Music Review: Gwen Stefani "Wind It Up"
Gwen Stefani
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Wind It Up
Album: The Sweet Escape
Year: 2006
Gwen Stefani enjoys the male attention she receives by dancing provactively in the droning “Wind It Up.”
A sped up and electro “Lonely Goatherd” sample from the musical Sound Of Music, opens the single, setting a quirky tone.
In the first verse, she says a hedonistic rhythmn gets her excited. Once she hears the sliding beats, she and her girl friends go to the dance floor. They stand in a circle. Men watch as they sway their hips, accuenating every curve of their bodies. Her friends giggle, curious as to why the men have their eyes locked on them. She explains to her friends that their sexy moves, tight shirts and jeans, and coyness attract men.
In the pre-chorus, she tells her friends to get on the floor when the bass is thumping. She says them to their bodies and the music meld together. Once they run out of energy, they can stop.
In the chorus, she tells them to swerve to the beat.
In the second verse, she advises her friends to feel every note of the music. She says once they have the beat running through their veins, they realize it’s their seductive charm that’s causing men’s eyes to remain on them. She says men try to learn their moves and try join in, copying the women. However, they can’t keep up and look ridiculous. She says the single is strictly for
The pre-chorus is sung again.
In the chorus, Stefani adds some grunts.
In the bridge, she encourages her friends revel in their sexuality and not be ashamed of dancing raunchily. She instructs them to move their hips to the front, then to the side, and then the back. However, she tells to slap men’s hands away if they approach them. She says it’s their time to show off and not to share the spotlight with a man. She says the men know their hot, but they don’t know their way around a beat.
A fragment of the original sample is played.
The chorus ends the single.
Stefani is an experienced clubgoer. Every weekend, she dances and gets the notice of many men. Her girlfriends ask her how she is able to get so many dates and phone numbers. She tells them it’s simple: they have to take pleasure in their sexuality, let the men see it, and soon they will like them.
Her dingy, girlish vocals are lumpy and shallow. She likes being the go-to friend about how to get to dates. It makes her feel important and authoritative. However, her attempt to rap and be the ultimate party girl is embarrassing. She’s keeping a firm grip on her youth, despite it fading away.
The imaginative arrangement speeds up the sample, emphasizes the strings and adds a charging bass. Bits of it are interspersed throughout (echoing “he-hoo’s” clicking of the puppet hooves in the verses, and a snippet of the orchestra). It’s reworked to be urgent and jarring. While it’s effective for the opening and the chorus, the Neptunes are unable to maintain it for the entire song. A limp bass is in the pre-chorus but it lazes around, having nothing to do with the sample.
The excrable “Wind It Up” is a musical experiment gone awry, reaching the level of Frankenstein proportions.
Album: The Sweet Escape
Year: 2006
Gwen Stefani enjoys the male attention she receives by dancing provactively in the droning “Wind It Up.”
A sped up and electro “Lonely Goatherd” sample from the musical Sound Of Music, opens the single, setting a quirky tone.
“High on the hills with the lonely goatherd, lay-od-lay-od-lay-he-hoo/Yodel back with the girl and goatherd, lay-od-lay-od-low/Wind it up/Wind it up, uh, uh, uh, uh/Yodellay, yodallay, yodal-low.”
In the first verse, she says a hedonistic rhythmn gets her excited. Once she hears the sliding beats, she and her girl friends go to the dance floor. They stand in a circle. Men watch as they sway their hips, accuenating every curve of their bodies. Her friends giggle, curious as to why the men have their eyes locked on them. She explains to her friends that their sexy moves, tight shirts and jeans, and coyness attract men.
“(Yeah)/This is the key that makes us wind up/When the beat comes on, the girls all line up/And the boys all look, but no, they can't touch/But the girls want to know why the boys like us so much/They like they we dance, they like the way we work/They like that way that L.A.M.B. is going across my shirt/They like the way my pants, it complements my shape (She's crazy, right?)/They like the way we react every time we dance.”
In the pre-chorus, she tells her friends to get on the floor when the bass is thumping. She says them to their bodies and the music meld together. Once they run out of energy, they can stop.
“Every time the bass bangs, realize it calls your name/Let the beat wind you up, and don't stop till your time is up/Get in line now.”
In the chorus, she tells them to swerve to the beat.
“Wind it up, uh, uh, uh, uh/Wind it up, uh, uh, uh, uh/Yodellay, yodallay, yodal-low.”
In the second verse, she advises her friends to feel every note of the music. She says once they have the beat running through their veins, they realize it’s their seductive charm that’s causing men’s eyes to remain on them. She says men try to learn their moves and try join in, copying the women. However, they can’t keep up and look ridiculous. She says the single is strictly for
“You've got to let the beat get under your skin/You've got to open up, and let it all in/But see, once it gets in, the poppin' begins/And then you find out, why all the boys stare/They're trying to bite our style/Trying to study our approach/They like the way we do it, so original/I guess that they are slow, so they should leave the room/This beat is for the clubs, and cars that go.”
The pre-chorus is sung again.
In the chorus, Stefani adds some grunts.
“Uh, uh, uh, wind it up, uh, uh, uh, uh (Ya'll ready)/Wind it up, uh, uh, uh, uh/Wind it up, uh, uh, uh, uh/Yodellay, yodallay, yodal-low.”
In the bridge, she encourages her friends revel in their sexuality and not be ashamed of dancing raunchily. She instructs them to move their hips to the front, then to the side, and then the back. However, she tells to slap men’s hands away if they approach them. She says it’s their time to show off and not to share the spotlight with a man. She says the men know their hot, but they don’t know their way around a beat.
“Uh huh, it's your moment/Uh huh, come on girl, you know you own it/Uh huh, you know your key is still tick-tockin'/Hell yeah, and you know they're watchin’/Get it girl, get it, get it girl/Get it girl, get it, get it girl/To the front, to the side, to the back, but don't let him ride/Keep goin' girl, it's your night/Don't let him steal your light/I know he thinks you're fine and stuff/But does he know how to wind you up? (Come on.”
A fragment of the original sample is played.
The chorus ends the single.
Stefani is an experienced clubgoer. Every weekend, she dances and gets the notice of many men. Her girlfriends ask her how she is able to get so many dates and phone numbers. She tells them it’s simple: they have to take pleasure in their sexuality, let the men see it, and soon they will like them.
Her dingy, girlish vocals are lumpy and shallow. She likes being the go-to friend about how to get to dates. It makes her feel important and authoritative. However, her attempt to rap and be the ultimate party girl is embarrassing. She’s keeping a firm grip on her youth, despite it fading away.
The imaginative arrangement speeds up the sample, emphasizes the strings and adds a charging bass. Bits of it are interspersed throughout (echoing “he-hoo’s” clicking of the puppet hooves in the verses, and a snippet of the orchestra). It’s reworked to be urgent and jarring. While it’s effective for the opening and the chorus, the Neptunes are unable to maintain it for the entire song. A limp bass is in the pre-chorus but it lazes around, having nothing to do with the sample.
The excrable “Wind It Up” is a musical experiment gone awry, reaching the level of Frankenstein proportions.
