Clumsy (Fergie song)
Encyclopedia
"Clumsy" is a song by American recording artist Fergie from her debut album, The Dutchess
. The song was released as the album's fifth and final single on September 25, 2007. It was written by Fergie, Bobby Troup
and will.i.am
, who also produced the track. It was partially recorded in Los Angeles and in the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
. The song's lyrics about being clumsy and in love flow alongside its computerized and bleeping beat and sample of "The Girl Can't Help It
", originally performed by Little Richard
.
The song received generally mixed to positive reviews. Critics praised the Little Richard sample and the goofy lyrics on feelings of love. Some critics deemed it to be the album's highlight and pop at its finest, while others considered it flat. "Clumsy" peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100
chart, becoming Fergie's fifth straight top five hit in the US. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
and has sold over two million downloads in the country. Internationally, the song peaked in the top five in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The song's music video, directed by Marc Webb
and Rich Lee
, is stylized like a pop-up book
and features Swedish model Alex Lundqvist
as Fergie's love interest.
, who produced the song. It was partially recorded at Stewcha Studios in Los Feliz, California and in the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
. will.i.am said, "'Clumsy' was recorded in the John Lennon bus [a traveling music education lab], like in a parking lot in Pittsburgh right next to Shakey's
. ... To be able to record on the road, that's a task and a half." In an interview with The Associated Press, Fergie stated, "I'm not a promiscuous girl - like I talk about in ”Clumsy”, I'm always the girl with the boyfriend in serious relationships." The song was mixed by Tony Maserati
at Record Plant Studios
in Los Angeles, California. "Clumsy" was announced as the fifth single from The Dutchess in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the song was released as a double A-side alongside "Fergalicious
". A remix featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
was released to digital stores on December 18, 2007.
" by Little Richard
. The song's computerized beeps flow alongside Fergie singing about being clumsy and in love, with the bridge consisting of the lines "You got me trippin', stumblin', flippin', fumblin' / Clumsy cuz I'm fallin in love". According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing, "Clumsy" is set in the time signature
of common time with a metronome of 92 beats per minute
. It is composed in the key of C major
with Fergie's vocal range spanning from the note of G3 to the note of F5. Daniel Wolfe of About.com
commented, "The songstress is “slippin’ and stumblin’” all over a laid-back beat and Casio
keyboard lines." According to Alex Fletcher from Digital Spy
, it is based around a "Gameboy-style, Tetris
-esque, bleeping beat". The reviewer also commented on its resemblance to Tweet
's 2002 single "Oops (Oh My)
". He went on to say that he was not impressed with the song, writing that it is "a proper stinker" and "[f]latter than a pancake that's been sat on by the cast of Celebrity Fit Club
."
Daniel Wolfe of About.com rated "Clumsy" three out of five stars, and wrote that it is "another tasty bubblegum treat from one of pop music's biggest rising stars." He called the song "a good bit of breezy pop fun", but wrote that it "may not be as immediately engaging as her previous hits" and that "there is nothing striking or even slightly epic about the tune." However, he praised the sample of "The Girl Can't Help It", Fergie's "melodious, breathy vocal runs", and the song's goofy lyrics on love. Sal Cinquemani of Slant
called the song "crafty, candy-coated pop at its finest". Norman Mayers of Prefix cited "London Bridge" and "Clumsy" as the album's highlights. While reviewing the double A-side featuring "Fergalicious", Azeem Ahmad of MusicOMH
wrote that "Clumsy" is "the antidote to the haphazard Fergalicious."
. In its fifth week on the chart, the song was the "greatest digital gainer", and rose from number twenty to number twelve. In its ninth week, the song reached its peak of number five, and stayed there for six non-consecutive weeks. The song became the fifth single from Fergie's debut album The Dutchess to reach the top five on the chart, making The Dutchess the first debut album since Milli Vanilli
's debut album Girl You Know It's True
(1989) to spawn five top five singles. "Clumsy" spent twenty-five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and twelve weeks inside the top ten. The song also reached number two on Pop Songs, and number eighty-nine on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
. "Clumsy" was certified platinum on February 22, 2008 by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA). It has sold 2,138,000 paid digital downloads in the United States, becoming Fergie's fifth single to sell two million downloads. "Clumsy" is Fergie's fourth most downloaded song, behind "Big Girls Don't Cry
", "Fergalicious
" and "Glamorous
", and ahead of her first single, "London Bridge".
On the Canadian Hot 100
, "Clumsy" debuted at number seventy-nine on the issue dated October 27, 2007. On January 5, 2008, the song reached number four. In Australia, the song debuted at number twelve on the issue dated November 25, 2007. The next week, it peaked to number three, where it stayed for three weeks. The song has been certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) for sales of 35,000 units. On the issue dated September 24, 2007, "Clumsy" entered the chart in New Zealand at position thirty-one. On its sixth week on the chart, it reached its peak of number four. The song has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
(RIANZ) for sales of 7,500 copies.
and Rich Lee
in Los Angeles
. MTV
spoke of the clip, saying, "The surreal, humorous clip features Fergie falling head over heels — get it? — for love in various scenarios." Most scenes in the video were shot using a green screen
. Swedish model Alex Lundqvist
portrays Fergie's love interest in the video. Lundqvist spoke of the experience with the Swedish magazine Aftonbladet
, saying that "it was really fun" and that "Fergie is so sympathetic and cool". The video premiered on October 12, 2007 on AOL Music
.
The video is done in the style of a pop-up book
. It begins with the book opening, displaying the directors' names, the artist and the title. Fergie begins to sing and the page flips to reveal a pop-up concert, featuring Fergie with a beehive hairstyle, a pink dress, and black Opera gloves, followed by a pop-up of a Dsquared fashion show where Fergie is attracted to a man (Alex Lundqvist) in the audience. Another page flip reveals Fergie in a car, and she sees the man again. She then shows off with the car, but it breaks down and the man leaves. During the song's middle eight, she is singing in a pop-up space shuttle and at the same time at the concert, she knocks down a dancer and the stage begins to collapse. While in the shuttle, she accidentally presses the airlock
button, which swaps the man out in space. After this, Fergie is shown in a plane, flying around a pop-up world. To conclude the video, Fergie is getting ready on a rooftop photo shoot and she sits down on a ledge to read a text message, and she falls off the building and the man catches her. They walk off toward a sunset and the book closes.
Rap-Up
deemed the video to have a "cool concept". Tamar Anitai of MTV Buzzworthy
wrote that the video "is basically an amalgam of many things we find hard to resist: Amy Winehouse
-style retro-nuevo beehives, free falling, fake planes, cheesy acting, En Vogue
-era little black dresses, old-school video games and um, hot dudes, including one who, unsurprisingly, looks like Josh Duhamel
." The writer noted that the video's pop-up style was similar to HP
's "The Computer is Personal Again" commercials. She concluded saying, " the video is fairly saturated with product placements. As much as we love MAC
and DSquared, it's hard to miss those blatant shout outs, as well as the fairly gratuitous Motorola
plug."
" on the 2007 American Music Awards
on November 18, 2007. She also performed the song on NBC
's The Today Show
alongside "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Barracuda
" on May 20, 2008. She performed the song on the Verizon VIP Tour
, in which the song's use of "The Girl Can't Help It" sample was reduced.
Source
The Dutchess
The Dutchess is the debut and only studio album by American recording artist Fergie, who is a member of The Black Eyed Peas. The album was released on September 19, 2006. As of 2008, the album has sold more than six million copies worldwide...
. The song was released as the album's fifth and final single on September 25, 2007. It was written by Fergie, Bobby Troup
Bobby Troup
Robert William "Bobby" Troup Jr. was an American actor, jazz pianist and songwriter. He is best known for writing the popular standard " Route 66", and for his role as Dr...
and will.i.am
Will.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
, who also produced the track. It was partially recorded in Los Angeles and in the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus was founded in 1998 as a non-profit 501 organization committed to reaching youth through music and video, a testament to John Lennon's zeal for expression through music...
. The song's lyrics about being clumsy and in love flow alongside its computerized and bleeping beat and sample of "The Girl Can't Help It
The Girl Can't Help It (song)
"The Girl Can't Help It" is the title song to the film The Girl Can't Help It, composed by songwriter Bobby Troup. It was performed by Little Richard. It was released in December 1956 and peaked at #49 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart "The Girl Can't Help It" is the title song to the film...
", originally performed by Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
.
The song received generally mixed to positive reviews. Critics praised the Little Richard sample and the goofy lyrics on feelings of love. Some critics deemed it to be the album's highlight and pop at its finest, while others considered it flat. "Clumsy" peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart, becoming Fergie's fifth straight top five hit in the US. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
and has sold over two million downloads in the country. Internationally, the song peaked in the top five in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The song's music video, directed by Marc Webb
Marc Webb
Marc Preston Webb is an American music video, short film and major motion picture director. He directed the 2009 romantic comedy-drama Days of Summer and is currently directing the 2012 Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man.-Life and career:Webb was born in Bloomington, Indiana, the son of...
and Rich Lee
Rich lee
Rich Lee is an American music video and commercial director signed to DNA in Hollywood, California and Flynn Productions in the United Kingdom. He has directed music videos for Eminem, The Black Eyed Peas, Norah Jones, Michael Bublé and The All-American Rejects. Rich Lee started his professional...
, is stylized like a pop-up book
Pop-up book
The term pop-up book is often applied to any three-dimensional or movable book, although properly the umbrella term movable book covers pop-ups, transformations, tunnel books, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs, and more, each of which performs in a different manner...
and features Swedish model Alex Lundqvist
Alex Lundqvist
Alex Lundqvist is a male Swedish model. He is a professional paintball player for the team Jersey Authority in the National Professional Paintball League and formerly Russian Legion in the Paintball Sports Promotion National X Ball League . He is also the brother of professional paintball player...
as Fergie's love interest.
Background
"Clumsy" was written by Fergie, Bobby Troup and will.i.amWill.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
, who produced the song. It was partially recorded at Stewcha Studios in Los Feliz, California and in the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus was founded in 1998 as a non-profit 501 organization committed to reaching youth through music and video, a testament to John Lennon's zeal for expression through music...
. will.i.am said, "'Clumsy' was recorded in the John Lennon bus [a traveling music education lab], like in a parking lot in Pittsburgh right next to Shakey's
Shakey's Pizza
Shakey's Pizza is a pizza restaurant chain based in the United States. The chain currently has about 500 stores globally, and about 60 in the United States.-History:...
. ... To be able to record on the road, that's a task and a half." In an interview with The Associated Press, Fergie stated, "I'm not a promiscuous girl - like I talk about in ”Clumsy”, I'm always the girl with the boyfriend in serious relationships." The song was mixed by Tony Maserati
Tony Maserati
Tony Maserati is an American record producer and studio audio engineer who has worked with many mainstream artists including Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Jason Mraz, James Brown, Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, R...
at Record Plant Studios
Record Plant Studios
The Record Plant was a series of three famous recording studios which were founded by Gary Kellgren and Chris Stone, beginning in New York City in 1968. The next year, Kellgren and Stone opened a second studio in Los Angeles. In 1972, the company expanded again with a third location in Sausalito,...
in Los Angeles, California. "Clumsy" was announced as the fifth single from The Dutchess in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the song was released as a double A-side alongside "Fergalicious
Fergalicious
"Fergalicious" is the second single from Fergie's debut solo album, The Dutchess. It features The Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am, who also produced the track. "Fergalicious" was not officially released as the second single in the UK, although the video did receive airplay at the time. "Glamorous"...
". A remix featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
DeAndre Cortez Way , better known by his stage name Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, or simply Soulja Boy, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, entrepreneur, and internet personality....
was released to digital stores on December 18, 2007.
Composition and critical reception
The song samples "The Girl Can't Help ItThe Girl Can't Help It (song)
"The Girl Can't Help It" is the title song to the film The Girl Can't Help It, composed by songwriter Bobby Troup. It was performed by Little Richard. It was released in December 1956 and peaked at #49 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart "The Girl Can't Help It" is the title song to the film...
" by Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
. The song's computerized beeps flow alongside Fergie singing about being clumsy and in love, with the bridge consisting of the lines "You got me trippin', stumblin', flippin', fumblin' / Clumsy cuz I'm fallin in love". According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing, "Clumsy" is set in the time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
of common time with a metronome of 92 beats per minute
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
. It is composed in the key of C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
with Fergie's vocal range spanning from the note of G3 to the note of F5. Daniel Wolfe of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
commented, "The songstress is “slippin’ and stumblin’” all over a laid-back beat and Casio
Casio
is a multinational electronic devices manufacturing company founded in 1946, with its headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Casio is best known for its electronic products, such as calculators, audio equipment, PDAs, cameras, musical instruments, and watches...
keyboard lines." According to Alex Fletcher from Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
, it is based around a "Gameboy-style, Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
-esque, bleeping beat". The reviewer also commented on its resemblance to Tweet
Tweet (singer)
Tweet is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Early years:The youngest child of Tom and Shirley Keys, Tweet was born in Rochester, New York on January 21, 1972, and grew up singing in the church along with her parents and her four older siblings...
's 2002 single "Oops (Oh My)
Oops (Oh My)
"Oops " is a song by American R&B-soul singer–songwriter Tweet, featuring American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. It was written by Tweet and Elliott and produced by Timbaland for Tweet's debut album, Southern Hummingbird . Released as the album's lead single in February 2002, the song...
". He went on to say that he was not impressed with the song, writing that it is "a proper stinker" and "[f]latter than a pancake that's been sat on by the cast of Celebrity Fit Club
Celebrity Fit Club
Celebrity Fit Club is a reality television series that follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight for charity. Split into two competing teams of four, each week teams are given different physical challenges, and weighed to see if they reached their target weights...
."
Daniel Wolfe of About.com rated "Clumsy" three out of five stars, and wrote that it is "another tasty bubblegum treat from one of pop music's biggest rising stars." He called the song "a good bit of breezy pop fun", but wrote that it "may not be as immediately engaging as her previous hits" and that "there is nothing striking or even slightly epic about the tune." However, he praised the sample of "The Girl Can't Help It", Fergie's "melodious, breathy vocal runs", and the song's goofy lyrics on love. Sal Cinquemani of Slant
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
called the song "crafty, candy-coated pop at its finest". Norman Mayers of Prefix cited "London Bridge" and "Clumsy" as the album's highlights. While reviewing the double A-side featuring "Fergalicious", Azeem Ahmad of MusicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...
wrote that "Clumsy" is "the antidote to the haphazard Fergalicious."
Chart performance
"Clumsy" debuted at number ninety-one on the October 27, 2007 chart of the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. In its fifth week on the chart, the song was the "greatest digital gainer", and rose from number twenty to number twelve. In its ninth week, the song reached its peak of number five, and stayed there for six non-consecutive weeks. The song became the fifth single from Fergie's debut album The Dutchess to reach the top five on the chart, making The Dutchess the first debut album since Milli Vanilli
Milli Vanilli
Milli Vanilli was a pop/dance music project formed by Frank Farian in Germany in 1988, visually fronted by Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. The group's debut album achieved international success and earned them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on Feb. 21, 1990. Milli Vanilli became one of the most...
's debut album Girl You Know It's True
Girl You Know It's True
Girl You Know It's True is a 1989 album that was the U.S. debut of pop group Milli Vanilli.In 1989, the majority of songs from Milli Vanilli's Europe-only release All or Nothing were repackaged and retitled Girl You Know It's True...
(1989) to spawn five top five singles. "Clumsy" spent twenty-five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and twelve weeks inside the top ten. The song also reached number two on Pop Songs, and number eighty-nine on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
. "Clumsy" was certified platinum on February 22, 2008 by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA). It has sold 2,138,000 paid digital downloads in the United States, becoming Fergie's fifth single to sell two million downloads. "Clumsy" is Fergie's fourth most downloaded song, behind "Big Girls Don't Cry
Big Girls Don't Cry (Fergie song)
"Big Girls Don't Cry" is a song written by Fergie and Toby Gad for pop singer Fergie's debut solo album The Dutchess . The song was released as the album's fourth single in 2007 and topped the charts in several countries, most notably in Australia , and in...
", "Fergalicious
Fergalicious
"Fergalicious" is the second single from Fergie's debut solo album, The Dutchess. It features The Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am, who also produced the track. "Fergalicious" was not officially released as the second single in the UK, although the video did receive airplay at the time. "Glamorous"...
" and "Glamorous
Glamorous (song)
"Glamorous" is a R&B single taken from R&B singer Fergie's solo debut album, The Dutchess. In March 2007, the song became Fergie's second number-one single in the United States. The single was released on March 19, 2007 in the UK and was the second single taken from the album...
", and ahead of her first single, "London Bridge".
On the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
, "Clumsy" debuted at number seventy-nine on the issue dated October 27, 2007. On January 5, 2008, the song reached number four. In Australia, the song debuted at number twelve on the issue dated November 25, 2007. The next week, it peaked to number three, where it stayed for three weeks. The song has been certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) for sales of 35,000 units. On the issue dated September 24, 2007, "Clumsy" entered the chart in New Zealand at position thirty-one. On its sixth week on the chart, it reached its peak of number four. The song has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
(RIANZ) for sales of 7,500 copies.
Music video
The music video for "Clumsy" was directed by Marc WebbMarc Webb
Marc Preston Webb is an American music video, short film and major motion picture director. He directed the 2009 romantic comedy-drama Days of Summer and is currently directing the 2012 Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man.-Life and career:Webb was born in Bloomington, Indiana, the son of...
and Rich Lee
Rich lee
Rich Lee is an American music video and commercial director signed to DNA in Hollywood, California and Flynn Productions in the United Kingdom. He has directed music videos for Eminem, The Black Eyed Peas, Norah Jones, Michael Bublé and The All-American Rejects. Rich Lee started his professional...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
spoke of the clip, saying, "The surreal, humorous clip features Fergie falling head over heels — get it? — for love in various scenarios." Most scenes in the video were shot using a green screen
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
. Swedish model Alex Lundqvist
Alex Lundqvist
Alex Lundqvist is a male Swedish model. He is a professional paintball player for the team Jersey Authority in the National Professional Paintball League and formerly Russian Legion in the Paintball Sports Promotion National X Ball League . He is also the brother of professional paintball player...
portrays Fergie's love interest in the video. Lundqvist spoke of the experience with the Swedish magazine Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...
, saying that "it was really fun" and that "Fergie is so sympathetic and cool". The video premiered on October 12, 2007 on AOL Music
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
.
The video is done in the style of a pop-up book
Pop-up book
The term pop-up book is often applied to any three-dimensional or movable book, although properly the umbrella term movable book covers pop-ups, transformations, tunnel books, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs, and more, each of which performs in a different manner...
. It begins with the book opening, displaying the directors' names, the artist and the title. Fergie begins to sing and the page flips to reveal a pop-up concert, featuring Fergie with a beehive hairstyle, a pink dress, and black Opera gloves, followed by a pop-up of a Dsquared fashion show where Fergie is attracted to a man (Alex Lundqvist) in the audience. Another page flip reveals Fergie in a car, and she sees the man again. She then shows off with the car, but it breaks down and the man leaves. During the song's middle eight, she is singing in a pop-up space shuttle and at the same time at the concert, she knocks down a dancer and the stage begins to collapse. While in the shuttle, she accidentally presses the airlock
Airlock
An airlock is a device which permits the passage of people and objects between a pressure vessel and its surroundings while minimizing the change of pressure in the vessel and loss of air from it...
button, which swaps the man out in space. After this, Fergie is shown in a plane, flying around a pop-up world. To conclude the video, Fergie is getting ready on a rooftop photo shoot and she sits down on a ledge to read a text message, and she falls off the building and the man catches her. They walk off toward a sunset and the book closes.
Rap-Up
Rap-Up
Rap-Up is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the hip hop and R&B aspect of the music industry, and...
deemed the video to have a "cool concept". Tamar Anitai of MTV Buzzworthy
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
wrote that the video "is basically an amalgam of many things we find hard to resist: Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
-style retro-nuevo beehives, free falling, fake planes, cheesy acting, En Vogue
En Vogue
En Vogue is an American female R&B vocal group from Oakland, California assembled by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy.The group has won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven, along with four Soul Train Awards, six American Music...
-era little black dresses, old-school video games and um, hot dudes, including one who, unsurprisingly, looks like Josh Duhamel
Josh Duhamel
Joshua David "Josh" Duhamel is an American actor and former fashion model. He first achieved acting success in 1999 as Leo du Pres on ABC's All My Children and later as the chief of security, Danny McCoy, on NBC's Las Vegas...
." The writer noted that the video's pop-up style was similar to HP
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
's "The Computer is Personal Again" commercials. She concluded saying, " the video is fairly saturated with product placements. As much as we love MAC
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
and DSquared, it's hard to miss those blatant shout outs, as well as the fairly gratuitous Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
plug."
Live performances
Fergie performed "Clumsy" alongside her previous single "Big Girls Don't CryBig Girls Don't Cry (Fergie song)
"Big Girls Don't Cry" is a song written by Fergie and Toby Gad for pop singer Fergie's debut solo album The Dutchess . The song was released as the album's fourth single in 2007 and topped the charts in several countries, most notably in Australia , and in...
" on the 2007 American Music Awards
American Music Awards of 2007
The 35th American Music Awards took place on November 18, 2007 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.-Pop/Rock:Favorite Male Artist:*Akon*Timbaland*Justin Timberlake...
on November 18, 2007. She also performed the song on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Today Show
The Today Show
Today is an iconic American morning news and talk show airing every morning on NBC. Debuting on January 14, 1952, it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world. The show is also the fourth-longest running American television series...
alongside "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Barracuda
Barracuda (song)
"Barracuda" is a song written and recorded by the rock band Heart. It was released as the first single from the band's second album Little Queen .-Reception:...
" on May 20, 2008. She performed the song on the Verizon VIP Tour
Verizon VIP Tour
The Verizon VIP Tour is an annual concert tour promoted by Live Nation Global Touring and Verizon Wireless. Following in the footsteps of the Verizon Ladies First Tour, the VIP Tour features an emerging female artist as the headliner...
, in which the song's use of "The Girl Can't Help It" sample was reduced.
Track listing
- Digital download
- "Clumsy" (Radio edit) – 3:21
- "Clumsy" (Revisited) – 3:30
- Digital EP
- "Clumsy" – 4:01
- "Clumsy" (Instrumental) – 4:00
- "Clumsy" (Revisited) – 3:31
- UK Fergalicious / Clumsy
- "Clumsy" – 4:00
- "FergaliciousFergalicious"Fergalicious" is the second single from Fergie's debut solo album, The Dutchess. It features The Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am, who also produced the track. "Fergalicious" was not officially released as the second single in the UK, although the video did receive airplay at the time. "Glamorous"...
" – 4:52
- US Digital EP
- "Clumsy" (Collipark Remix) feat. Soulja Boy Tell 'EmSoulja Boy Tell 'EmDeAndre Cortez Way , better known by his stage name Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, or simply Soulja Boy, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, entrepreneur, and internet personality....
– 3:51 - "Clumsy" (Pajon Rock Remix) – 3:31
- "Get Your Hands Up" – 3:34
Credits and personnel
- Songwriting – William Adams, Stacy Ferguson, Bobby Troup
- Production – will.i.am
- Drum programming – will.i.am
- Engineering – will.i.am, Padraic Kerin
- Mixing – Tony Maserati
Source
Charts
| Chart (2007–2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
Gold |
| New Zealand Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
Gold |
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
Platinum |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2007) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 52 |
| Chart (2008) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 99 |
Radio add dates
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| United States | September 25, 2007 | Rhythmic |
| Mainstream |
Purchasable releases
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | November 10, 2007 | Digital download |
| New Zealand | ||
| United Kingdom | November 12, 2007 | |
| Sweden | November 19, 2007 |