No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom seemed to keep producing one memorable single after another. “Hey You!” was technically the album’s seventh and final single, but it received only a limited international release and never became a familiar American hit. That helps make it one of the album’s most underrated songs.
Musically, it sounds like No Doubt wandered into a late-1960s psychedelic record. The band’s familiar ska-pop bounce is interrupted by dreamy passages, unusual effects and Aloke Dasgupta’s sitar. Gwen Stefani moves between playful teasing and genuine uneasiness as she addresses a bride who may be expecting marriage to solve everything.
Gwen’s brother Eric Stefani helped found No Doubt and was an important creative force during the band’s early years. He played keyboards and piano on this track, although Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal wrote it. Eric left the band during the long making of Tragic Kingdom, before the album was released, and returned to animation full-time—including work on The Simpsons.
“Hey You!” may have been overshadowed by “Just a Girl,” “Spiderwebs” and “Don’t Speak,” but its psychedelic detour makes it one of the most distinctive songs on Tragic Kingdom.