La La (Ashlee Simpson song)
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"La La" is a song by the American singer Ashlee Simpson that is the third single from her 2004 album Autobiography.
"La La" is the most energetic, rock-oriented song on the album. The lyrics to the song are highly sexual—"You make me wanna la la in the kitchen on the floor / I'll be a French maid when I meet you at the door"—but Simpson has described them as tongue-in-cheek: "It was one of those songs where every silly thing that was sexual that I could think of I put into the song." (Steppin' Out, August 4, 2004, page 53) In an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live (a popular top ten music video countdown show) on November 18, Simpson said light-heartedly about the song, during an interview with Carson Daly, that "you can take it how you wanna take it." Reactions to the song have been mixed; while sometimes praised as having energy and charm, it has also been criticized: for example, People magazine called the song "insipid" in its review of the album. (August 2, 2004, page 41)
"La La" was not initially planned as the album's third single. In October 2004 it was announced that its title track, "Autobiography", would be the third single, following an internet poll in which fans chose it as the song they wanted to be the next single (it was one of three options; "Better Off" came in second place and "La La" in third). On October 29, however, it was announced on Simpson's official website that "Autobiography" would be replaced as the third single by "La La", following an abortive performance of "Autobiography" at Saturday Night Live on the night of October 23/24 and a subsequent, more successful performance of the song at the Radio Music Awards on October 25.
The music video for "La La", directed by Joseph Kahn, debuted on the Internet on AOL's "First View" on November 22 and on television in an episode of MTV's Making the Video on November 23. In the latter case, the video premiere was preceded by a show about the process of filming the video. This show includes a number of humorous moments as well as Simpson talking about the song, the video, and herself; she describes the song as "almost an expression of just letting loose".
The video, which takes place in a suburban setting and was filmed in Huntington Beach, California, features Simpson and her friends hanging around town, getting into trouble, and partying through the night. In Making the Video, Simpson compares the video to the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High (it could also be compared to the Smashing Pumpkins' 1996 video for their song "1979"). Simpson is seen singing the song, dancing on top of a car, in front of a donut shop, and laying on a couch playing a skateboarding video game. The video continues with a late-night party around a swimming pool, but it gets broken up by the police, and Simpson and the crowd head to a laundromat, where the partying continues. Simpson's two best friends, Lauren and Stephanie, appear alongside her in the video.
The video premiered on Total Request Live on the next day, November 24; Simpson had previously performed the song on TRL on November 18. During the interview that preceded the performance, she said of "La La" as the third single ("Pieces of Me" was the first single and "Shadow" was the second): "It's nice because, you know, "Pieces of Me" was, you know, an up and happy kind of song, and "Shadow" was more serious, and now I get to have fun and, you know, jump around and be crazy, so I feel like this song's probably the closest to my personality."
Performances of "La La" feature twice in The Ashlee Simpson Show, Simpson's reality show, which aired from mid-June to early August 2004: it is the second song in her first live show in episode six, and she also performs it successfully at the end of episode seven, when she is congratulated by Geffen executive Jordan Schur.
- See also: 2004 in music