User:Carbrera/Long Way to Go

"Long Way to Go" is a song by American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani with André 3000, taken from Stefani's debut solo studio album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004) where it serves as the closing track to the album. It was released on November 12, 2004, along with the rest of ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' by Interscope Records. Although the song was scrapped from André 3000's critically acclaimed fifth studio album, The Love Below, Stefani and André 3000 ended up reworking it and putting it on her album instead.

"Long Way to Go" was written by Stefani and 3000, while 3000 solely produced the track. The song prominently features a sample from Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, but cannot be heard in the song until the closing outro. Also, King is not credited for contributed lyrics to the song. Musically the song is influenced by electronic music and alternative hip hop, with partial influence from both dance music and soul music.

After its release, "Long Way to Go" received scrutiny for its sample of "I Have a Dream". The song also was received negatively for its outdated metaphors on interracial relationships. However, the track did receive positive attention for being a "standout" on ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' and also for the inclusion of its electronic production, particularly the closing of the track.

Stefani performed the track during her 2005 Harajuku Lovers Tour during the middle section of the show. The performance was accompanied by the Harajuku Girls, a dance troupe that appeared in several of Stefani's videos during her solo career.

Background and recording
Production for "Long Way to Go" initially started in 2003 during recording sessions for both of Stefani and 3000's upcoming studio albums. The original collaboration had Stefani as a featured artist, although 3000 intended for a different version of the song to make it on his album, The Love Below, but it did not make the final cut. The pair worked together on a slightly different version of the track, where it was then finalized and placed on ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.''. The original demo of the song has never been officially released to the public.

Lyrically, the song discusses interracial dating and the beauty of love, made clear in the lyric, "Beauty is beauty / Whether it's black or white". The line, "When snow hits the asphalt / Cold looks and bad talk come" is used as a metaphor for the backlash that may occur when dating someone of the opposite race. Throughout the closing of the track, prominent samples of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech can be heard, synchronized to several beats.

Critical reception
Upon release, "Long Way to Go" was negatively received and heavily criticized for its sampling of the "I Have a Dream" speech. Jason Damas of PopMatters unfavorably compared the song to OutKast's "Spread". Damas also said that Stefani "awkwardly comment[ed] on race relations and as such it's a bit of a buzzkill". Krissi Murison of the British magazine, NME, also was negative with her review, claiming that the track is a "bar the knuckle-bitingly bad duet", further adding that every song on ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' sounds like a future hit, minus "Long Way to Go".

However, Ryan Book of Music Times, was less critical with his review: "[Stefani] took a break from colorful music videos to make a statement of racial relations... the song uses a less clear sample than the other tracks, but interpolates his words into the electronic breakdown at the end of the song". Marc Robisch of Thought Catalog felt that "Long Way to Go" is "one of the most interesting out of any on Love. Angel. Music. Baby.", further adding that the outro of the song resembles the work of M.I.A.. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic was mixed to positive with his review, stating that the song "is a jarring buzz kill – and that's what's appealing about L.A.M.B., even if it such a shallow celebration of fleeting style and outdated bling-bling culture, it can grate." Traxionary described "Long Way to Go" as "a plea for interracial love–or the tolerant embrace of it–the central contention that "beauty" can be "black or white/yellow or green"".

Live performances
Stefani included the song on the setlist for her 2005 concert tour entitled Harajuku Lovers Tour, where it was performed during the middle of the show immediately after her performance of "Danger Zone". "Long Way to Go" was performed alongside the Harajuku Girls, where the dance troupe did minimal dance moves due to the intimacy of the song. Throughout the performance, the lyrics of the song flashed on the screens above Stefani as she performed the song. Due to the topic of interracial dating in the song, Stefani was also surrounded by mixed race individuals in the performance. Because of the song's negative and poor reception, it was not included in the setlist for her 2006 world tour entitled The Sweet Escape Tour.

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Love. Angel. Music. Baby.


 * Gwen Stefani – lead vocals, songwriting
 * André Benjamin - keyboards, lead vocals, mixing, production, songwriting
 * Warren Bletcher - assistant engineering
 * Greg Collins – mixing
 * CutMaster Swiff - cuts
 * Nick Ferrero - assistant engineering
 * John Frye - additional recording
 * Kevin Kendricks - keyboards, piano
 * Kevin Mills - assistant engineering
 * Pete Novak - additional recording
 * Glenn Pittman - assistant engineering
 * Sean Tallman - assistant engineering