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Gwen Stefani Spills How Her Songs’ Meanings Changed Over Time, Have Become ‘More Relevant’

On “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” singer Gwen Stefani shared a bit about how some of her songs have grown more meaningful to her over time.

Stefani’s reflection came about after Clarkson pointed out that Stefani recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of the seminal No Doubt album “Tragic Kingdom.”

Gwen Stefani On No Doubt Songs

“Have those songs taken on new meaning for you over the years?” Clarkson asked.

“They have, I guess,” Stefani responded. “I feel like, when I sing those songs I really feel like the songs bring me back to the moment, like when I’m singing them. Like, I’m in the ‘Don’t Speak’ moment. The one song that feels different than I thought it would feel at this point in my life is ‘Just A Girl’. Because that song was written so innocently so long ago. Before I knew anyone would even hear it. I was living with my parents, I was like 25 years old.”

“But no, I feel like the lyrics to that song are kind of like more relevant now,” she added. “Like I thought I would like grow up and be a woman and not be able to sing those lyrics. But they kind of feel more relevant than they’ve ever felt, which is interesting.”

On Writing ‘Just A Girl’

Stefani told ABC’s “The View” last year that when she wrote “Just A Girl,” she had no idea it would later become a feminist anthem. But she said she was thinking about female empowerment and coming of age at the time she wrote it.

“You have all these awarenesses as you’re getting older and I just wanted to write a song about that,” Stefani told “The View” co-hosts. “I thought the idea of ‘Just A Girl’ was like, sarcastic. So I never thought anyone would hear the song or that like we would be sitting here talking about it all these years later. But I feel proud of it.”

Watch the Kelly Clarkson interview here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJN8nN3Rh6Y