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Luxurious

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"Luxurious" is a pop song written by Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal for Stefani's debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby (2004). The song features major scale Asian instruments and a prominent sample from The Isley Brothers' "Between the Sheets", which places emphasis on the bridge, and its lyrical content details the protagonist's desire to have both diamonds and love. "Luxurious" received mixed reviews from pop music critics and some compared its lyrical theme to Madonna's "Material Girl" (1985).

"Luxurious"
Song

The song was released as the album's fifth single in 2005 (see 2005 in music) and entered the top forty on some of the charts it entered, but failed to match its predecessors' popularity. A remix featuring Slim Thug was released to urban radio across the world to enhance the song's diversity, which reached number one in Portugal. Elsewhere, the song's success varied.

Background and writing

"Luxurious" is a slow jam love song featuring the use of electric guitars and Asian-flavored major scale instruments. The lyrical content describes living the life of a person who has wealth, however, prefers love to money. The relationship depicted in the lyrics is referred to as being "so luxurious", "expensive" and "hydroponic". The song also features Stefani's husband Gavin Rossdale speaking in French at the beginning and end of the song.

Gavin Rossdale says in French " c'est pas possible cet amour, c'est incroyable tu me fais transpirer c'est parfait (then): tu est si jolie c'est pas possible c'est jamais assez c'est jamais assez tu me fais plein, toutes les choses tu me fais sentir c'est parfait je suis bien avec toi je suis bien " the translation fully evidences out the love song, "it is not possible this love, it is unconvincing you make me sweat one improves, hushes up about it is so pretty it is not possible it is never enough one hushes up about it never enough make me full, all things you make felt me it is perfect I am on good terms to you I am definitely."

Stefani said of the song, "[The] song really is more about a love relationship. If you really listen to the lyrics, it has nothing to do with money or luxury. It has to do with love, being rich in love. I just wanted to think of a clever way to express how you have to work really hard for the rewards of that."[1]

The chorus' lyrics explain the lives of two partners who are convinced that their love is becoming "expensive" and that the couple are aware of how to live the perfect life with one another. Stefani compares the lovers to the price of Egyptian cotton, which she claims is "luxurious"; their love is also compared to other valuables including cashmere and diamonds.

"This kind of love is getting expensive
We know how to live, baby
We're luxurious like Egyptian cotton
We're so rich in love we're rollin' in cashmere
Got it in fifth gear, baby
Diamond in the rough is lookin' so sparkly"

Commenting on Tony Kanal and the inspiration of the song, Stefani said, "Tony and I wrote 'Luxurious' — you would think I would've written that with somebody else, but that was me and Tony in his room. I knew I wanted to do this really kinda fast rappy part. And so we were listening to all these different things, trying to rip all these melodies off. It was one of the last songs we wrote [for the album]."[2]

According to Stefani, she usually evokes the image of a music video when writing a song. During the writing process of "Luxurious", Stefani imagined an adolescent female from a high school named Mercedes. She saw the female as a very inspiring chola, and during school hours, would attend class only to proceed to apply cosmetics to her face. Stefani commented that she would watch the female in a mesmerized state as she applied different varieties of make-up, including black eye-liner, red lipstick, and mascara.[3]

After Stefani and Kanal finished writing "Luxurious", they visited record producer Nellee Hooper and played the composition for him. Hooper was impressed and instantly suggested that a sample of The Isley Brothers' "Between the Sheets". Previously sampled by musicians such as Big L's "M.V.P.", Da Brat's "Funkdafied", Jim Jones' "Summer Wit Miami", The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Big Poppa", and Whitney Houston's "One of Those Days". While Stefani was reluctant on the sample's inclusion in the song because of copyright laws, she thought it was a good idea and agreed. The situation concerning the copyright issues was resolved when The Isley Brothers were given co-writing credits on "Luxurious".

 
Gwen Stefani and Slim Thug in November 2005.

Although the album version of "Luxurious" is a solo performance by Gwen Stefani, the single version of the album contains an additional verse from rapper Slim Thug. Interscope chose to include Slim Thug on the single release of "Luxurious" in order to allow the appeal to several music markets. As in 2005 the U.S. Billboard charts had been in favor of urban music-related songs, the addition of Slim Thug to the single release of "Luxurious" would help enhance the song's performance on the American charts.

Critical reception

"Luxurious" received different responses from pop-music critics. British reviewers at MyVillage.com called the track "one of the less impressive tracks from Love. Angel. Music. Baby., and that "Stefani just doesn’t do hip hop as well as she does quirky pop, even when joined by breakthrough rapper Slim Thug."[4] Bill Lamb of About.com was satisfied with the track, and noted that "If Madonna is wishing to pass on her 'Material Girl' title, Gwen Stefani is happy to wear it proudly. 'Luxurious' revels in a world of Egyptian cotton, cashmere, tuberoses, and, of course, diamonds." He also commented that the track contains a "smooth, lush atmosphere."[5] Richard Smirke, however, was not impressed with "Luxurious" or its fellow album track "Harajuku Girls", commenting that it sounds like a "sickly sweet R&B ballad."[6]

Chart performance

Although "Luxurious" was officially released to U.S. radio on October 11 2005, it appeared a week early on Billboard magazine's Pop 100 Airplay chart. It performed moderately in the U.S. compared to Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'s previous singles, but reached the Pop 100 top twenty. The following week, "Luxurious" debuted on the Hot 100, the official U.S. chart. The song peaked at number twenty-one in its sixth week and remained on the chart until its twentieth week. It was somewhat successful on the majority of the Billboard formats on which it charted, and was Stefani's second top forty entry on Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs radio. "Luxurious" was popular on the U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40, a chart unassociated with Billboard, where it reached the top five.

In Canada "Luxurious" was released to radio on October 25 2005. It reached the top thirty on the Canadian BDS Airplay Chart, but remained in the top one-hundred for only twelve weeks. "Luxurious" debuted higher on the Canadian Singles Chart than it did in the U.S. and in its sixth week peaked at number ten. Its success was attributed to the number-one placing of Stefani's previous single "Cool", which topped the chart for two weeks. It was argued that "Luxurious" would not have performed as strongly had its predecessor not been as popular as it was.

The song was released on December 5 2005 in Australia and Europe. It received very little promotion in the UK and continued the trend of Stefani's lower-charting singles since "Hollaback Girl" after it debuted outside the top forty. "Luxurious" remained on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks. Stefani's previous four singles had charted most strongly in Australia, where all reached the top ten. However, "Luxurious" debuted outside the top twenty and failed to achieve as much airplay as its predecessors. The song's minor success somewhat helped Love. Angel. Music. Baby. to sell moderately in Australia. "Luxurious" reached number one in Portugal for one week.

"Luxurious" peaked at number seventeen in New Zealand and within the top forty in Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. It reached number twenty-seven on the United World Chart on December 24 2005 and in early 2006 reached the top seventy in Austria and Germany.

Music video

File:Luxuriousmusicvideostefani.jpg
Stefani receiving a manicure in the single's music video.

The music video for "Luxurious" was directed by Sophie Muller, who had also directed the video for Stefani's preceding single "Cool".The "Luxurious" video does not follow the song's theme, though it does include a limited number of "luxurious" aspects. It features Stefani lying on a floor covered in candy and later smashing several piñatas, as well as her visiting a salon with friends and applying large amounts of cosmetics to her face. The video concludes with Stefani joining her friends in a block party where they celebrate with breakdancing and a barbecue. It was shot in Los Angeles, United States.

The video features Slim Thug, as well as Stefani's Harajuku Girls, who were present in the videos for the other singles from Love. Angel. Music. Baby with the exception of "Cool". In contrast to the previous videos, their roles in the "Luxurious" video are brief.

Charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 21
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 13
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 10
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 9
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 33
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary 34
Portuguese Singles Chart 1 (1 wk)
Canadian Singles Chart 10
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 17
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 25
United World Chart 27
Chart (2005) Peak
position
Dutch Singles Chart 31
Italian Singles Chart 31
Irish Singles Chart 34
Swiss Singles Chart 39
UK Singles Chart 44
Mexican Singles Chart 86
Chart (2006) Peak
position
Finnish Singles Chart 2
Austrian Singles Chart 66
German Singles Chart 67
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [7]
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Position
80
55
39
29
24
21
22
23
25
28
35
38
46
52
73
86
88
90
94
100

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Luxurious". In the United States, iTunes and other online music stores released the remix of "Luxurious" (featuring Slim Thug) on a four-track extended play known as Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (The Remixes).

Canada 2-track CD single

  1. "Luxurious" (album version)
  2. "Luxurious" (remix featuring Slim Thug)

U.S. 12" CD single

  1. "Luxurious" (remix featuring Slim Thug)
  2. "Luxurious" (album version)
  3. "Luxurious" (a cappella)
  4. "Luxurious" (instrumental)

European enhanced CD single

  1. "Luxurious" (album version)
  2. "Luxurious" (This Is How We Roll edit featuring Slim Thug)
  3. "Cool" (Richard X remix)
  4. "Luxurious" (CD-ROM video)

Notes

  1. ^ Luxurious 1. MTV.com. October 26, 2005. Retrieved Dec. 24, 2005.
  2. ^ Luxurious 2. MTV.com. October 26, 2005. Retrieved Dec. 24, 2005.
  3. ^ Stefani, Gwen. Luxurious 3. Retrieved Dec. 30, 2005.
  4. ^ Luxurious - Gwen Stefani. MyVillage.com. December 5, 2005. Retrieved Dec. 18, 2005.
  5. ^ Lamb, Bill. Gwen Stefani - Luxurious. About.com. Retrieved Dec. 18, 2005.
  6. ^ Smirke, Richard. Love. Angel. Music. Baby.. PlayLouder. November 23, 2004. Retrieved Dec. 27, 2005.

References

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