page_title: Serious (Gwen Stefani song)
section_title: Background and composition
hierarchical_section_title: Serious (Gwen Stefani song) / Background and composition
caption_attribution_description: Madonna - Rebel Heart tour 2015 - Berlin 2
context_page_description: "Serious" is a song by American singer Gwen Stefani for her debut solo studio album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. It was released on November 12, 2004, along with the rest of the aforementioned album by Interscope Records. The track was written by Stefani and her No Doubt bandmate, Tony Kanal. The latter also produced the song with Mark "Spike" Stent, who Stefani and Kanal previously worked with on No Doubt's fifth studio album, Rock Steady. "Serious" is a synthpop song with lyrics pertaining to a strong romantic interest in a significant other.
  "Serious" received generally positive reviews from music critics upon release and was frequently compared to the works of both early Madonna and Kylie Minogue, particularly Minogue's track, "Fever". The song was also received well for its mirror production to '80s songs, with additional praise for being "catchy". An accompanying music video for the recording was filmed in Los Angeles but never released; however, a low-quality clip of the video surfaced on YouTube in 2006. Stefani performed the track on her 2005 Harajuku Lovers Tour during the encore of the show, where she danced with the Harajuku Girls in nurse costumes.
context_section_description: In early 2003, Stefani began embarking on recording sessions for her debut album. After listening to songs recommended to her by No Doubt bassist and former boyfriend Tony Kanal, she considered recording material that "modernized 1980s music". After writing a series of several songs, including "Serious", "Crash", and "Luxurious", the pair gave up after Stefani didn't find anything worth recording from the sessions. When asked about the aforementioned collaborations, Stefani expressed her doubts of whether or not her newly recorded material would be any good: "If I were to write the chorus of 'Yesterday' by the Beatles, and that's all I wrote, that would be good enough to be part of that history." Due to Stefani's doubts, the project began a six-month hiatus, which resulted in the singer deciding to collaborate with various new musicians instead. Stefani's change of heart also ensured her work with Kanal would end up on Love. Angel. Music. Baby..
  "Serious" takes influence from the "'80s style" and dance music genres, which in turn drew frequent comparisons to the works of Madonna and Club Nouveau. It contains a string melody alongside a synthpop rhythm. Opening with "an orchestral [...] before diving into a Prince-ready bumping drum beat and ambient synth", Stefani sings: "I think I'm coming down with something / I think I'm gonna need your medicine" in a provocative tone. The use of cri de coeur is also present. Hazel Cills from Vice found the aforementioned lyric reminiscent of Carol Douglas' 1974 cover of "Doctor's Orders". In between different exclamations "centered around Stefani's manic love", she also announces "breathy, vaudeville 'Oohs' and 'Yeahs'". Theon Weber of Spin described the composition: "'Serious' carved out a bittersweet niche that applied loping ska upstrokes to new-wave synth washes and blurred warm feelings about lovers into warm feelings about the synth-pop era."
caption: "Serious" was compared to songs by Madonna from the early 1980s.
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