Gwen Stefani

[dwanollah]

I too miss Old School Gwen. Cute little So-Cal chick who was in a little band. Her goofy pink hair, her goofy blue hair. The sparkly jewelry. The fun, bouncy songs about pretty serious things. The little bit o' baby fat she still had.

Same here. She just seemed like a nice, normal, fun, girl-next-door-playin'-music-with-a-band. No brain trust, but not an asshole, either. Didn't matter, she was just having a good time without anything to prove.

No offense to the So-Cal's on the board but lots of people from Southern California seem that way - cute but pretty stupid.

No, no, dear, that's just the grrrlies from Orange County. I, however, am totally cute AND smrt. Wanna go to the mall and shop for shoes?

;D

Oh, and I will never forgive her for the bastardized version of "If I were a Rich Man" she did. A song in "Fiddler on the Roof" about an illiterate Jewish dairy farmer in Russia dreaming about what a better life he could give his wife and children if he were rich. Gwen makes it into how she could buy cool clothes and stuff if she were rich. Good Lord.

I already complained about that same thing in the Stupid Song Lyrics thread, but it's worth mentioning again here: "I'd have all the money in the world/if I were a wealthy girl"?! NO YOU WOULDN'T HAVE ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, idiot!

I'm slightly scared because I'm going to Tokyo for a week next month, and the only words I currently know are "kawaii" and "harajuku." However, I knew kawaii YEARS before Gwen got ahold of it, so HA! (That's because I'm cute AND smrt, 'member?)

[goggle]

dwanollah said:

I'm slightly scared because I'm going to Tokyo for a week next month, and the only words I currently know are "kawaii" and "harajuku." However, I knew kawaii YEARS before Gwen got ahold of it, so HA! (That's because I'm cute AND smrt, 'member?)

You forgot "bishoujo" as in "Bishoujo, you're so vogue!" somewhere near the end of HG.

Her clothing line disappoints me. Gwen, after yapping endlessly about the Harajuku girls you don't give us any proper "gothic lolita" clothing?

Word on the feminist thing. Sure, she probably meant she was unsure of the interviewer's personal definition, but she who wrote "Just A Girl' is certainly allowed to be a feminist. Unless of course, her views changed in the past ten years.

[Alilou]

No, no, dear, that's just the grrrlies from Orange County.

Wow...just wow.... I guess shows like Laguna Beach and The OC really are not doing us any favors.

How sad that people think that is the way we all are

[crankie]

I'm probably way over-thinking this, but re: Gwen writing continuously about her ex... I wonder if it's a way to sort of get back at Gavin? Didn't it recently come to light (to her, and the world) that Gavin had an illegitimate daughter who just turned 15 or 16?? I think she's a model.

Now, that's the kind of thing that could spark a need for retaliation of some kind. That's a pretty serious lie of omission. Can't remember now if this all came out before or after they married. I think it was shortly after. So maybe she writes about her ex all the time to prove to him (or herself) that she had a serious relationship before him??

Very high school, but from what I've seen (I've been a fan since "I'm Just A Girl") that wouldn't be out of character.

[speciousreasoning]

Sorry, kiddos, I didn't mean to insinuate all Southern Californians are like that. I lived there for a few months and met more than my share of airheaded idiots. I know there are the intelligent types too, but I tended to meet the pretty dummies. But hey, when it's so darn pretty and warm there why does anyone need to be the least bit intellectual???

Back to our little Gwennie. I shudder for pop music when Hollaback Girl and Rich Girl are two of the biggest hits this summer. Ah, well, in a year, no one will remember those songs anyway. Such is the nature of disposable pop.
I still love "I'm Just A Girl" but her solo work won't stand the test of time as well.

[Hamatron]

I always sort of took it as creative laziness-- her early writing on Tony was the source of her early hits. It's something she can always go back to for a quick creative wank.

Or perhaps Gavin gets pissy when he's her muse and would prefer she keep her songs about him to a minimum. Right now it seems like all her songs are yammering on about a Japanese social movement that has nothing to do with her and is only partly about fashion, but is all fashion to her. Blah. I liked her ok until her solo album. Always thought her bandmates seemed really cool.

[dwanollah]

Sorry, kiddos, I didn't mean to insinuate all Southern Californians are like that. I lived there for a few months and met more than my share of airheaded idiots. I know there are the intelligent types too, but I tended to meet the pretty dummies. But hey, when it's so darn pretty and warm there why does anyone need to be the least bit intellectual???

Hey, what kind of reasoning is THAT, Miss Specious One!? See iffen I invite YOU to Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles next time you're in LA!



This thread made me nostalgic, so I broke out Tragic Kingdom and Return to Saturn. Both albums still sound good.

[speciousreasoning]

Well, considering how backward ass my reasoning usually is, I'm thinking that my above statement is pretty apt. Or contradictory. Or strange. Or specious. Whatev.
MMMMMMM, Chicken 'N Waffles........... (drooling sound)

I was driving back from Oakland today and heard "Just a Girl" on the radio. Still a great song.

[kostgard]

I like the Old School Gwen stuff too. A lot of her new stuff just seems silly.

As far as the way she continues to write about Tony - I think it's because he's still the love of her life and she's never quite gotten him or that period in her life out of her system. They were just kids when they got together and I could see Gwen as the type of girl who would daydream about their wedding and write "Mrs. Tony Kanal" all over her notebook. Then that relationship ended and she never grew past it. She married Gavin thinking that it would give her that marriage she always dreamed of, but so far that ain't happening. So she clings to the time when she was really happy, and that's why she still writes about her ex-boyfriend and why she's a 35 year old woman writing songs like "Hollaback Girl."

[sumire]

Her clothing line disappoints me. Gwen, after yapping endlessly about the Harajuku girls you don't give us any proper "gothic lolita" clothing?

God forbid, Goggle. Although I confess I did look up the LAMB show on style.com to see if there was anything frilly.