They should have put that in the video, Gwen eating a banana. REEEEEEEEAAAL SLOW.
See this book’s cover for an example of a Houellebecq Girl.
Oh, this is a baaad song, but not nearly as bad as the dance hall like song always played immediately before or after it, in which the singer seems to be proudly telling the world that “I pee gas-o-liiiine”, which if I were in this guy’s place, the song would constist of lots less happy singing and rapping, and much more of howling and screaming and then quiet sobbing.
However, it may explain how all these rappers pay for the gas-o-liiine in their SUV’s.
Based on the link Zhao Daoli posted, the lyric in question is “This shit is bananas/B-A-N-A-N-A-S.” Obviously, she has just come upon the defecation of a monkey, which obviously consists mostly of bananas. It is also obvious that this song is about exploring a chimp-infested jungle, and “I ain’t no hollaback girl” indicates that she does not imitate the monkey’s calls, unlike famous chimp researcher/hollaback girl Jane Goodall. The repetition of the line “This my shit, this my shit” also points out that, unlike Goodall, Stefani also defecates on the ground as the monkeys do, and can point her shit out from that of the chimps. (Yes, I know chimps and monkeys are not the same thing. It’s just boring typing the same thing all the time.)
“Well, well, another blond hair…conducting a little more ‘research’ with that Gwen Stefani tramp?”
Saying something is “bananas” means it’s crazy or very good. I like the song. The first time I heard it, I knew it would be a pretty big hit. It’s produced by the Neptunes, the best producers working right now IMHO.
This thread is bananas.
B-A-N-A-Annas.
I wish that song were about peeing gasoline- it’d be a lot cleaner. The first time I heard it, I almost crashed the car. My friend and I just stared at one another, “Dude…did he just say…no he didn’t…Oh GOD HE DID…EWWWW”
The line is, “Ella le gusta la gasonina ((dame mas gasolina))” Meaning: “She really likes my gasoline ((give me more gasolina)).” It goes on to talk about how she likes it hard in various places. Good times.
Oh- it’s still better then that stupid Bananas song.
Maybe I’m weird, but the phrase “hollaback girl” still puts me in mind of the fairies called “woodwives”, who are incredibly beautiful from the front but are completely hollow when seen from the back (hence, “hollow back”). I KNOW that’s not anywhere near what Stefani means in the song, but I can’t help my crazy fairy-knowin’ ways…
Why do I get up in the morning?
I’ll add my own interpretation of the Hollaback phenomena: going by what the DJs say, “Hollaback, y’all” is just a, “say hi” sort of thing, but I’m guessing that in this case, she’s actually saying that a hollaback girl is one who you don’t need to spend time with, rather one who you call when you’re bored and want something to do, “hey Gwen, hollaback” and then never talk to otherwise.
Kind of like, “I’m sick of being your Monday girl,” “Never anything but jump Kerosene” sort of thing.
Heck, if I were at this guy’s place, I’d demand a demonstration. Into my Mercury. With gas at $2.19/gallon, you can be certain I’ll call his bluff on a gift like that.
I agree with Chairman Pow – a hollaback girl is someone you can treat like dirt but she’ll always be around if you’re horny and you’ve got no better prospects. To “holla” is to call someone, so if you call a hollaback girl, she’ll always call you back, even if it’s three in the morning and you’ve been out trying to score with other girls all night while she was home sitting by the phone.
–Cliffy
P.S. Biffy, that was glorious.
I like this explanation.
I like the song, too. What can I say, I’m a sucker for percussion.
It’s a hook, Chairman Pow. Bananas means crazy. It has for a long time. Stefani spells the word out, because sometimes that sort of thing happens in pop music. She did it for exactly the same reason The Kinks did it in “Lola” and Van Morrison did it in “Gloria.”
It probably also continues the cheerleader motif. Because cheerleaders spell things.
I’m not seeing the Cyndi Lauper thing, however, annoying or otherwise.
Me too. But it’s still boring. I like Gwen. I like the Neptunes. Nearly everything touched by them (perhaps I should say ‘him’) turns into percussive extacy. I loved the drums in “Like I Love You” for instance. Brilliant. Which is why, I guess, with this song just being a half decent slightly warm cup of tea, it’s disappointing and gets old fast. And I add my vote against the Gasolina song, not my … cup of tea. Though from what I gather from above, had I understood the lyrics, who knows I might have enjoyed it more. But they try. Its good when people embark on that quest for a new sound. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes they pave the way for someone who does break on through to the other side.
And yes, Gwen is doing a solo. Her album was pretty well received, and its pretty fresh, though I only like a few songs well enough to repeat them.
(recent songs I’m into are more clubby, like Ethan - In My Heart, Bon Garcon - Freek U, and Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.)
I think Chairman Pow is exactly right about the Hollaback Girl thing. Or at least that’s how my husband interpreted it after seeing the video.
As for B-A-N-A-N-A-S, when I was a kid (in the '80s), this was a popular cheer among the high school cheerleaders. I distinctly remember hearing it at basketball games. Went a little something like this:
Go bananas
Go go bananas
B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Go bananas
Go go bananas
I can’t believe no one else has heard of it.
yellowval is correct; according to this site:
*
Ill explain the holla back girl song. Someone had been talking trash about gwen. Calling her a ditsy chearleader chick. So Gwen wrote that song to the person who was talking about her. When she said that shi* is bananas lol shes refuring to the comment that person made about her. the B-A-N-A-N-A-S reference is in an old cheerleading cheer. she is putting the old cheer to describe herself in this current situation. she is a bold, in control, take charge babe, any other trash talk is shit, its bananas…*
So Gwen’s lyrics carry two burdens, the first being that of being a hit, a catchy radio tune, using a memorable hip-hop culture phrase as the basis of it- thus ‘holla back girl.’ The second burden is that of denying the claims recently made, thus the imagery of the video, which flows congruently with the beat of the producers and the witty in-joke of the very group she denys.
Andrew currently serves as a writer and co-editor of Us Quarterly 
I love the production on this song. The horns in the background, especially.
My husband and I like her album well enough (“Bubble Pop Electric” gets stuck in my head every time I hear it), but my husband pointed out that it seems to be a big marketing ploy for Gwen’s clothing line, with all the Harajuku girls and L.A.M.B. and all.
So she hasn’t been saying “I ain’t no Harlem black girl”? I was confused, because it is common knowledge Gwen is a gorgeous blonde from California.
I still don’t know what you’re talking about.