Hollaback Girl - Writing and Inspiration

Writing and Inspiration

Stefani had worked with The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo) during the early stages of writing Love. Angel. Music. Baby.; however, a case of writer's block resulted in reportedly uninspired collaborations. As the album neared completion, Stefani regained her confidence and booked another session with The Neptunes. Stefani flew to New York City to meet up with Williams, and after finishing two songs within a week, Stefani ended the session early and prepared to return home. A few minutes later, Williams called her back into the studio to write another song. Stefani said, "I was tired. I wanted to go home, but he was like, 'Don't leave yet.'" When she returned to the studio, Williams began to play Stefani his first solo album, and she became envious. Excited by his material, she decided to write another song with Williams, despite her opinion that the album already contained far too many tracks.

To search for inspiration, Stefani and Williams had a lengthy discussion in which Stefani said that she had yet to write a song about her intentions for pursuing a solo career. She remarked how the album was missing an "attitude song", and she recalled a derogatory comment that grunge musician Courtney Love had made about her in an interview with teen magazine Seventeen.

Being famous is just like being in high school. But I'm not interested in being the cheerleader. I'm not interested in being Gwen Stefani. She's the cheerleader, and I'm out in the smoker shed.

Stefani responded in the March 2005 issue of the NME:

Y'know someone one time called me a cheerleader, negatively, and I've never been a cheerleader. So I was, like, "OK, fuck you. You want me to be a cheerleader? Well, I will be one then. And I'll rule the whole world, just you watch me."

Stefani believed that some of the fans of No Doubt would be upset with her solo effort, commenting, " were probably like, 'Why is she doing this record? She's going to ruin everything'." She revealed that she too did not know why she was recording a solo album. For the remainder of the evening, Stefani and Williams incorporated this inspiration into the lyrics that eventually became "Hollaback Girl". The two decided that Stefani did not have to have an answer for her intentions and that the choices she made were based on what she felt was wrong or right. On its creation, Stefani said, "To me, it is the freshest attitude song I've heard in so long." Williams was pleased with the song, commenting, "Gwen is like the girl in high school who just had her own style."

Because Stefani never disclosed the song title's meaning, reviewers came up with various interpretations. In a satirical, line-by-line analysis of the song's lyrics, OC Weekly critic Greg Stacy humorously speculated that "Gwen is apparently the captain of the cheerleader squad; she is the girl who 'hollas' the chants, not one of the girls who simply 'hollas' them back". The most commonly accepted meaning is that a hollaback girl responds to a confrontation with words but that Stefani would rather take initiative and "step it up". However, the term can be traced to American construction workers of the 1940s used to denigrate females that would positively respond to their "catcalls" or hollers.