Peak
7
Weeks
27
Score
4,589
Chart Year
2005
The pirate-themed music video for "Rich Girl" was directed by David LaChapelle and uses the Get Rich mix of the song, which repeats the middle-8 chant section during the intro. The video, inspired by a late-1990s Vivienne Westwood advertising campaign, opens with four Japanese schoolgirls playing with a toy pirate ship and two Bratz dolls of Stefani and Eve, while the girls discuss what they would do if they were a "rich girl". The video features several sequences. Stefani is first shown below the deck of a pirate ship, dancing on a table and singing to the song. She is surrounded by pirates and wenches and is soon joined by Eve, wearing an eyepatch. In the surreal style of LaChapelle, the pirate crew has distorted features, and a leaked casting call commented, "I need the freaks on this one."[40] Above deck Stefani, the Harajuku Girls, Eve, and more pirates dance on the deck and rigging. Stefani is also seen dancing with the Harajuku Girls in a treasure trove, often carrying a sword, and swinging from an anchor. When the girls dunk the toy ship in a fish tank, the galleon engages in cannon fire, causing Stefani and the pirates to fall all over the ship, and Stefani and the Harajuku Girls are soon shipwrecked. The music video was a success on video channels. The video debuted at number nine on MTV's Total Request Live on December 13, 2004.[41] It worked its way to number five,[42] staying on the chart for a total of 13 days.[41] The video also reached number four on MuchMusic's Countdown, remaining on the chart for 16 weeks.[43] VH1 listed "Rich Girl" at number 24 on its Top 40 Videos of 2005
"Rich Girl" is a rewrite of "If I Were A Rich Man" from the musical Fiddler On The Roof. There are some stark lyrical differences: in "Rich Man," the main character Tevye wants food on the table and chickens in the yard - that's his idea of "rich." Stefani's rich girl has more expensive tastes: she wants to buy a Hollywood mansion and clean out the Vivienne Westwood store. Stefani is joined by the rapper Eve on this track. They first teamed up in 2001 for "Let Me Blow Ya Mind," included on Eve's album Scorpion. Both songs were produced by Dr. Dre. The pop arrangement of the song was originally performed by British musicians Louchie Lou and Michie One in 1993 on their song called "Rich Girl," although Stefani added and modified the lyrics considerably. >> Love.Angel.Music.Baby was Stefani's first solo album, but she was well known for her work in No Doubt. "Rich Girl" was released as the second single (after "What You Waiting For?" and was a worldwide hit, reaching #2 in Australia, #4 in both Canada and the United Kingdom, and peaking at #7 in the United States. The song established an image of Stefani as a sassy, contemporary jet-setter - she was no longer "Just A Girl." The music video, directed by David LaChapelle, takes place on the world's sexiest pirate ship, with Stefani and Eve swashbuckling with lots of shirtless sailors. Apparently there's a VIP area below deck. The aesthetic was inspired by a late '90s pirate-themed ad campaign for fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, titled "Tied To The Mast." LaChapelle, whose other work includes Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" and Mariah Carey's "Loverboy," is also a famous photographer known for his highly stylized portraits of pop stars. He approaches his videos in the same over-the-top fashion, which made Stefani nervous. "I worked with David LaChapelle on the video, who's absolutely crazy," the singer told Billboard in 2019. "That video was a nightmare to make. People were partying in the trailer with Pamela Anderson, and I cried on set. It was a wild time. I had such an idea of what I wanted it to be, and what he came up with was so elaborate. There was really no concept, so I didn't know if it was gonna turn out good. It ended up being great, but it was such a crazy day." Stefani and LaChapelle previously worked together on the video for No Doubt's 2003 cover of Talk Talk's "It's My Life." Stefani and Eve teamed up to perform this song on a number of shows, including Saturday Night Live and the British show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. They also sang it at the Grammy Awards in 2005, where the song was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, an award they won for "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" four years earlier. The Grammy performance recreated the video with the pirate ship set and elaborate costumes. The Harajuku Girls get a shout-out in this song and appear in the video. They were four dancers of Japanese descent who provided a visual motif for Stefani's Love.Angel.Music.Baby album, appearing in the videos and artwork, and joining Gwen for promotional appearances. Harajuku is a very fashionable area in Japan that Stefani discovered while traveling the country. Stefani contemplates what life would be like "If I was a rich girl." This is grammatically incorrect. It should be "If I were a rich girl," because subjunctive verbs (in this case, "I were" is the subjunctive mood of the verb "to be") are used to express hypothetical or imaginary situations. Notice the original tune, "If I Were A Rich Man," gets it right. Stefani was already a rich girl by the time she released her debut solo album, which is why she didn't think the song's concept would work for her. "Dre's the one who came to me with 'Rich Girl.' I thought it was the weirdest idea ever," she told Billboard. "I was like, 'I am rich!' I went from having $2,000 living with my parents to buying my own house, like, hello! And I'm not hip-hop, so I can't be throwing money around thinking that's gonna work. But Dre's the man." Stefani had to find a way to connect with the Fiddler On The Roof interpolation and settled on a dream-like approach that borrowed from her real-life experiences. She continued: "I was running on a treadmill in London and the lyrics just came to my brain. It was the perspective of me living the dream. I put that vision into the verses: I had a mansion in London, Harajuku Girls and these things that actually happened in my life. That was the only way I could embrace the song's interpolation, which was perfect for me, because I love musicals."
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na If I was a rich girl (na, na....) See, I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl No man could test me, impress me, my cash flow would never ever end Cause I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl Think what that money could bring I'd buy everything Clean out Vivienne Westwood In my Galliano gown No, wouldn't just have one hood A Hollywood mansion if I could Please book me first-class to my fancy house in London town All the riches baby, won't mean anything All the riches baby, won't bring what your love can bring All the riches baby, won't mean anything Don't need no other baby Your lovin' is better than gold, and I know If I was rich girl (na, na...) See, I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl No man could test me, impress me, my cash flow would never ever end Cause I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl I'd get me four Harajuku girls to (uh huh) Inspire me and they'd come to my rescue I'd dress them wicked, I'd give them names (yeah) Love, Angel, Music, Baby Hurry up and come and save me All the riches baby, won't mean anything All the riches baby, won't bring what your love can bring All the riches baby, won't mean anything Don't need no other baby Your lovin' is better than gold, and I know Come together all over the world From the hoods of Japan, Harajuku girls What, it's all love What, give it up What (shouldn't matter (4x)), what Come together all over the world From the hoods of Japan, Harajuku girls What, it's all love What, give it up What (shouldn't matter (4x)) What happened to my life Turned upside down Chicks dat blew ya mind, ding, it's the second round (Original track and ting, mmm) You know you can't buy these things (no) See Stefani and her L.A.M.B., I rock the Fetish people You know who I am Yes ma'am, we got the style that's wicked I hope you can all keep up We climbed all the way from the bottom to the top Now we ain't gettin' nothin' but love If I was rich girl (na, na...) See, I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl No man could test me, impress me, my cash flow would never ever end Cause I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 25, 2004 | 74 | 52 |
| 2 | Jan 1, 2005 | 67 | 59 |
| 3 | Jan 8, 2005 | 54 | 72 |
| 4 | Jan 15, 2005 | 57 | 69 |
| 5 | Jan 22, 2005 | 50 | 76 |
| 6 | Jan 29, 2005 | 28 | 98 |
| 7 | Feb 5, 2005 | 25 | 101 |
| 8 | Feb 12, 2005 | 17 | 109 |
| 9 | Feb 19, 2005 | 16 | 110 |
| 10 | Feb 26, 2005 | 10 | 116 |
| 11 | Mar 5, 2005 | 7 | 119 |
| 12 | Mar 12, 2005 | 8 | 118 |
| 13 | Mar 19, 2005 | 8 | 118 |
| 14 | Mar 26, 2005 | 10 | 116 |
| 15 | Apr 2, 2005 | 10 | 116 |
| 16 | Apr 9, 2005 | 10 | 116 |
| 17 | Apr 16, 2005 | 9 | 117 |
| 18 | Apr 23, 2005 | 11 | 115 |
| 19 | Apr 30, 2005 | 15 | 111 |
| 20 | May 7, 2005 | 23 | 103 |