Music Review: No Doubt "Simple Kind of Life"
No Doubt
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Simple Kind of Life
Album: Return of Saturn
Year: 2000
Gwen Stefani has a tough time accepting that she single and childless in the candid "Simple Kind of Life."
Downcast guitars and drums open the single, setting a hopeless tone. She dated her boyfriend for several years. She adored him. She spent hours analyzing the relationship and made sure she didn't do anything to wreck it. However, they broke up anyway. She's humilated that she bought into her hopes of marrying him.
She didn't want much out of life except a companion to spend it with.
She takes full responsibility for the break up. She was awful towards him. She said she didn't love him out of spite and ignored him. She can't comprehend when they started to fall apart. She was affectionate and giving. She hasn't talked to him for months. She's starting to ask mutual friends how he's doing and what's he up to. It closest she is able to get to him now.
She paid attention to every signal and nuance with her ex-boyfriends to see if they were interested in marriage. Despite her hard work, it still turn out like she expected. He was supposed to be the one.
In the bridge, she wonders if they would it all over again, regardless of the heartbreak which would happen. She doubts herself and second guesses her flirting with him.
She had her life planned out. By 25, she would be married. By 28, she would have her first child. She would be experiencing domestic bliss. Now, she finds herself wanting to get pregnant by any guy. She's willing to do anything to at least make at least one of her dreams come true. She's getting set in her ways and looking out for her own needs. She notices a guy and thinks he would be the type of dad to take care of a child. He would take them to games and play catch.
In the final chorus, she's discovered that the white picket fence life cannot be achieved. She's gotten accustomed to her independence, which scares her. Letting go of her dreams of marriage and children will mean she has given up on it.
In the single. Stefani's melancholy vocals cut to core of the disappointment she feels. She thinks that she did something wrong. However, she did everything she was taught to do by magazines, her friends and the media. She views her ex-boyfriend as the last chance to make her dreams possible.
"Simple Kind of Life" is like a conversation with herself she recorded. Stefani addresses her disillusionment about life with stark and gut wrenching lyrics. She is consistently able to sort her issues in a non-exploitative, confessional manner. It's deeply personal without exposing her every thought. Her ability to make the song deeply personal yet universal is a rare quality.
Album: Return of Saturn
Year: 2000
Gwen Stefani has a tough time accepting that she single and childless in the candid "Simple Kind of Life."
Downcast guitars and drums open the single, setting a hopeless tone. She dated her boyfriend for several years. She adored him. She spent hours analyzing the relationship and made sure she didn't do anything to wreck it. However, they broke up anyway. She's humilated that she bought into her hopes of marrying him.
"For a long time I was in love/
Not only in love, I was obsessed/With a friendship that no one else could touch/It didn't work out, I'm covered in shells."
She didn't want much out of life except a companion to spend it with.
"And all I wanted was the simple things/A simple kind of life/And all I needed was a simple man/So I could be a wife."
She takes full responsibility for the break up. She was awful towards him. She said she didn't love him out of spite and ignored him. She can't comprehend when they started to fall apart. She was affectionate and giving. She hasn't talked to him for months. She's starting to ask mutual friends how he's doing and what's he up to. It closest she is able to get to him now.
"I'm so ashamed, I've been so mean/I don't know how it got to this point/I always was the one with all the love/You came along, I'm hunting you down."
She paid attention to every signal and nuance with her ex-boyfriends to see if they were interested in marriage. Despite her hard work, it still turn out like she expected. He was supposed to be the one.
"Like a sick domestic abuser looking for a fight/And all I wanted was the simple things/
A simple kind of life."
In the bridge, she wonders if they would it all over again, regardless of the heartbreak which would happen. She doubts herself and second guesses her flirting with him.
"If we met tomorrow for the very first time/Would it start all over again?/Would I try to make you mine?"
She had her life planned out. By 25, she would be married. By 28, she would have her first child. She would be experiencing domestic bliss. Now, she finds herself wanting to get pregnant by any guy. She's willing to do anything to at least make at least one of her dreams come true. She's getting set in her ways and looking out for her own needs. She notices a guy and thinks he would be the type of dad to take care of a child. He would take them to games and play catch.
"I always thought I'd be a mom/Sometimes I wish for a mistake/The longer that I wait the more selfish that I get/You seem like you'd be a good dad."
In the final chorus, she's discovered that the white picket fence life cannot be achieved. She's gotten accustomed to her independence, which scares her. Letting go of her dreams of marriage and children will mean she has given up on it.
"Now all those simple things are simply too complicated for my life/How'd I get so faithful to my freedom?/A selfish kind of life/When all I ever wanted was the simple things/A simple kind of life."
In the single. Stefani's melancholy vocals cut to core of the disappointment she feels. She thinks that she did something wrong. However, she did everything she was taught to do by magazines, her friends and the media. She views her ex-boyfriend as the last chance to make her dreams possible.
"Simple Kind of Life" is like a conversation with herself she recorded. Stefani addresses her disillusionment about life with stark and gut wrenching lyrics. She is consistently able to sort her issues in a non-exploitative, confessional manner. It's deeply personal without exposing her every thought. Her ability to make the song deeply personal yet universal is a rare quality.