Cool

This song is about Gwen Stefani's ex-boyfriend and No Doubt bandmate, Tony Kanal. They dated for eight years before breaking up because Kanal needed "space." The song is about how both of them moved on and how through the ups and downs, over the years, they became really good friends. Stefani found the "love of her life," Gavin Rossdale, whom she married in 2002, so she and Kanal were "cool" as friends. He later married the actress Erin Lokitz; Stefani and Rossdale divorced in 2015.

Stefani wrote "Cool" with Dallas Austin, who produced the track with Nellee Hooper of Soul II Soul. Austin had written the first version of the song years earlier, inspired by Stefani's relationship with Kanal. He had heard the No Doubt song "Simple Kind Of Life," and knowing how it related to Gwen's relationship with Kanal, drew a parallel to his own life. Austin was one of the primary songwriter-producers for TLC - hits he worked on for them include "Creep" and "Unpretty." He dated group member Chilli (Rozonda Thomas) for a while, but it didn't work out and she started dating Usher. Austin and Chilli still had to work together though, just as Stefani and Kanal did. "I wrote 'Cool' inspired by 'Simple Kind Of Life' because me and Rozanda were working together, and it was like, 'Now I know we're cool,'" he explained on an Instagram Live. "We finally got to that point."

Dallas Austin first pitched the song to Christina Aguilera, but she didn't record it. TLC's label boss LA Reid insisted he record it with them for their 2002 album 3D, which Austin didn't want to do - he was "cool" with Chilli but couldn't handle cutting the song with her. He gave it a shot, but in the studio, Chilli kept bringing up old memories, which was more than he could bear. "I was like, 'This is the worst experience ever to be working with you in the studio on this song,'" Austin said. "I told them I wouldn't do it." Austin wrote a different song for them instead: "Damaged," which ended up being a single from the album.