Long Way to Go (Gwen Stefani and André 3000 song)

The song prominently features a sample from Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech in its closing outro.

During the rendition, digital images of people were displayed on a screen before the singer, while dancers performed minimal moves to achieve a more intimate approach.

Production for "Long Way to Go" initially started in 2003 during recording sessions for both of Stefani and 3000's then upcoming studio albums.

[1] The original collaboration had Stefani as a featured artist, although 3000 intended for a different version of the song to make it on his album, The Love Below.

[5] The line, "When snow hits the asphalt / Cold looks and bad talk come" is used as a metaphor for the backlash that may occur when dating someone of the opposite race.

Throughout the closing of the track, prominent samples of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech can be heard, set to "unsynchronized M.I.A.

Jason Damas of PopMatters unfavorably compared the song to OutKast's "Spread" and claimed that Stefani "awkwardly comment[ed] on race relations and as such it's a bit of a buzzkill".

[10] Krissi Murison of the British magazine, NME, also was negative with her review, claiming that the track is a "bar the knuckle-bitingly bad duet", further adding that every song on Love.

[12] However, Ryan Book of Music Times, was less critical with his review: "[Stefani] took a break from colorful music videos to make a statement of racial relations... the song uses a less clear sample than the other tracks, but interpolates his words into the electronic breakdown at the end of the song".

[7] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic was mixed with his review, stating that the song is "a jarring buzz kill -- and that's what's appealing about L.A.M.B., even if it is such a shallow celebration of fleeting style and outdated bling-bling culture, it can grate".

[14] A review from Traxionary described "Long Way to Go" as "a plea for interracial love–or the tolerant embrace of it–the central contention that "beauty" can be "black or white/yellow or green"".

[15] In an extremely positive review of the track, Mike Usinger writing for The Georgia Straight, claimed that "[with] a surprisingly soulful duet with Andre 3000, Stefani has come up with the kind of solo album that gets singers thinking that maybe they don't need a backing band at all," referencing Stefani's time spent with No Doubt.

Due to the topic of interracial dating prevalent in the song, Stefani was surrounded by individuals of different races throughout the performance.