Why Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s ‘Purple Irises’ Fails So Hard
Celebrities sometimes seem to think that their fame alone will make a song successful. That seems to be the guiding principle behind Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s “Purple Irises.” The tune has a lot of star power but it doesn’t remotely work on a musical level. Regardless, Stefani and Shelton seem to love it.
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s ‘Purple Irises’ is a confused genre hybrid
Stefani has two wheelhouses: the reggae rock of No Doubt and the pop stylings of her solo career. Meanwhile, Shelton is country to the bone. Country-pop is one of the most popular genres on Earth, so it should have been easy for the two to write a country-pop duet that played to both of their strengths. Instead, “Purple Irises” is an awkward dance song with a little bit of Western window dressing. It sounds like Stefani’s “Make Me Like You” in drag as a cowboy.
The guitars don’t seem to gel with the synth-pop sounds at the core of the song. Maybe the tune would have been better if it just picked one genre and stuck to it. At the very least, it would have been more respectable.
‘Purple Irises’ feels honest in an awkward way
Even if Stefani and Shelton worked out the kinks in the song’s production, the track still has some awkward lyrics. The conceit of the song is that you can tell the two are in love because they picked purple irises together. Flowers are romantic and all, but everyone knows that picking flowers is not inherently a sign of true love. Worse, “Purple Irises” can’t tell what mood it wants to embody. The tune goes back and forth between declarations of true love and expressions of insecurity. It feels real — in a way that’s uncomfortable in its honesty.
When people think of Stefani, they think of her talent and her songs. But they also think of how great she looks. Do people want to listen to a song where she sounds uncomfortable with her looks? Beyoncé did something similar with “Pretty Hurts” — and that song wasn’t much of a hit.
What Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton thought of the song after it came out
According to a 2024 article from Taste of Country, Stefani explained the origins of the song. “‘Purple Irises’ is a song that comes from the idea that when you plant something, you are planting hope and watching love grow,” the “Wind It Up” singer explained in a press statement. “Weathering all the different seasons of growth. We are in this together, we planted the seeds together and we are growing together.”
Shelton said he loved “Purple Irises.” “We love this song so much,” added Shelton. “It’s a song Gwen wrote with a couple of friends of hers, and I fell in love with it the first time I heard it. She knew there was something different about it and asked me to come in and sing with her. My longtime producer, Scott Hendricks, produced it, and Gwen’s been wanting to work with him for a long time now, and it’s turned into this really cool and different song that can live anywhere.”
Stefani and Shelton might like “Purple Irises” but that is not proof that it’s any good.
