Spiderwebs - Definition

See also: Spider web

"Spiderwebs" is a song by the American band No Doubt. It first appeared in their 1995 album Tragic Kingdom and was released as a single in 1996. It was the follow-up to the album's successful first single, "Just a Girl". When "Spiderwebs" reached the radio airwaves in the U.S, it began a revival of the ska genre. The song is a combination of ska and pop. With its ubiquituous airplay for months, more ska-flavored singles became prevalent in later years such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' "The Impression That I Get", Save Ferris' "Come On Eileen", and The Specials' "A Little Bit You, A Little Bit Me".

Initially, the song debuted number 10 on the Billboard charts and peaked at number 2 after three weeks of its release. The song's lyrics describe the singer's situation with a relationship, where the other person has her metaphorically stuck in spiderwebs. It begins with describing the initial encounter with the other person and builds up into a situation where the singer is so upset that she now has to screen her phone calls. Musically, the song uses a drum for the beat and various brass instruments, such as a trombone to build up the crescendos in the chorus.

There were two different music videos produced for this song. In the U.S. version, the music video showed clips of the band playing. These included lead singer Gwen Stefani walking around being covered in "spiderwebs" made of strings sprayed out of aerosol cans and Gwen being tangled in various telephone chords. In the Japanese version, the music video featured the band playing in a Japanese restaurant entertaining the patrons. As the band plays, various Japanese symbols are displayed on the screen.

Charts

Singles - Billboard (North America)