The Sweet Escape (song)
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"The Sweet Escape" is a song by American singer and songwriter
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 ...
from her second studio album of the same name (2006). It was written by Stefani,
Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P) ...
, and
Giorgio Tuinfort Giorgio Hesdey Tuinfort is a Dutch record producer and songwriter. Biography Born in Suriname, Tuinfort moved to the Netherlands at 9 months old. His musical career started at age 4, after he attended a special music class for toddlers. After b ...
. Akon, who is also a featured artist, developed the song's
beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...
before collaborating with Stefani. He designed it based on her previous work with
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 ...
, and Stefani later commented that it put her "on the
yellow brick road The yellow brick road is a fictional element in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by American author L. Frank Baum. The road also appears in the several sequel Oz books such as ''The Marvelous Land of Oz'' (1904) and ''The ...
to the No Doubt record I might do". "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. "The Sweet Escape" was released as the album's second single on December 19, 2006, and was commercially successful in mainstream and
adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
markets. It reached the top 10 of most singles charts and topped the
New Zealand Singles 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 Music ...
. The song was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the
50th Grammy Awards The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonies ...
. In the song's accompanying music video, Stefani attempts to escape from a golden prison.


Background and writing

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 ...
' CEO
Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and media proprietor best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which produces ...
, who helped with A&R for ''The Sweet Escape'', arranged the collaboration between Stefani and Akon. Interscope sent Stefani a copy of Akon's 2004 debut album ''
Trouble Trouble may refer to: Film and television * ''Trouble'' (1922 film), an American silent comedy-drama film directed by Albert Austin * ''Trouble'' (1933 film), a British comedy film * ''Trouble'' (1977 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Trouble'' ...
'' and repeatedly encouraged her to work with him. Akon readily accepted, and Stefani accepted after several people had pushed her to work with him. When Akon was asked to work with Stefani, he reviewed her work, ranging from her music with
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 ...
to her solo career. He noted that the sound Stefani had cultivated with No Doubt was missing from her solo work. Iovine called Stefani, telling her, "You can cancel everything else in your life, but don't cancel this session." She decided to work with Akon and expected that they would work on writing a generic hip hop song, one that would not fit her well. When they met, Akon played some of his tracks for her. 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. They came up with a
doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...
song rather than the hip hop sound Stefani had expected.


Music and lyrics

"The Sweet Escape" is a pop and
doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...
song composed in the key of
B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: : Changes neede ...
.Sheet music for "The Sweet Escape".
Famous Music Famous Music Corporation was the worldwide music publishing division of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global since 1994. Its copyright holdings span several decades and includes music from such Academy Award-winning motion pictures ...
. 2007.
It is written in compound quadruple meter, commonly used in doo-wop, and has a moderate tempo of 120
beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...
. Stefani's vocal range covers nearly two octaves, from G3 to F5. The song uses two-
measure Measure may refer to: * Measurement, the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event Law * Ballot measure, proposed legislation in the United States * Church of England Measure, legislation of the Church of England * Mea ...
phrases In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
that, aside from the choruses, use a i–III–IV–VI
chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
. The B minor chord is held for 1⅓ of a beat, and a
relative Relative may refer to: General use *Kinship and family, the principle binding the most basic social units society. If two people are connected by circumstances of birth, they are said to be ''relatives'' Philosophy *Relativism, the concept that ...
transformation is then used to produce a second-inversion
D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...
chord, which is held for 1⅔ of a beat. In the second measure, a first-inversion
E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...
chord with an added ninth precedes a
G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable compositi ...
major seventh chord In music, a major seventh chord is a seventh chord in which the third is a major third above the root and the seventh is a major seventh above the root. The major seventh chord, sometimes also called a ''Delta chord'', can be written as maj7, M7, , ...
; the chords are held for the same durations as the previous two. The song opens with an
introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...
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 Die Ärzte (; ) is a German rock band from Berlin. The band has released 14 studio albums. The group consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B and bass player Rodrigo González. All three write and perform their songs. History Ea ...
.
Overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
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. The song's lyrics discuss an argument between spouses. Stefani apologizes "for acting stank" to her lover. She asks her lover for forgiveness and describes wanting to be a better wife. 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) "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" is a song by American recording artist Monica. It was written by Dallas Austin, Willie James Baker, and Derrick Simmons for her debut album, ''Miss Thang'' (1995), while production was helmed by t ...
" and
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
's 1999 single "
I'm Good at Being Bad "I'm Good at Being Bad" is a song recorded by American girl group TLC for their third album ''FanMail''. It was released as a promotional single when " No Scrubs" was distributed to radio. Despite not being commercially released, the track peak ...
". In contrast to her songwriting on No Doubt's ''
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), Stefani intimates a desire for a pleasant domestic life, most extensively during the chorus.


Critical reception

"The Sweet Escape" received generally positive reviews from contemporary pop music critics. In a review for
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
described the song as "an irresistible ... track, driven by a giddy 'wee-oh!'
hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...
and supported by a nearly anthemic summertime chorus". John Murphy of
musicOMH MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...
referred to "The Sweet Escape" as "a lovely, summery bouncy pop song with a very infectious chorus". Murphy compared the song to
Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...
's 2002 single "
Keep Fishin' "Keep Fishin'" is a song by the American alternative rock band Weezer. It is the second single from the band's fourth album, ''Maladroit''. Reception Melissa Bobbitt at About.com ranked "Keep Fishin'" as the 13th best Weezer song, where she comme ...
", and ''
Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen appliance, kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsion, emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender ...
''s
Ben Sisario Ben Sisario is an American academic, author, and journalist. Career He is a staff reporter for ''The New York Times'', covering music and culture. Sisario is also the author of ''Doolittle'' (2006) a non-fiction book in the 33⅓ series about t ...
compared it to the work of
The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
. Alex Miller from the ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' compared the song to
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 ...
's early work but added that it sounded "cringey and saccharine". Anna Britten from
Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of ...
commented that it sounded like music from 1970, specifically that of
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
group
Chairmen of the Board Chairmen of the Board is an American-Canadian, Detroit, Michigan-based soul music musical ensemble, group, who saw their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. Recording career General Johnson (musician), General Johnson (1941–2010) had a ...
. Bill Lamb of
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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".
MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...
's video review program '' Video on Trial'' referred to the song as "incredibly intoxicating". Akon's presence as a featured artist on the track received negative reviews. Quentin B. Huff of ''
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 ...
'' found that Akon contributed too few vocals to the song and that they were wasted. ''
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 ...
'' reviewer
Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at ''Blen ...
agreed, viewing the song as a fumbled attempt to capitalize on the success of Akon's "
Smack That "Smack That" is a song by American singer and songwriter Akon featuring American rapper Eminem from the former's second studio album '' Konvicted'' (2006). Produced by the latter, it was written by the artists alongside Mike Strange and Luis Res ...
" featuring
Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
. ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
''s Paul Flynn was displeased with his presence in lieu of higher profile hip hop artists such as
Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...
and
André 3000 André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), better known as André 3000, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for being a part of southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi. B ...
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". Charles Merwin of
Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...
described his vocals as "yelping".


Commercial performance

In the United States, "The Sweet Escape" debuted at number 93 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the issue dated December 30, 2006. Following Stefani and Akon's performance of the song on ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
'' in late March 2007, it peaked at number two on the chart dated April 14 behind Akon's subsequent single "
Don't Matter "Don't Matter" is a reggae fusion– R&B song by American singer Akon from his second studio album, ''Konvicted'' (2006). The song was released as the album's third single in January 2007. In April of that year, it became Akon's first solo U.S. n ...
", selling 140,200 downloads during that week. The song spent 15 consecutive weeks in the top 10 and remained on the chart for over nine months, listed at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 year-end chart. The single was successful in mainstream music, topping the
Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...
and
Pop 100 Airplay The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles sa ...
charts and reaching number two on the
Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...
chart. It had strong airplay on
adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
stations and reached the top five of the
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...
and
Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...
charts. The song was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the
2008 Grammy Awards The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonie ...
, but lost to
Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...
and
Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...
' "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)". At over 2.1 million downloads, "The Sweet Escape" was the third best-selling digital track of 2007, and
Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owned ...
listed it as the fifth most played song of the year. The song had equal success on ''Billboard''s
Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...
; it reached number two on unpublished versions of the chart, and debuted at number 14 when the chart was introduced during the week of June 2, 2007, the 10th week that "The Sweet Escape" had been listed. The song remained on the Canadian Hot 100 for over six months after the chart was officially introduced. "The Sweet Escape" was similarly successful in Europe, topping the ''Billboard''
European Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and '' Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...
chart for three weeks in March 2007. In the United Kingdom, the song entered the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
at number three, selling 30,000 copies in its first week. The following week, the track peaked at number two behind
Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...
's " Shine", giving Stefani her highest-charting solo single in the UK. It spent a second consecutive week at number two behind
Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...
and
Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...
's cover of "
Walk This Way "Walk This Way" is a song by the American rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the album '' Toys in the Attic'' (1975). It peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboa ...
", selling 23,500 copies. The single was successful across continental Europe as well, reaching the top five in France, Hungary, Norway, the Netherlands, and Romania, and the top 10 in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland. The song debuted at number two on Australia's
ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
and remained there for six weeks, behind
Hinder Hinder is an American rock band from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, formed in 2001 by lead singer Austin John Winkler, guitarist Joe "Blower" Garvey, and drummer Cody Hanson with bassist Mike Roden and guitarist Mark King joining in 2003, solidifying ...
's "
Lips of an Angel "Lips of an Angel" is a song by American rock band Hinder, produced and co-written by Brian Howes and Joseph Lombardo. It was released in July 2006 as the second single from their 2005 debut album, '' Extreme Behavior''. It was their breakthroug ...
" and later
Silverchair Silverchair were an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...
's " Straight Lines". The
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...
(ARIA) certified "The Sweet Escape" double platinum for shipping 140,000 copies. In New Zealand, the single debuted atop the chart and was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...
(RIANZ).


Music video

The song's
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
premiered on January 10, 2007, on
LAUNCHcast Yahoo! Music Radio (formerly known as LAUNCHcast) was an Internet radio service offered by Clear Channel Communications' iHeartRadio through Yahoo! Music. The service, formerly offered by LAUNCH Media, and originally developed by Todd Beaupré, ...
. The video opens with scenes of Stefani and 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 a golden jail. After obtaining the key from a dog, they escape. Stefani is then shown in a
penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...
two hours later. She lets down two long braids, allowing the Harajuku Girls to scale the building and cut off the braids. They meet Akon at a convenience store parking lot, and Stefani drives off with him. They are pursued by two of the Harajuku Girls as police officers, and the video closes with Stefani back in jail after two hours of chasing. The video is intercut with sequences of Stefani and Akon in front of a letter G in lights. The video was filmed in December 2006, several days before
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
. It was directed by
Joseph Kahn Joseph Kahn may refer to: *Joseph Kahn (director) (born 1972), a film and music video director *Joseph Kahn (journalist) (born 1964), American journalist * Joseph Kahn (shipping executive) (1916–1979), American businessman See also *Joseph Hahn ...
and produced by Maryann Tenado of H.S.I. Productions. The jail and penthouse scenes in the video are symbolic of "being jailed by love". Stefani being unable to escape her metaphoric prisons represents how one cannot escape from oneself. The penthouse scene is an allusion to the 19th-century
fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...
"
Rapunzel "Rapunzel" ( , ) is a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of ''Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Brothers Grimm's story developed from the French literary fairy tale of ''Persinette ...
". The video features
product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...
for two
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
vehicles, the
Chevrolet Tahoe The Chevrolet Tahoe, and its badge engineered GMC Yukon counterpart, are full-size SUVs from General Motors, offered since 1994 and 1991, respectively. Since 1982, Chevrolet and GMC sold two different-sized SUVs under their 'Blazer' and 'Jimmy ...
, and the
Buick Lucerne The Buick Lucerne is a full-size car manufactured by General Motors from 2005 to 2011. Named for the city of Lucerne, Switzerland, it served as Buick's top-of-the-line sedan until it was replaced by the second generation Buick LaCrosse. History T ...
. "The Sweet Escape" premiered on
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 ...
's top-10 video chart program ''
Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...
'' at number seven January 16, 2007, and it peaked at number two the next month. The video was nominated for Most Earthshattering Collaboration, one of four categories created for the reinvented 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
and
Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...
's "
Beautiful Liar "Beautiful Liar" is a song by American singer Beyoncé and Colombian singer Shakira. It was written by Beyoncé, Amanda Ghost, Ian Dench, and Stargate members Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, and produced by Stargate and Beyoncé for th ...
". After its January 20 debut on MuchMusic's ''
Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
'', it reached number one for two weeks in March 2007. In December 2007,
MTV International MTV International, also known as Music Television International and MTVI was the internet-based international version of MTV. The channel was a subsidiary of MTV Networks. The channel was broadcast on MySpace on MTV International's blog, and pow ...
introduced a certification system to recognize music videos that were successful on stations outside the US. Plays were totaled from February through June 2007, and with 11,000 plays, "The Sweet Escape" was the most successful video, receiving a platinum award.


Live performances

"The Sweet Escape" was featured on Stefani's
The Sweet Escape Tour The Sweet Escape Tour was the second concert tour by American recording artist Gwen Stefani. The tour began in April 2007 in support of her second solo album ''The Sweet Escape'' (2006). Performing for nearly a hundred concerts, the tour traveled ...
. She also performed the song with Akon at the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards, ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
'', and ''
The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...
''.


In popular culture

The song and video were parodied on the February 17, 2007, episode of ''
Mad TV ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by '' Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reunion show in 2015 to celebrate the twentiet ...
'' as "Aren't Asians Great?". The video features
Nicole Parker Nicole Frances Parker (born February 21, 1978) is an American actress. She is best known for her work on Fox's sketch comedy show '' Mad TV'' (2003–2009, 2016), which she was a regular cast member. In July 2009, Parker concluded her run as El ...
as Stefani and discusses the singer's love of Asian culture as well as Asian contributions to the world. The song was also featured in the November 13, 2017, episode of ''
Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...
'' called "Midvale". The song is played in a scene where the characters Alex and Kara Danvers go on a road trip.


Track listings

* UK and European 2-track CD single # "The Sweet Escape" (featuring
Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P) ...
) – 4:06 # "
Hollaback Girl "Hollaback Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani from her debut solo studio album, ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004). It is a Hip hop music, hip-hop song that draws influence from 1980s in music, 1980s hip hop, hip-hop a ...
" (
Harajuku Lovers Live ''Harajuku Lovers Live'' is the first live long-form video by American recording artist Gwen Stefani. It was released on DVD on December 4, 2006, by Interscope Records. The DVD was directed by Sophie Muller and produced by Oil Factory Productions ...
Version) – 4:49 * Australian and European CD maxi single # "The Sweet Escape" (featuring Akon) – 4:06 # "
Hollaback Girl "Hollaback Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani from her debut solo studio album, ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004). It is a Hip hop music, hip-hop song that draws influence from 1980s in music, 1980s hip hop, hip-hop a ...
" (Harajuku Lovers Live Version) – 4:49 # " Wind It Up" (Robots to Mars Remix) – 3:34 # "The Sweet Escape" (video) – 4:05 * US 12-inch single :A1. "The Sweet Escape" (Konvict Remix) (featuring Akon) – 4:03 :A2. "The Sweet Escape" (Album Version) (featuring Akon) – 4:06 :B1. "The Sweet Escape" (Konvict Instrumental) – 4:03 :B2. "The Sweet Escape" (Album Version Instrumental) – 4:06 :B3. "The Sweet Escape" (Album Version Acappella) – 3:51 * Digital download – Konvict Remix # "The Sweet Escape" (Konvict Remix) (featuring Akon) – 4:01


Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''
The Sweet Escape ''The Sweet Escape'' is the second studio album by American singer Gwen Stefani. It was released on December 1, 2006, by Interscope Records. Having originally intended to return to No Doubt after her debut solo album, '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby. ...
''. *
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 ...
– lead vocals, songwriting *
Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P) ...
– keyboards, production, programming, songwriting, vocals * Yvan Bing – assistant engineering * Alex Dromgoole – assistant engineering * Bojan Dugic – recording * David Emery – assistant engineering * Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering * Mark "Exit" Goodchild – recording * Keith Gretlein – recording * Tony Love – guitar * Kevin Mills – recording *
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 ...
– mixing *
Giorgio Tuinfort Giorgio Hesdey Tuinfort is a Dutch record producer and songwriter. Biography Born in Suriname, Tuinfort moved to the Netherlands at 9 months old. His musical career started at age 4, after he attended a special music class for toddlers. After b ...
– co-production, keyboards, programming, songwriting


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


Release history


See also

*
List of European number-one hits of 2007 This is a list of the European Hot 100 Singles and European Top 100 Albums number ones of 2007, as published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart history References {{European record charts Europe 2007 2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From ...
*
List of number-one singles from the 2000s (New Zealand) In New Zealand, the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) compiles the top forty singles chart each week. Sales of songs determined 75% of the sorting information, and radio airplay figures were responsible for 25%. From 18 April ...
* List of number-one urban singles of 2007 (Australia) * List of UK R&B Chart number-one singles of 2007


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet Escape, The 2006 songs 2006 singles Akon songs Doo-wop songs European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Gwen Stefani songs Interscope Records singles Music videos directed by Joseph Kahn Number-one singles in New Zealand Song recordings produced by Akon Songs written by Akon Songs written by Giorgio Tuinfort Songs written by Gwen Stefani