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The Sweet Escape (song)

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"The Sweet Escape"
Song

"The Sweet Escape" is a pop song written by Gwen Stefani, featured artist Akon for Stefani's second solo album The Sweet Escape (2006). The song was released as the album's second single in early 2007 (see 2007 in music). It has reached the top five in the United States, top ten in Canada and United Kingdom, and the top twenty in Ireland, Norway, and Sweden.

Stefani told MTV that the song "puts me on the yellow brick road to the No Doubt record I might do. I can smell it. 'Sweet Escape' and some other melodies remind me of the No Doubt feeling."[1]

Critical reception

"The Sweet Escape" was generally well-received by critics. In a review for Billboard, Chuck Taylor wrote that the song "neatly rides the line between being hip enough to keep the kids' attention" and added that it exudes "the full fragrance of an across-the-board hit."[2] Bill Lamb of About.com called the song "a welcome change from the over-produced 'Wind It Up'," but said that it "easily jets in one ear and out the other leaving little trace of its presence."[3]

MuchMusic referred to the song as "incredibly intoxicating".[4]

Music video

File:TheSweetEscapeVideo.jpg
Most of the video takes place in a prison cell made of gold.

The song's music video was directed by Joseph Kahn and premiered on January 10 2007 on Yahoo! Music. The video features Stefani in jail, and the Harajuku Girls are once again prominent in this video. Stefani and the dancers then escape with help from featured artist Akon. The video, filled with images of gold, contains allusions to the "Rapunzel" fairy tale as well as a prominent featuring of the 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe and a Buick police car. In another version of the video, the Chevrolet symbol is replaced with Stefani's "G" symbol that is featured on many other objects through out the video.

"The Sweet Escape" premiered on MTV's top-ten video chart program Total Request Live on January 16 2007, where it has since peaked at number two. After its January 20 debut on MuchMusic's Countdown, it peaked at number thirteen for the week of February 16.[5]

Chart performance

Although "The Sweet Escape" was released as the second single in 2007, it had been sent to radio as early as "Wind It Up" (2006). It debuted on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart at number ninety-three in December 2006.[6] In early February 2007 the song reached the top ten, rising in one week from number nineteen to number six,[7] and a week after this it reached number five.[8] In the next week it rose to number three.[9] In Canada it debuted at number eighty-six on the BDS Airplay Chart, on which it has reached number six.[10] "The Sweet Escape" entered the UK Singles Chart on downloads alone at number forty-three in late January 2007, almost a month before its physical release. It has since reached number eight.[11] "The Sweet Escape" has peaked at number twelve in Ireland and number three on the United World Chart.

Credits and personnel

Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
Position [12]
Canadian BDS Airplay Chart 5
Czech Singles Chart 44
Irish Singles Chart 12
Norwegian Singles Chart 19
Swedish Singles Chart 14
Swiss Singles Chart 31
UK Singles Chart 8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 3
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 3
U.S. Billboard Pop Digital Downloads 2
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 8
United World Chart 3

References

  1. ^ "For The Record: Quick News On Rihanna, Luda, Lady Sov, Kelis, Nas, Harry Potter, Angelina Jolie & More". MTV News. December 14, 2006. Retrieved December 25 2006.
  2. ^ Taylor, Chuck. "The Sweet Escape". Billboard. January 6, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
  3. ^ "Gwen Stefani featuring Akon - The Sweet Escape". About.com. Retrieved January 12 2007.
  4. ^ Video on Trial. MuchMusic programming. Original airdate: February 5 2007. Retrieved February 9 2007.
  5. ^ Countdown. MuchMusic programming. Retrieved February 2 2007.
  6. ^ Jonathan Cohen, "Beyonce Begins Third Week Atop The Hot 100", Billboard.com, December 21, 2006.
  7. ^ Katie Hasty, "Beyonce Stays Ahead Of Fall Out Boy Atop Hot 100", Billboard.com, February 1, 2007.
  8. ^ Katie Hasty, "Beyonce Makes It Ten Weeks At No. 1 With 'Irreplaceable'", Billboard.com, February 8, 2007.
  9. ^ Jonathan Cohen, "Furtado's 'Say It Right' Bests Beyonce On Hot 100", Billboard.com, February 15, 2007.
  10. ^ "Jam Canoe". Canadian airplay and sales charts. Retrieved February 3 2007.
  11. ^ "BBC: The Official UK Charts Company". United Kingdom sales chart. Retrieved February 3 2007.
  12. ^ "Gwen Stefani's 'The Sweet Escape': Chart Positions". Retrieved December 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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