Although I like this song a lot, I have to say that this music video is one of the most bizarre I’ve ever seen. To be honest, I’m quite surprised that there haven’t been any high-profile mock-videos of it. The song is, without a doubt, strong and emotional. And I have no doubt about Gwen Stefani’s authenticity in it. However, I think the video could have been done a bit differently to convey the message. As it is, it just comes across as odd.
As you can clearly see and hear, the song is about a painful breakup and talks about why she fell in love with that person in the first place. Obviously, the song was about the falling apart of Stefani’s 13-year marriage with Gavin Rossdale, the former lead singer of the grunge-rock band Bush. The couple have three boys together, all of whom have extraordinary names (Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale, and Apollo Bowie Flynn Rossdale).
I’m sure there is countless speculation circulating, with the Hollywood rumormills working in high gear about this, but Gwen Stefani was the one to file for divorce (which began in July and was finalized in October, the same month this song and video were released). Then in November, it was announced that Gwen Stefani and her co-star on The Voice, Blake Shelton, were dating. Presumably she and the country singer are still together at this point. I’m personally not the type of person to make assumption about what was or wasn’t going on, but I figured it was a worthwhile thing to note.
This song, ‘Used to Love You,’ is the first single of an upcoming album with an unknown release date. The album is set to replace one that was nearly ready for release earlier in 2015 but she scrapped it because she said it felt disingenuous and forced. She says the upcoming album will better reflect where she is emotionally now.
Gwen Stefani shown on the verge of tears in her latest video “Used To Love You” about her breakup with Gavin Rossdale. (From the music video).