Pharrell Williams Helped Gwen Stefani’s Terrible Dream Come True

Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams made one of the worst hit songs of the 2000s together. Williams knew it was terrible. Stefani didn’t.

Pharrell Williams helped Gwen Stefani’s terrible childhood dream come true

Part of what made Stefani so compelling as an artist was her genre-fluidity. She’s given us alternative rock, ska, dance music, pop, R&B, and slick disco. Of course, this sort of elasticity has drawbacks. With her hit song “Wind It Up,” Stefani made the horrible decision to combine the obnoxious yodeling of “The Lonely Goatherd” from The Sound of Music with Williams’ rap beats. It’s the sort of rancid combination that wouldn’t work in the hands of the most talented musician who ever lived. Combining Broadway with modern top 40 would be hard enough, but why on earth would Stefani reuse “The Lonely Goatherd,” which doesn’t even work in the context of The Sound of Music?

During a 2024 interview with Nylon, Stefani explained what Williams thought of the bizarre combination of his R&B beats and Rodgers and Hammerstein. “He was mad, like, ‘There’s absolutely no way,'” she recalled, laughing. “I was like, ‘You don’t understand. This is my childhood dream.'” I hate to break it to Stefani but not every childhood dream is good.

Pharrell Williams wasn’t the only 1 who questioned the No Doubt singer

Stefani admitted that her songwriting sensibilities didn’t always align with those of her collaborators. “A lot of the pop writers that I’d worked with started getting really different from the way I write,” she said. “I was like, ‘Why are you counting syllables?'” she said. “Or they were trying so hard to go for a hit, where I’m like: ‘I’m not chasing that.’ A hit is the greatest thing in the world, but it has to be from nowhere.”

Jimmy Iovine — co-founder of Stefani’s label, Interscope Records — attributed her success to her great taste. “She has spectacular taste, and when you have spectacular taste, whatever that word means usually descends upon you,” he said. “When you have great taste, what you do is probably not going to be corny.” Sadly, “Wind It Up” proved once and for all that Stefani can be incredibly corny when she wants to be. After all, many critics said The Sound of Music was corny when it came out in 1965. 

Gwen Stefani won the battle and lost the war with ‘Wind It Up’

“Wind It Up” was a modest hit for Stefani. It peaked at No. 6 and sent 18 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It only performed well because it was the lead single from Stefani’s highly anticipated second solo album, The Sweet Escape. Often, lousy lead singles like “Wind It Up” will perform decently because fans are starved for new music from their idol.

The Sweet Escape was a bittersweet moment in Stefani’s career. It did well on its own terms, peaking at No. 3 and spending 51 weeks on the Billboard 200. It also produced one other top 10 single: the title track. “The Sweet Escape” reached No. 2 and charted for 40 weeks. However, the other three singles from The Sweet Escape bombed and the record didn’t live up to its predecessor, Love. Angel. Music. Baby.

“Wind It Up” helped Stefani’s dream come true and that’s its sole value.