No Doubt's live act began to attract regional interest, and Interscope Records signed them in 1991. The band's debut a year later, an odd fusion of '80s and ska, sank without a trace in the wake of the grunge movement. As a result, Interscope refused to support No Doubt's tour or further recordings. The band responded by recording on their own during 1993-94; the result was the self-released The Beacon Street Collection, much rawer and more punk-inspired than the debut. Eric Stefani left just after its release, later working as an animator for The Simpsons. By late 1994, Interscope allowed recordings to resume, and Tragic Kingdom was released in October 1995. The album's third single, Don't Speak, which although originally written by Eric was later altered by Gwen to document her breakup with bassist Tony Kanal. Tragic Kingdom went platinum and has sold over 15 million copies to date. As Tragic Kingdom obtained success, the band toured furiously until late '97.
After a long break, the band had prepared a more mellow, and powerfully dramatic album entitled Return of Saturn. It emphasized Gwen's encounters with men, her biological clock, and miscellaneous topics. Although the album had a completely different approach to it, the band was making rock music with less of a punk/ska flare. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts in early April of 2000, and then declined to a flop. The public never did justice to the album, and it serves as a favorite for many die-hard fans.
While touring in Jamaica for Return of Saturn, the band wanted to try adding Reggae to their music, and making more of a dance rock record. 20 months after Return of Saturn debuted, the band was quick to jump on the creation of Rock Steady, released in December of '01. The singles Underneath It All and Hey Baby became international dance club symbols as top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. This album proved that No Doubt had not lost their potential with the public, and that they could appeal to various groups of people.
In 2004, No Doubt announced they would be going on hiatus after the release of the singles compilation The Singles 1992–2003, which contained one new song, a cover of experimental rock band Talk Talk's "It's My Life". Tony Kanal did several projects with Gwen and other artists. Adrian Young married and had a child; Tom Dumont formed a new band, Invincible Overlord, often plays with Matt Costa's band. Gwen embarked on a sucessful solo career which consisted of two albums - "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." and "The Sweet Escape". The first of these albums contains the single "Hollaback Girl", a song which was inescapable for most of 2005 and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won her a Billboard Award for first track to reach 1 Million legal downloads ever. The self titled track off "The Sweet Escape" went on to become her most notorious calling card.
With the hiatus officially over in late 2008 No Doubt announced tour plans for 2009, kicking it off in Atlantic City. The tour concluded with four dates in Irvine, CA. In May, 2009, the band was featured as a fictional 80's band, "Snowed Out", on CW Network's "Gossip Girl" The band performed their cover of Adam and the Ants 'Stand and Deliver.'
The group entered the studio in May 2010 to start recording on their sixth studio album: Push and Shove which will be release on September 25, 2012 and its first single will be "Settle Down". Their first music video for the new album will also be for "Settle Down" and it will be directed by Sophie Muller (who previously has done numerous music videos for No Doubt). The whole album has been recorded with producer Mark "Spike" Stent (who worked on their previous album Rock Steady) but they have also collaborated with Major Lazer (now Diplo's solo project). No Doubt previously revealed they are taking influence from ska, 80s new wave and Jamaican reggae music for the new record.
Undercover
No Doubt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A cat up in a tree
Want you to get me down but I'm scared of what I'll see
I need a private eye
To see through your disguise
'Cause I want to know everything
Well I'm looking down deep inside you
I'm so scared of what I might find there
Do you have to something to hide
And you can't show it?
I think I'm getting hot
Try to connect the dots
You're on your tip toes trying hard not to get caught
Some things are unexplained
Some people can't be tamed
But I want to know everything
Well I'm looking down deep inside you
And I want to climb in but I cant do it
I'm so scared of what I might find there
Do you have to something to hide
And I want to believe you
I want to believe that
You're giving it all up for me
You're so undercover
Keeping it all hush hush
What happened to us?
I can't believe give it up so I can get your love
I can't believe this oh we cant take it oh it will eat you up
Can't believe this under the covers
Well I'm looking down deep inside you
And I want to climb in but I cant do it
I'm so scared of what I might find there
Do you have to something to hide
Well I'm looking down deep inside you
And I want to climb in but I cant do it
I'm so scared of what I might find there
Do you have to something to hide
And you can't show it?
And I want to believe you
I want to believe that
You're giving it all up for me
You're so undercover
Keeping it all hush hush
I'm looking in your eyes
I wanna grab you and I cant do it
I want to take you back to real life
I wanna look down and the hold you and I won't prove it
I wanna look down in your eyes
I wanna take off your disguise
The lyrics of No Doubt's song "Undercover" speak to the curiosity that arises when one is in a relationship that seems secretive or elusive. The singer expresses a desire to know everything about their partner, but is scared of what they might find. Through lines like "I need a private eye / To see through your disguise," the singer recognizes that their partner is hiding something from them.
In the chorus, the singer acknowledges their attraction to their partner by saying, "And I want to believe you / I want to believe that / You're giving it all up for me / You're so undercover / Keeping it all hush hush." Despite this desire to believe, the singer can't shake their suspicions and ultimately decides that they can't continue the relationship.
The lyrics suggest that the singer struggles to balance their intense curiosity with their fear of what they might discover. The repetition of the line "I'm so scared of what I might find there / Do you have something to hide?" highlights this tension. Ultimately, the singer realizes that the mysteriousness of their partner may be too much to handle and decides to leave.
Line by Line Meaning
Curiosity
I am curious and want to know more about you.
A cat up in a tree
You are unreachable, like a cat in a tree.
Want you to get me down but I'm scared of what I'll see
I want to get closer to you but I am scared of what I might find out about you.
I need a private eye
I need someone to investigate and reveal your true intentions.
To see through your disguise
I want to know your true intentions and motives.
'Cause I want to know everything
I want to know every detail about you and your life.
Well I'm looking down deep inside you
I am trying to understand you better by getting to know you deeply.
And I want to climb in but I can't do it
I want to understand you so much better, but there is a barrier preventing me from doing so.
Do you have to something to hide
Are you hiding something from me?
I think I'm getting hot
I am getting closer to uncovering your true intentions.
Try to connect the dots
I am trying to put the pieces together to better understand you.
You're on your tip toes trying hard not to get caught
You are trying not to reveal your true intentions and motives.
Some things are unexplained
Some aspects of your behavior are puzzling and do not make sense to me.
Some people can't be tamed
You are someone who cannot be controlled or easily understood.
But I want to know everything
Despite the difficulties, I still want to understand everything there is to know about you.
And I want to believe you
I want to trust you and take what you say at face value.
You're giving it all up for me
I believe that you are fully invested in our relationship and are committed to me.
You're so undercover
You are hiding your true intentions.
Keeping it all hush hush
You are keeping everything a secret and not revealing anything to me.
What happened to us?
I am puzzled about how our relationship deteriorated so quickly.
I can't believe give it up so I can get your love
I cannot believe you want me to give something up in order to love me.
I can't believe this oh we cant take it oh it will eat you up
I cannot believe what is happening to our relationship, it is destroying us both.
Can't believe this under the covers
I cannot believe how much is happening beneath the surface of our relationship, and how much I don't know.
I'm looking in your eyes
I am trying to see through your eyes and understand your perspective.
I wanna grab you and I cant do it
I want to hold you and understand you better, but there is something preventing me from doing so.
I want to take you back to real life
I want to get to know the real you and understand what is happening beneath the surface of our relationship.
I wanna look down and the hold you and I won't prove it
I want to hold you and understand you better, but I won't use it as an opportunity to hurt or take advantage of you.
I wanna look down in your eyes
I want to understand you better by seeing things from your perspective and looking into your eyes.
I wanna take off your disguise
I want to understand the real you and get past any veneers or masks you may be wearing.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Gwen Renee Stefani, Thomas Dumont, Tony Ashwin Kanal
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind