"Ex-Girlfriend" is a song by American ska band No Doubt from their fourth studio albumReturn of Saturn. The song was released as the album's lead single in early 2000 and was moderately successful, reaching the top 40 in most countries it charted in, including peaking within the top 10 in Australia, Iceland and Spain.
Background and writing
Lead singerGwen Stefani originally composed the song as a dirge about her relationship with Bush's lead singer Gavin Rossdale, whom she married in 2002. After listening to it, the band increased the tempo because the album already included several ballads. The line "you say you're gonna burn before you mellow" is a reference to the lyrics in the Bush song "Dead Meat": "I'm doing you in tomorrow/I'll burn before I mellow". "Ex-Girlfriend" is a song composed in the key of E minor. It is written in common time and moves at a fast tempo of 168 beats per minute. Stefani's vocal range in the song covers nearly an octave and a half, from G3 to C5. The song features Stefani rapping many of the lyrics rather than singing, and the instrumentals take influence from flamenco, new wave and hip hop.
Chart performance
"Ex-Girlfriend" failed to enter the US Hot 100 chart, but reached number 11 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100, and spent only one week on the Canadian Singles Chart, on which it peaked at number 40. It did manage to find popularity on US alternative rock stations, allowing it to peak at number two on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, becoming their highest-chart single on that chart alongside their breakthrough hit single, "Don't Speak". Abroad, the single experienced more success, reaching number six in Iceland and number nine in Australia and Spain, as well as the top 20 in Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland. In Australia, the song was certified Gold and came in at number 80 on the country's year-end chart for 2000. In the United Kingdom, the song became No Doubt's fifth top 40 hit, debuting and peaking at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart and spending three weeks in the top 100. In Ireland, the song debuted at number 42, rose to number 40 the next week, then left the top 50 the week after.
Music video
The song's music video, which the video itself indicated was "presented" by Hype Williams, was partially based on the controversial animeKite. In the video, Stefani cross-dresses to enter a men's bathroom and, upon being discovered, assaults Tony Kanal and several other men. When Kanal regains consciousness, he grabs Stefani and jumps out the window, and the two plummet to the ground. The storyline is cut with scenes of the band playing on a stage. No Doubt's guitarist Tom Dumont initially played the part of a police officer but was cut from the final version of the "Ex-Girlfriend" video. He enacts the role in MTV's Making the Video.
