One aspect of song making that both Ke$ha and Gwen Stefani appropriate effectively is “timbre,” which is defined as “the resonance by which the ear recognizes and identifies a voiced speech sound,” or ’the quality of tone distinctive of a particular singing voice or musical instrument.” (Merriam-Webster) While it sounds like just another addition of ear candy for an artist to sell records, the timbre of a song can play a monumental role in “setting the scene” for a musician to deliver messages. This is best exemplified by Gwen Stefani’s whiny, light, soprano timbre on the track “Just A Girl.” Her vocal inflections are meant to symbolize her helplessness as a woman and bring attention to inequalities within the music industry. Stefani’s “Just A Girl” to Ke$ha’s “Woman” exhibits an evolution of timbre meant to reflect the changes that happened from 2004 to 2017 when each song was released.

 

“Just A Girl”

 

In her song “Just A Girl,” we have established that she is using her lyrics to reiterate the “rules” of society in America in the late 1990s that women are expected to live by. However, these rules are meant to serve as ironic statements illustrating how ridiculous the standards are for women both in and outside of the music industry. Stefani uses a high pitched timbre in an attempt to sound innocent, and almost like a young girl. As she does this, she sings about her discontent and anger towards gender inequality. This contrast gives even more meaning to the lyrics and song as a whole. It is possible that the high pitched, innocent sound is even meant to symbolize how Stefani isn’t allowed to occupy the same vocal space as other male artists’ deeper, louder frequencies. The contrast she brings up is almost comical, and therefore this addition to her delivery of the song makes it that much more memorable and influential.

 

“Woman”

 

Ke$ha, on the other hand, sings much deeper and louder than Stefani on her track “Woman.” Even the artist’s stretching of the final word of every bar seems to inflict a feeling of assertion and self-confidence from the artist. It seems as if “Just A Girl” and “Woman” are songs polar opposite of each other, with the same meaning. As opposed to sounding innocent while describing societal gender rules for women as Stefani does, Ke$ha uses an extremely loud and assertive timbre to highlight everything women can do without the help of men. Now, Ke$ha is essentially occupying the sonic space that Stefani strayed from as a woman in “Just A Girl,” reaching lower tones and higher volumes. This progression in delivery and timbre of the two artist’s songs well reflects the changes that have occurred in gender equality both in and out of the music industry since the release of each respective track.