt songs
Music videos directed by Sophie Muller
Ska songs
Song recordings produced by Matthew Wilder
Songs written by Gwen Stefani
Songs written by Tom Dumont
Interscope Records singles
Trauma Records singles