Just Hear Me Out: Fergie’s 2006 Album ‘The Dutchess’ Was A Cultural Reset
Every so often when I have a quiet moment, I often wonder to myself: where the hell is Fergie?
You see, Fergie was a big deal when I was growing up. Especially in 2006, a time when it felt like Fergie was everywhere. This was just after the Black Eyed Peas had exploded in popularity, and several years before she infamously rebranded the US anthem into a sassy jazz number that no one asked for.
But, we digress. In 2006, Fergie was cranking out some absolute bangers. Fresh off two hit albums with the Black Eyed Peas, Fergie released her first solo music and her debut album spawned five consecutive hits in Australia, making Fergie the second artist to achieve this feat, following in the impressive footsteps of Delta Goodrem’s Innocent Eyes.
Two absolute queens who we don’t even deserve.
The name of the album itself was genius: The Dutchess. Calling back to another famous Fergie, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. Is the whole album about the misunderstood royal, how her toe-sucking scandal was high-key kink-shaming, and a nuanced take on why she became an outcast among the Windsor family? No! Not at all!
The album is about Fergie falling (clumsily) in and out of love, while she spells some of her favourite words.
Let’s revisit Fergie’s best songs on The Dutchess…
‘London Bridge’
Whether you sing along “Oh snap!” or the spicier “Oh shit!”, this song is a banger. Although I will say, for a song titled ‘London Bridge’, it contains very little history of London or of bridges. But who cares, because as soon as Fergie raps, “When I come to the club, step asiiiiide,” it’s impossible not to bop along to this perfect pop song.
Favourite lyric: “I’m such a lady, but I’m dancing like a hoe.”
‘Fergalicious’
A truly iconic song that inspires me every day. Feeling sluggish? I better get “up in the gym just working on my fitness.” Feeling a little anxious? “And if you was suspicious, all that shit is fictitious.” Feeling disrespected at work? “I’m tryin’ to tell that I can’t be treated like clientele.” So many hard truths.
The plot twist is that while the song is called ‘Fergalicious’, Fergie doesn’t even spell that word in the song — even though it’s not only a tough word to spell, she made it up! That being said, she defines the word a lot, so I’ll let that slide. And Fergie does spell ‘Fergie’ (once!), she spells ‘Delicious’ (several times!), and she spells ‘Tasty’ (incorrectly several times!).
Favourite lyric: “T to the A to the S T Y, girl, you tasty, T to the A to the S T E Y, girl, you tasty.” (Take out the ‘E’, sis! You got it right the first time!)
‘Glamorous’
More spelling! ‘Glamorous’ is a tricky word to spell, so thank you Fergie. After relistening to this song, I realised I always sang the lyrics in my teens as, “For the glamorous, we’re flossing, flossing!” which to me checked out, as glamorous people do tend to have impeccable dental hygiene. It turns out Fergie is singing “oh the flossy, flossy!” which translates to someone being excessively showy with their wealth. I prefer flossing tbh.
This song’s message is important too: if you’re poor, stay home! Never leave the house, get out of here, you!!
Favourite lyric: “If you ain’t got no money, take yo’ broke ass home.”
‘Here I Come’
I’m going to be real: I forgot this song existed. But I saw it listed on the album cover alongside Fergie’s other hits, so had to put it on and then was flooded with memories. This song slaps, it has a real Christina Aguilera in her ‘Candyman’ era vibe and includes a particularly hilarious verse from the album’s producer will.i.am.
Favourite lyric: “How ya doin’? Yeah, yeah, what’s the dealy? You can call me Willy, you can call me Billy.”
‘Clumsy’
Like ‘Here I Come’, Fergie’s ‘Clumsy’ has a total throwback feel, largely due to the track sampling a 1956 song, ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ by Little Richard. It’s a song about Fergie constantly falling in love, taken quite literally, as she stumbles clumsily in and out of relationships. I remember the track’s music video was super trippy, with Fergie and her costars all in 2D as they are living inside a pop-up book – which in itself is another throwback that takes me back to a cherished time: the Scholastic Book Fair. Fergie’s mind!!
Favourite lyric: “Butterflies so crazy, mmm mmm.”
‘Labels or Love’
This song wasn’t included in the original album but was added to the deluxe version. Incorporating the Sex and the City theme for the series’ first film adaption, this track is an instant classic. Did this song save the first Sex and the City movie? Probably. If Fergie was on the second film’s soundtrack, would that movie have been less of a critical flop? Definitely.
Favourite lyric: “I guess I’m supercalifragisexy, nothing to be playing with.”
‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’
After so many upbeat bops, could Fergie pull off a breakup ballad? Hell yeah, she can! This song makes you FEEL things. The video is iconic and I vividly remember trying to recreate all of Fergie’s outfits, mostly out of clothes I found at Jay Jays. Of course, it’s impossible to discuss this video without mentioning Fergie’s love interest in it, Milo Ventimiglia — and he’s never been hotter than he is in ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’.
This was peak Milo, and he and Fergie made the hottest fictional ’00s couple. 15 years later and I still ship it!
Favourite lyric: “And I’m gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket. But I’ve got to get a move on with my life.”
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If this article doesn’t make you want to put Fergie’s The Dutchess on repeat for the rest of the day, then nothing will!