Spiderwebs

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"Spiderwebs"
"Spiderwebs" cover
Single by No Doubt
from the album Tragic Kingdom
Released Spring 1996 (North America)
Format CD Single
Genre Ska punk
Length 4:27
Label Interscope
Writer(s) Gwen Stefani
Tony Kanal
Producer(s) Matthew Wilder
No Doubt
Certification
Chart positions
No Doubt singles chronology
"Just a Girl"
(1995)
"Spiderwebs"
(1996)
"Don't Speak"
(1996)

"Spiderwebs" is a song performed by ska punk band No Doubt. The track first appeared in their 1995 album Tragic Kingdom and was released as their fifth single in 1996. It was the follow-up to the album's successful first single, "Just a Girl". When "Spiderwebs" reached the radio airwaves in the U.S, it began a revival of the ska genre. The song is a combination of ska and pop. With its ubiquitous airplay for months, more ska-flavored singles became prevalent in later years such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' "The Impression That I Get", Save Ferris' "Come On Eileen", and The Specials' "A Little Bit You, A Little Bit Me".

Initially, the song debuted number 10 on the Billboard charts and peaked at number 5 after three weeks of its release. The song's lyrics are about a man who had been calling Gwen at all hours to recite bad poetry to her.[1] Musically, the song uses a drum for the beat and various brass instruments, such as a trombone to build up the crescendos in the chorus.

Contents

[edit] Music video

The band tangled in a spiderweb made of telephones.
The band tangled in a spiderweb made of telephones.

Two different music videos were produced for "Spiderwebs". In the U.S. version, the music video showed clips of the band playing. MTV thought that the exploding telephones were inappropriate for younger viewers so they added more footage of the band. These included lead singer Gwen Stefani walking around being covered in "spiderwebs" made of strings sprayed out of aerosol cans and Gwen being tangled in various telephone chords. In the Japanese version, the music video featured the band playing in a Japanese restaurant entertaining the patrons. As the band plays, various Japanese-language sentences are displayed on the screen.

The subtitles during in the Japanese music video during the wedding reception scene translate to: "Excellent party", "I really like cake a lot", "What is your name", "This is excellent champagne", "What is this? Crazy kids", "It's making me sick".

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Australian Single

  1. "Spiderwebs" – 4:28
  2. "Spiderwebs" (live) – 4:05
  3. "Sailin' On" – 3:37
  4. "Just a Girl" (video)

[edit] UK Single 1

  1. "Spiderwebs" – 4:28
  2. "The Climb" (live) 7:56
  3. "Doghouse" – 4:30
  4. "Spiderwebs" (video) – 4:08

[edit] UK Single 2

  1. "Spiderwebs" – 4:28
  2. "D.J.'s" (live) – 4:06
  3. "Let's Get Back" – 4:14
  4. "Excuse Me Mr." (video) – 3:37

[edit] Chart performance

Chart (1996)[2] Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 5
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 11
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 29
Chart (1996)[3] Peak
position
Swedish Top 60 23

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Spiderwebs". Montoya, Paris and Lanham, Tom. 2003. The Singles 1992-2003 (liner notes). Retrieved December 5, 2006.
  2. ^ "Tragic Kingdom". All Music Guide. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  3. ^ "No Doubt - Spiderwebs (Song)". SwedishCharts.com. Retrieved January 9, 2007.