Cool (song by Gwen Stefani)

Cool is a song by American artistGwen Stefanifrom her first studio album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. . Written by Stefani and Dallas Austin, it is the fourthsinglefrom the album and appeared on US radio in July 2005. Austin is based on Simple Kind of Life of No Doubt but does not finish the song. He then offers his help to Stefani and finishes the song in fifteen minutes. The musical style of the track is inspired bypopand thenew waveof the 80s. The lyrics of the song describe a love relationship that ends but everything remains” cool “between the two people involved.

The song usually gets good reviews and is compared to songs by Cyndi Lauper and Madonna . The media note similarities between the lyrics of the song and the relationship between Stefani and Tony Kanal , a former No Doubt band member . The single meets a moderate success in hits-parades. It reaches the top 10 in Australia, New Zealand and the Czech Republic and the top 20 in Denmark, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The clip is directed by Sophie Muller and shot at Lake Como in Italy. He shows several Stefani flashbacks about a romantic relationship with a boy, who is now his friend. The song is part of the schedule of the 2005 Harajuku Lovers Tour , tour video and New Zealand compilation Now! Flight, 20 .

Genesis and musical structure

Cool is written by Dallas Austin after hearing the song Underneath It All from No Doubt ² . Austin adds that he is trying to make his own version of Simple Kind of Life but is unable to finish the song. He later asks Stefani if she wants to write the lyrics with him²^,³ . During a recording session, they finish Cool in fifteen minutes. Stefani commented: “When he told me about the song and told me he was coming to that, something is triggered in me ³ ” . Cool lyricsreflect the old romantic relationship between Stefani and bassist Tony Kanal ³^,⁴. Even though their adventure ended, Stefani’s attitude is “cool” and they remain good friends ³^,⁴ . The relationship between Stefani and Kanal provides inspiration for Do not Speak⁵ , while Cool presents a friendly relationship between two former lovers ³ , Do not Speak shows a dying relationship that never finds solutions for the couple ⁵ . Stefani says she never intended to include “personal” material inLove. Angel. Music. Baby. and comments, “No matter what you do, things come out. This ends all that was in my head and ends a period of a nice way ³ ” . The words sum up the evolution of their relationship with the line “After all we’ve been through, I know we’re cool ¹ ” .

Cool is a new wave style love song. It is in the tone of D major⁶ . She has acommon rhythmic signature and a moderate tempo of 112 beats per minute, while Stefani’s voice ranks between the notes Fa₃ and Do₅⁶ . It is written in the common form chord-verse⁶ and presents five instruments: the bass guitar, the drums, the guitar, the keyboards and the synthesizer¹ . Cool starts with all of its five instruments, and when Stefani began singing, the synthesizer volume decreases while the rate of the battery increases⁶. She performs her highest pitch (Do ₅ ) during the chorus, after which she sings in a more serious register and reaches her lowest pitch (Fa ₃ ) at the beginning of verses ⁶ . The synthesizer mimics sounds of wind and wood while the bass and guitar keep a eighth note , using the I-IV-V chord progression for the verses. The drum is present during the percussion section, and the snare drum is introduced at the beginning of the first chorus, which maintains this rhythm. During the fade, Stefani repeats “I know we’re cool” and “yeah” then “cool”. Its vocal range covers nearly two octaves ⁶ .