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"Cool" is a song by American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani, the fourth single from her debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby.

Released in 2005 (see 2005 in music), the song reached number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Stefani her fifth top-twenty hit. It also peaked at number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay. "Cool" was also successful in Canada, reaching number one for a single week, and in Australia and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number ten and number eleven respectively. "Cool" was released following the massive success of Stefani's worldwide number-one song, "Hollaback Girl". Because of its success, "Cool" was expected to duplicate its chart positions and popularity. Although this feat was not achieved, the song overall did not disappoint, and entered the top-twenty on the majority of all charts it was eligible to chart on in the United States and worldwide.

Song information

"Cool" was co-written by Stefani and Dallas Austin and produced by Austin. In this mid-tempo love song, heavily inspired by the 1980s, Stefani looks back at her past relationship with No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal. Although their past problems led to drama and they have gone their separate ways romantically, Stefani finds it "cool" that they still remain very good and close friends. The song is often seen as the sequel to the popular No Doubt song, "Don't Speak".

When asked about the song, Stefani responded, "Dallas Austin heard my song 'Underneath It All' and got inspired to write a new song called 'Cool' which he could never finish about his girlfriend and all the bullshit of breaking up and how he wanted it to be okay. We finished the thing in fifteen minutes. I didn't write all of the melody–I'm ashamed, I want to say that I did–but I also know how magical it is that somebody could be so inspired by my song that they write one."

Chart performance

The song was officially released to Mainstream Top 40 radio on July 5, 2005. For the week ending June 25, 2005 it was the highest entry (number forty-four) on the Billboard Pop 100 Airplay chart, beating "Ass Like That" by Eminem (forty-seven), and "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay (forty-eight).

The following week it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number eighty-six, and number thirty-five in Canada. It reached number eleven in the United Kingdom and number ten on the Australian ARIA Charts.

Six weeks after its release in the United States, "Cool" climbed to its peak position of number thirteen, and subsequently remained in the top-thirty for an additional two months. Three months after its debut in Canada, "Cool" managed to climb from its debut up to number one for one week. The success of the single surpassed "Rich Girl"'s peak of number four, making "Cool" more popular than "Rich Girl" in Canada, while the result was opposite in the United States.

Music video

The music video for "Cool", directed by Sophie Muller, was first shown on MTV's Total Request Live on June 30, 2005. The video follows the theme of the song very closely, showing the relationship that Stefani has with her ex-boyfriend, played by Daniel Gonzalez, and his new girlfriend, played by Erin Lokitz (who is the girlfriend of Stefani's former boyfriend, Tony Kanal), all in each other's company. The video is also noted for showcasing the scenery of Lake Como, Italy, where it was shot, and as being the first solo video by Stefani not to feature her Harajuku Girls.

The music video came second on VH1's Top 20 Video Countdown.

Charts

International

Billboard

• Pop songs
• 2005 singles
• Gwen Stefani songs