"Serious" is a song by American singer

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 ...

for her debut solo studio album, '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004). It was released on November 12, 2004, along with the rest of the aforementioned album by

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 ...

. The track was written by Stefani and her

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 ...

bandmate,

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 ...

. The latter also produced the song with

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed She ...

, who Stefani and Kanal previously worked with on

's fifth studio album, ''

Rock Steady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

'' (2001). "Serious" is a

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

song with lyrics pertaining to a strong romantic interest in a significant other. "Serious" received generally positive reviews from music critics upon release and was frequently compared to the works of both early

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

and

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

, particularly Minogue's track, "Fever". The song was also received well for its mirror production to '80s songs, with additional praise for being "catchy". An accompanying music video for the recording was filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

but never released; however, a low-quality clip of the video surfaced on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

in 2006. Stefani performed the track on her 2005

Harajuku Lovers Tour The Harajuku Lovers Tour was the first solo concert tour of American recording artist Gwen Stefani. The tour began through October to December 2005, to support of her debut studio album ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004). Although Stefani emba ...

during the encore of the show, where she danced with the

Harajuku Girls The Harajuku Girls are four Japanese and Japanese-American backup dancers featured in stage shows and music videos for Gwen Stefani during her solo pop/ dance-record career. The women also act as an entourage at Stefani's public appearances. The ...

in nurse costumes.

Background and composition

In early 2003, Stefani began embarking on recording sessions for her debut album. After listening to songs recommended to her by

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

and former boyfriend

, she considered recording material that "modernized 1980s music". After writing a series of several songs, including "Serious", "

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

", and "

Luxurious "Luxurious" is a song by American singer and songwriter Gwen Stefani from her debut solo studio album, '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004). Written by Stefani and fellow No Doubt bandmate Tony Kanal, the track contains a sample of the Isley ...

", the pair gave up after Stefani didn't find anything worth recording from the sessions. When asked about the aforementioned collaborations, Stefani expressed her doubts of whether or not her newly recorded material would be any good: "If I were to write the chorus of ' Yesterday' by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, and that's all I wrote, that would be good enough to be part of that history." Due to Stefani's doubts, the project began a six-month hiatus, which resulted in the singer deciding to collaborate with various new musicians instead. Stefani's change of heart also ensured her work with Kanal would end up on ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.''. "Serious" takes influence from the "'80s style" and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

genres, which in turn drew frequent comparisons to the works of

and

Club Nouveau Club Nouveau is an American R&B group formed by record producer/performer Jay King in 1986 in Sacramento, California, following the breakup of the Timex Social Club. The group's name ( French for "New Club") was changed from its original inca ...

. It contains a string melody alongside a

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

rhythm. Opening with "an orchestral ..before diving into a

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

-ready bumping drum beat and ambient synth", Stefani sings: "I think I'm coming down with something / I think I'm gonna need your medicine" in a provocative tone. The use of

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is also present. Hazel Cills from ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

'' found the aforementioned lyric reminiscent of

Carol Douglas Carol Douglas (born April 7, 1948) is an American singer whose hit " Doctor's Orders" (1974) was a pioneering track in the disco genre. Early life and acting career Carol Douglas was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, Unite ...

' 1974 cover of " Doctor's Orders". In between different exclamations "centered around Stefani's manic love", she also announces "breathy,

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 ...

'Oohs' and 'Yeahs'". Theon Weber of '' Spin'' described the composition: "'Serious' carved out a bittersweet niche that applied loping ska upstrokes to new-wave synth washes and blurred warm feelings about lovers into warm feelings about the synth-pop era."

Critical reception

Upon release, the song received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. Many reviewers noted similarities to works of early

and

, with the song being compared to several of the singers' songs. Jason Damas from ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' praised the track for being "a sure contender for future single release", in addition to calling it his "favorite song on the album". He further added: "

fans who always secretly suspected that Stefani may someday move to become a Madonna-like dance diva will find their proof in this cut, which plagiarizes Kylie Minogue's "Fever" but makes the song even bigger and catchier." Winnie McCroy of '' The Villager'' claimed that "Serious" has staying power; he continued: "Despite your best attempts to shake it, you will find yourself humming the chorus", later comparing the track to Madonna's 1992 single "

Erotica Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use a ...

", and Falco's 1985 single "

Rock Me Amadeus "Rock Me Amadeus" is a song recorded by Austrian musician Falco (musician), Falco, for his third studio album, ''Falco 3'' (1985). The single was made available for physical sale in 1985 in German-speaking Europe, through A&M Records, A&M. "Roc ...

". Also in a highly positive review, Sal Cinquemani of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' favored "Serious" for "flawlessly recreat ngthe throwaway lyrics, vocal phrasing and background vocals, and synth sounds of the '80s". A critic from

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

awarded the recording five out of a five stars, calling it "one of the better songs on the album". The reviewer noted Kanal's role in the song's production: "this song wouldn't be that wonderful without him". Another highly positive review came from Marcus Floyd from ''

Renowned for Sound ''Renowned for Sound'' is an Australian online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a pri ...

''; in his review of the parent record, he called it "another catchy melody and addictive arrangement from the platinum blonde star". Lisa Haines, a music editor and columnist for

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Background and composition

Critical reception

Promotion

Music video

Live performances

Credits and personnel

Notes

References