Monday, May 16, 2011

Gaga Shenanigans as Usual

The pop powerhouse (and peeve) that is Lady Gaga has once again released a song from her upcoming Born This Way. So now we have "Born This Way," "Judas," "Edge of Glory," and "Hair." Aside from their album and artist, what do they all prove? That Gaga's originality--as has been pointed out time and time again, especially by us Wenches--is more like a facade.

Since the world was most recently given "Hair," let's talk about that.

First of all, if you didn't see the song title and think, "Oh sweet baby Jesus, please tell me that's not a cover from the beautiful musical of love and LSD!" then we have little in common and can't be friends. But if that is what you thought, you and I can revel in the relief that it is, in fact, an original Gaga tune...in a manner of speaking. Which brings us to Point #2.

Like its hippie predecesor, Gaga's "Hair" is an anthem all about, you guessed it, hair. Some subjects will be covered by songwriters time and time again (love and heartache, for example) and hairy issues are no exception (AFI's "I Wanna Mohawk (But Mom Won't Let Me Get One)" anyone?) but to have a song with the exact same title and unique subject matter as a song from decades earlier currently being revived?

Then there are the lyrics, which are terrible, just like all the other Born This Way songs that have come before it. Except maybe "Edge of Glory." "Born This Way" was full of cliches, "Judas" was only redeemed by its chorus, and now "Hair" reads like it was ripped out of a middle school girl's diary in the middle of a fight with Mom and Dad whilst trying to assert her individuality. "Whenever I dress cool / My parents put up a fight"? "Whether my hair is pink / My soul is pink"? Everything about this album feels super rushed and over-hyped.

Someone needs to tell Lady Gaga that being able to crank out lyrics to a song in ten minutes isn't necessarily a good, impressive thing. Few songwriters have been able to brag about that fact, and any writer will tell you that something they wrote in ten minutes probably falls under the category of their worst work, not their best.

Try harder, Lady.

2 comments:

The Mistress of the Dark said...

Gaga needs to go AWAY!!!

Janelle said...

I think the fact that she never did is why this album, so far, is so bad. Time and effort to make it good wasn't put in. Instead it was rushed so she'd constantly be relevant. The problem is people are going to get sick of the shenanigans. The novelty will wear off.