Simple Kind of Life
Encyclopedia
"Simple Kind of Life" is a pop rock
ballad written by Gwen Stefani
for No Doubt
's fourth album Return of Saturn
(2000). The song contrasts Stefani's desire to settle down and start a family with her commitment to the band. It received positive reviews from music critics, who noted the song's somber melody
and raw lyrics.
"Simple Kind of Life" was released as the album's second single in June 2000 (see 2000 in music
, also "New" is a single from a soundtrack). It became the most successful American single from Return of Saturn, but had little international success. The accompanying music video
illustrates the song's themes of marriage and family.
that day, and she wrote the song late at night during what she referred to as "a PMS moment". Following "Suspension Without Suspense", "Simple Kind of Life" became the second song that Stefani wrote by herself. The song was recorded, with no rehearsals, the following Monday. Adrian Young
's drum parts were mixed through low fidelity
filters to get the feel of a lo-fi
power ballad.
The lyrics of "Simple Kind of Life" also discuss Stefani's relationship with Gavin Rossdale. She describes wanting to settle down, get married, and have children. In the final verse, she even dreams about how her life would be if there were a mistake in her birth control and she became pregnant. However, she contrasts this with her commitment to music and No Doubt. Stefani describes her relationship as unhealthy because of this disparity, comparing herself to "a sick domestic abuser looking for a fight. She ultimately decides that settling down is just a fantasy for her since her freedom and independence is more important for her.
. It is written in common time
and moves at a moderate tempo of 116 beats per minute. Stefani's vocal range in the song covers nearly an octave and a half, from G3 to C5.
The song opens with a four-measure
introduction
, which introduces the i-VII chord progression
used for the song's three verses. Following each verse is a chorus, where the harmony
switches to a VII-IV-III-VI progression of major chord
s. A bridge
entirely in D minor precedes the third verse. After the third chorus comes a coda
, which closes the song as Stefani repeats the phrase "a simple kind of life" ad libitum
while the song fades.
described the song as being "at once grand, fragile and very, very sad" and commented that "it's clear this woman whom many desire but few regard as a serious artist has penned a song that can sit on the same shelf with the likes of Elliott Smith
and Aimee Mann
." Entertainment Weekly
characterized the song as "manicured power pop
" with a melody "buttery to the point of melting". It later included the song in a list of No Doubt's top five songs, referring to it as "musically understated (layered guitar strum
ming and a melancholy melody), but lyrically devastating." Slant Magazine
found the song's melodic structure odd, but was pleased by how it "unabashedly delivers double-takes". "Simple Kind of Life" was listed at number twenty-eight on the 2000 Pazz & Jop
list, a survey of several hundred music critics conducted by Robert Christgau
.
Hot 100. The song fared somewhat better in mainstream music, reaching number 32 on the Top 40 Mainstream and number 35 on the Top 40 Tracks
. It had the most success with modern rock
and adult contemporary stations, peaking at number 14 on the Modern Rock Tracks
and number 18 on the Adult Top 40. The single was a commercial failure outside of the U.S. It debuted at the bottom of the Dutch Mega Single Top 100
in mid-June 2000. It climbed up two positions the next week but exited the chart after its third week.
The song's music video
was directed by Sophie Muller
. It opens with a scene of Stefani and Kanal holding each other. During the chorus, she runs to a church while wearing a wedding dress
designed after a fashion show by John Galliano
, while her bandmates run after her. During the next verse, Stefani and guitarist Tom Dumont
sit on a couch, and Stefani gets up on the table while Dumont plays an acoustic guitar. Stefani has a nightmare during the second chorus, in which she is in an endless hall full of wedding cake
s, attempting to stop her bandmates from destroying them. There is then a dream sequence in which Stefani is backlit
in front of a circle of stars. She sits with Young for the third verse, during which point in time a light in the shape of a birth control pills flashes, with one missing pill. This coincides with her line "Sometime I wished/For a mistake," referencing her desire to get pregnant. In the video, Young quickly stands up and leaves after her line "You seem like you'd be a good dad" to play with Dumont and Kanal. The band walks through a cemetery, and Stefani finds a baby. Her bandmates extend their arms to hold the baby, but Stefani hands the baby off to a woman and enters her trailer to remove her makeup.
Muller was staying with Stefani when the song was written, so Stefani stated that "it was obvious that she would be the one to do the video" when Stefani played Muller the song after writing it. Muller designed the video around the song's lyrics because she felt that "there are very few [songs] that reveal as much in their lyrics". The scenes were storyboard
ed so that Muller could give the band a chance to act out the scenes more. She set the band members up with props and filmed after giving loose suggestions. Muller originally intended for the dream sequence to show Stefani over a sea of orange juice but changed the scene based on Stefani's performance.
The music video was unsuccessful on video chart programs. It debuted at number seven on MTV
's Total Request Live
on April 24, 2000. The video made two more appearances later that week but was unable to reach a higher position and dropped out of the countdown. It was unable to chart on MuchMusic
's Countdown
.
American CD single
American vinyl single
German/Netherlands/Australian CD single
Netherlands/Australian/Japanese 2-track
Netherlands version 2
UK CD 1
UK CD 2
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
ballad written by Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...
for No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
's fourth album Return of Saturn
Return of Saturn
Return of Saturn is the fourth studio album by the American rock band No Doubt, released on April 11, 2000 by Interscope Records. After touring for two and a half years to promote their breakthrough third studio album, Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt wrote several dozen songs for its follow-up and...
(2000). The song contrasts Stefani's desire to settle down and start a family with her commitment to the band. It received positive reviews from music critics, who noted the song's somber melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
and raw lyrics.
"Simple Kind of Life" was released as the album's second single in June 2000 (see 2000 in music
2000 in music
See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
, also "New" is a single from a soundtrack). It became the most successful American single from Return of Saturn, but had little international success. The accompanying music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
illustrates the song's themes of marriage and family.
Background and writing
Singer Gwen Stefani wrote and composed the track during a last minute recording session. Stefani had been writing with bassist Tony KanalTony Kanal
Tony Kanal is an English musician, record producer and songwriter. Kanal is the bassist for the American rock band No Doubt...
that day, and she wrote the song late at night during what she referred to as "a PMS moment". Following "Suspension Without Suspense", "Simple Kind of Life" became the second song that Stefani wrote by herself. The song was recorded, with no rehearsals, the following Monday. Adrian Young
Adrian Young
Adrian Samuel Young is the drummer for the rock band No Doubt.-Biography:Young's parents were hippies. He has four brothers: Alex, Damian, Jeff and Aaron. His father is a teacher in Cypress CA and his stepmother, Jeanne, is currently suffering from ALS...
's drum parts were mixed through low fidelity
Low fidelity
Low fidelity or lo-fi describes a sound recording which contains technical flaws such as distortion, hum, or background noise, or limited frequency response...
filters to get the feel of a lo-fi
Lo-fi music
Lo-fi is lower quality of sound recordings than the usual standard for music. The qualities of lo-fi are usually achieved by either degrading the quality of the recorded audio, or using certain equipment. Recent uses of the phrase have led to it becoming a genre, although it still remains as an...
power ballad.
The lyrics of "Simple Kind of Life" also discuss Stefani's relationship with Gavin Rossdale. She describes wanting to settle down, get married, and have children. In the final verse, she even dreams about how her life would be if there were a mistake in her birth control and she became pregnant. However, she contrasts this with her commitment to music and No Doubt. Stefani describes her relationship as unhealthy because of this disparity, comparing herself to "a sick domestic abuser looking for a fight. She ultimately decides that settling down is just a fantasy for her since her freedom and independence is more important for her.
Music and structure
"Simple Kind of Life" is a pop rock song composed in the key of D minorD minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
. It is written in common time
Common Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
and moves at a moderate tempo of 116 beats per minute. Stefani's vocal range in the song covers nearly an octave and a half, from G3 to C5.
The song opens with a four-measure
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
introduction
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
, which introduces the i-VII chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
used for the song's three verses. Following each verse is a chorus, where the harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
switches to a VII-IV-III-VI progression of major chord
Major chord
In music theory, a major chord is a chord having a root, a major third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord has these three notes alone, it is called a major triad...
s. A bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
entirely in D minor precedes the third verse. After the third chorus comes a coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
, which closes the song as Stefani repeats the phrase "a simple kind of life" ad libitum
Ad libitum
Ad libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; it is often shortened to "ad lib" or "ad-lib"...
while the song fades.
Critical reception
"Simple Kind of Life" received positive reviews from music critics. Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
described the song as being "at once grand, fragile and very, very sad" and commented that "it's clear this woman whom many desire but few regard as a serious artist has penned a song that can sit on the same shelf with the likes of Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
and Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bassist.-Early life:Aimee Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, graduated from Open High School in 1978 and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the Young Snakes...
." Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
characterized the song as "manicured power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
" with a melody "buttery to the point of melting". It later included the song in a list of No Doubt's top five songs, referring to it as "musically understated (layered guitar strum
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
ming and a melancholy melody), but lyrically devastating." Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
found the song's melodic structure odd, but was pleased by how it "unabashedly delivers double-takes". "Simple Kind of Life" was listed at number twenty-eight on the 2000 Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
list, a survey of several hundred music critics conducted by Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
.
Chart performance
In the United States, "Simple Kind of Life" was the most commercially successful single from Return of Saturn. Peaking at number 38, it became the album's only single to enter the BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100. The song fared somewhat better in mainstream music, reaching number 32 on the Top 40 Mainstream and number 35 on the Top 40 Tracks
Top 40 Tracks
Top 40 Tracks is a defunct airplay chart from Billboard Magazine. It was created in 1998, when Billboard Magazine changed the airplay profile of The Hot 100 Airplay to include more R&B, Country, and Rock stations to its profile . To preserve the notion of the former chart, Top 40 Tracks was...
. It had the most success with modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
and adult contemporary stations, peaking at number 14 on the Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
and number 18 on the Adult Top 40. The single was a commercial failure outside of the U.S. It debuted at the bottom of the Dutch Mega Single Top 100
Mega Single Top 100
The Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales and legal downloads and composed by MegaCharts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Dutch Top 40 and the Mega Top 50. The difference is that these charts also include airplay data.The list is...
in mid-June 2000. It climbed up two positions the next week but exited the chart after its third week.
Music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was directed by Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller is a British music video director, noted for her long-time collaborations with artists like Sophie Ellis-Bextor, No Doubt, Sade, Shakira, Shakespears Sister, Garbage, Blur, Annie Lennox and Eurythmics.-Background:...
. It opens with a scene of Stefani and Kanal holding each other. During the chorus, she runs to a church while wearing a wedding dress
Wedding dress
A wedding dress or wedding gown is the clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony. Color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants.- Western culture :...
designed after a fashion show by John Galliano
John Galliano
John Charles Galliano CBE, RDI is a Gibraltan-born British fashion designer who was best known as head designer of French haute couture houses Givenchy and Christian Dior , and his own self titled fashion house.-Family:He was born in Gibraltar to a Gibraltarian father, Juan Galliano, and a...
, while her bandmates run after her. During the next verse, Stefani and guitarist Tom Dumont
Tom Dumont
Tom Dumont is an American guitarist and producer. Dumont is a member of third wave ska band No Doubt, and during the band's hiatus, he began Invincible Overlord as a side project and produced Matt Costa's Songs We Sing.-Life and career:The Dumont family lived in Irvine, California...
sit on a couch, and Stefani gets up on the table while Dumont plays an acoustic guitar. Stefani has a nightmare during the second chorus, in which she is in an endless hall full of wedding cake
Wedding cake
A wedding cake is the traditional cake served to the guests at a wedding reception after a wedding. In modern Western culture, it is usually a large cake, multi-layered or tiered, and heavily decorated with icing, usually over a layer of marzipan or fondant...
s, attempting to stop her bandmates from destroying them. There is then a dream sequence in which Stefani is backlit
Backlighting (lighting design)
Backlighting refers to the process of illuminating the subject from the back. In other words, the lighting instrument and the viewer are facing towards each other, with the subject in between. This causes the edges of the subject to glow, while the other areas remain darker. The backlight can be a...
in front of a circle of stars. She sits with Young for the third verse, during which point in time a light in the shape of a birth control pills flashes, with one missing pill. This coincides with her line "Sometime I wished/For a mistake," referencing her desire to get pregnant. In the video, Young quickly stands up and leaves after her line "You seem like you'd be a good dad" to play with Dumont and Kanal. The band walks through a cemetery, and Stefani finds a baby. Her bandmates extend their arms to hold the baby, but Stefani hands the baby off to a woman and enters her trailer to remove her makeup.
Muller was staying with Stefani when the song was written, so Stefani stated that "it was obvious that she would be the one to do the video" when Stefani played Muller the song after writing it. Muller designed the video around the song's lyrics because she felt that "there are very few [songs] that reveal as much in their lyrics". The scenes were storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
ed so that Muller could give the band a chance to act out the scenes more. She set the band members up with props and filmed after giving loose suggestions. Muller originally intended for the dream sequence to show Stefani over a sea of orange juice but changed the scene based on Stefani's performance.
The music video was unsuccessful on video chart programs. It debuted at number seven on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
on April 24, 2000. The video made two more appearances later that week but was unable to reach a higher position and dropped out of the countdown. It was unable to chart on MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
's Countdown
Countdown (MuchMusic TV series)
The MuchMusic Top 30 Countdown is a ninety-minute music video program block, that airs on Canadian music television station MuchMusic. Countdown is one of the oldest programs that continues to be aired on Much Music since its debut...
.
Track listings
American CD/cassette singles- "Simple Kind of Life" (G. Stefani) - 4:16
- "Full Circle" (G. Stefani/T. Kanal/T. Dumont) - 3:16
- "Beauty Contest" (G. Stefani/T. Kanal) - 4:14
American CD single
- "Simple Kind of Life" (G. Stefani) - 4:16
American vinyl single
- "Simple Kind of Life" (G. Stefani) - 4:16
- "Ex-GirlfriendEx-Girlfriend (song)"Ex-Girlfriend" is a song written by Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani for No Doubt's fourth studio album Return of Saturn . The song was released as the album's first official single in mid-2000 and it was moderately successful, reaching the top 40 in most countries.-Background and...
" (G. Stefani/T. Dumont/T. Kanal) - 3:30
German/Netherlands/Australian CD single
- "Simple Kind of Life" (G. Stefani) - 4:16
- "Beauty Contest" (G. Stefani/T. Kanal) - 4:14
- "Simple Kind of Life" - acoustic live (G. Stefani) - 4:14
- "Simple Kind of Life" video
Netherlands/Australian/Japanese 2-track
- "Simple Kind of Life" (G. Stefani) - 4:16
- "Beauty Contest" (G. Stefani/T. Kanal) - 4:14
Netherlands version 2
- "Simple Kind of Life" (G. Stefani) - 4:16
- "Simple Kind of Life" video
UK CD 1
- "Simple Kind of Life" (G. Stefani) - 4:16
- "Ex-Girlfriend" - acoustic live (G. Stefani/T. Dumont/T. Kanal) - 3:50
- "Cellophane Boy" (G. Stefani, T. Dumont, T. Kanal) - 2:53
UK CD 2
- "Simple Kind of Life" (G. Stefani) - 4:16
- "Beauty Contest" (G. Stefani/T. Kanal) - 4:14
- "Under Construction" (G. Stefani/T. Kanal) - 3:12
- "Simple Kind of Life" video
Charts
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart | 52 |
| Canadian RPM Rock Chart | 27 |
| Dutch Mega Single Top 100 | 98 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 38 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 14 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 | 18 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 32 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks | 35 |