Music critics gave "London Bridge" generally mixed reviews, with some of them criticizing the song's sexually suggestive lyrics and comparing the song to Gwen Stefani's single "Hollaback Girl" (2005). "London Bridge" was a commercial success and reached the top ten in 13 countries. In the United States, it peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling over two million digital copies and becoming the singer's second best-selling song in the country. An accompanying music video for the single was directed by Marc Webb and features Fergie playing around with men in London. The song was featured in the 2014 film Neighbors and appears on the film's soundtrack.[2]
Polow da Don provided background vocals with Jay Anderson, who also provided additional vocals to the song. Hartnett played the bass and guitar, while Danja played the drums and percussion. The keys for the song were provided by Elvis Williams, while engineering was handled by Demacio "Demo" Castellon and Jason Schweitzer. Phil Tan worked with Josh Houghkirk on mixing the song at the Soapbox Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.
Music and lyrics
"London Bridge" is a hip hop and dance song lasting for four minutes and one second, and incorporates the use of horns.[4][5] According to the sheet music published by Windswept Holdings, LLC at Musicnotes.com, it was composed in the key of F minor.[6] The song is set in common time to a moderate hip hop groove of 90 beats per minute.[6] Fergie's vocal range spans from the low note of E4 to the high note of F5.[6] Fergie described the song as being "kind of like a punch in the face to let people know I'm coming out... I've been getting way too into myself nowadays and I just wanna have fun with as many men as I can possible."[7] She also said the song was "poking fun at certain things. I'm really not going to spray the paparazzi with mace—I don't know if you know that about me."[8]
IGN writer Spence D. labeled "London Bridge" a "club stomper", while Rebecca Wright of Blogcritics described the song as a catchy and danceable tune with lyrics which are hard to decipher.[4][9] John Murphy of musicOMH claimed that the song also incorporates the use of horns similar to those used by Beyoncé in her song "Work It Out" (2002).[10] Mike Joseph of PopMatters compared the song to Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl", Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous", and the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps".[11] Joseph also said that the song is a mixture of Stefani's "schoolgirl sass" and "a bit of ambiguous sleaze".[11]
Upon its release, "London Bridge" received mixed reviews from music critics. Rolling Stone called the song a "total ripoff of Hollaback Girl", Gwen Stefani's 2005 number-one single.[12] A reviewer of About.com described the song as being "Hollaback Girl" "slathered in puerile sexual raunch".[13] Steve Yates of The Observer describes the song as being "much in the M.I.A. vein".[14] Amy Phillips of Pitchfork noted how much the song and Lil Mama's "Lip Gloss" resembled M.I.A.'s songs, such as her 2003 single "Galang", serving as a reminder of how much the mainstream pop, dance and rap musical landscape had shifted since M.I.A. "first appeared in 2004".[a]AllMusic writer Andy Kellman selected "London Bridge" as one of the best tracks from The Dutchess, describing it as "terrific" and "inexplicably asinine".[16]
Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Fergie played the role of a sexaholic superstar, especially on the refrain, where she "unsubtly, if memorably", combined "winky" sexual metaphors and "club-banging" beats.[17] Bill Lamb of About.com rated the song two out of five stars, praising the spirit exuded, claiming it resembled that of "Hollaback Girl". However, he labeled "London Bridge" as a derivative of higher quality pop music and criticized it for its explicit sexual lyrics.[5] Benjamin Boles of Now expressed dislike for the song: "Basically, if London Bridge doesn't make you want to rip your ears off, you'll enjoy almost 80 per cent of the album."[18] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine also expressed dislike for the song's sexual suggestiveness, writing that it was "the most uninspired metaphor for oral sex in recorded history."[19]
Norman Mayers of Prefix Magazine labeled "London Bridge" as one of the album's highlights.[20] Dan Gennoe of Yahoo! Music compared the song to Gwen Stefani, writing that the "raucous thump has Gwen Stefani stamped all over it."[21] Spence D. of IGN labeled "London Bridge" the album's centerpice, but noted that, compared to "Fergalicious" and "Clumsy", it appeared to be "a calculated banger aimed at the unscrupulous club goer."[4] John Murphy of musicOMH found the song annoying, "nothing more, nothing less", but predicted that it would be a commercial success.[10] Heather Murray of Glasswerk.co.uk criticized the song for its lyrics, lack of originality, and Fergie's vocal performance, which she described as "whinely drawl."[22]
Commercial performance
In the United States, "London Bridge" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 84 on the issue dated August 5, 2006.[23] The song ascended 79 places to number five the next week, achieving the second biggest leap in the Billboard Hot 100 history at the time.[24] It ascended to number one in its third week and stayed there for three consecutive weeks.[24][25] The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on July 11, 2007, almost a year after its release.[26] Its digital download sales stand at 2,115,000 units, becoming her first single to surpass sales of two million downloads.[27] "London Bridge" is Fergie's fifth most-downloaded song, behind "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Fergalicious", "Glamorous", and "Clumsy".[27]
In Australia, the song debuted and peaked at number three on the ARIA Singles Chart dated September 24, 2006, staying at the position for two non-consecutive weeks.[28] The song has been certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 35,000 units.[29] On the issue dated October 2, the song debuted and peaked atop the New Zealand Singles Chart.[30] Across Europe, "London Bridge" peaked at number three in Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.[25] In Switzerland, the song peaked at number six, where it stayed for two non-consecutive weeks and spent a total of 18 weeks on the chart.[31] In France, the song debuted and peaked at number 27 on October 28, spending a total of 18 weeks on the singles chart.[32] In Japan, "London Bridge" debuted at number ten on September 16,[33] peaking at number seven the following week.[34]
Music video
The accompanying music video for "London Bridge", directed by Marc Webb, was filmed at the Woolwich Barracks in Woolwich, South London in mid-June 2006, during The Black Eyed Peas' The Monkey Business Tour stop in the United Kingdom. Fergie collaborated with her fellow group members will.i.am, Taboo and apl.de.ap on the concept of the music video to make it more distinctive; they all made cameos in the video. She described the concept by saying: "We're doing this androgynous-type thing where my girls and I go into a Gentlemen's club and pull them into a bathroom and come back out in their clothes. They're going to be dressed up really dapper and looking really handsome."[7]
For the video, Fergie brought in backup dancers who doubled as bodyguards, dressed as cholas—tough Mexican girls known for wearing dark lipstick and big hair—to make the video "have a bit more edge, be very distinct, be very mixed."[7] Fergie is seen intermittently sailing down the River Thames just in front of Tower Bridge, which is not the same as London Bridge, despite the song title. Fergie based one of her outfits for the video on her family's crest and tartan, altering it as necessary to modernize it.[7] She also wears a tiara cocked to the side of her head to play off the royal title of her album and having the same last name and nickname as Sarah, Duchess of York. A decade after its original premiere, the music video was uploaded to Fergie's Vevo channel on August 4, 2016.[7]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^After hearing "London Bridge", M.I.A. told Interscope Geffen A&M Records then-chairman Jimmy Iovine: "If I don't sell records and make money for you, you're just going to make them with her anyway". However, Iovine noted that the song was yet another example of how M.I.A. was "an artist who inspires other artists."[15]
^Radio edit of "London Bridge" was subtitled "Oh Snap" on numerous editions of the single.
^will.i.am Music Group released only the commercial single for "London Bridge" and did not participate in sending the song to radio stations.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200643 into search.
