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Re-View: Lady Gaga - Born This Way

Anyone that knows me personally knows that I’m a Lady Gaga stan. It’s how I introduce people I’m getting to know into who I really am. I got hooked on The Fame Monster album and have followed her intensely and closely since 2010.

I’ve decided to break down her albums track-by-track to get an in-depth look into what this album means to me, any memories I have with the songs, and how my opinion of the songs have changed over time.

Here we go.

Marry the Night - 10/10 The theme of this song is accepting the darkness within you so you can be reborn as someone stronger. “Marrying” the night means you become one with it, instead of letting it control you or hold you back. The first time I heard the instrumental to this track was on one of Gaga’s video diaries, “Gagavision” which she was using as a medium to build hype for her album. The intro of the bells from Fernando Garibay’s creation and the transition into pounding synths and dance beats is one of the most hype things I’ve experienced. And then in her documentary of “The Monster Ball Tour” she sang the opening line. I was floored. I was excited. I knew it was going to be my favourite song and that it should have been the lead single. And she premiered it... on Farmville. Wow. When will your fave? Listening to it the first time I was crying. And then when the breakdown at the end happened, I knew I had just listened to the most important banger of my young life. I’ve listened to this song when I’ve been depressed, on the verge of suicidal thoughts, and just driving down the highway at night. One day I’ll listen to it in New York and will finally give it the moment in my life it deserves. Born This Way - 10/10 Everyone knew Born This Way was gonna be the title of her album, even if she hadn’t announced it yet. But when she won Video of the Year in 2010 for Bad Romance in her meat dress, announced the title of the album, and sang the chorus to this song, I died. I don’t think I’ve ever been that broken as a stan of anything ever in my life after that moment. It was the greatest moment to be a Little Monster. Up until the release of the song as the lead single, everyone expected it to be a ballad. I was hoping for a banger. And when I listened to it at 5am on Feb 11, 2011, I know I had won. It was a defining moment in her career and I was there experiencing it. I loved it. I loved how it came out, how loud and proud it was, and how true to form it is for Gaga and her message. She was celebrating us, her little monsters. When will your fave? The main takeaway from this song’s style is that she did not copy Madonna. She used an 80′s pop influence to celebrate gay culture, which she did better than Madonna. It’s an anthem, one of the few anthems that actually stands for something important and that will stand the test of time. One of my favorite memories with this song is at my junior prom, having the Dj play this song and dancing with my friends. Everyone else in the school cleared the floor because nobody liked Gaga. But we didn’t care. We danced, because we were born that way.

Government Hooker - 6/10 So, this was our 2nd taste of what was to come on Born This Way (album), in the form of a remix played a Mugler fashion show that Gaga herself modeled in. The remix was everything. It was dark, techno-industrial sounding, and had this pleading cry of a side-piece to an important political man. And when the album version came out, it was disappointingly slower and screechier than the remix. It still sounds like an industrial techno fantasy, but I wish it was faster, like the remix. I wish she wasn’t just screaming “HOOOOOKEERR” for the chorus and that she sounded a little less annoying in the verses.

Judas - 8/10 Even before the song came out, everyone was skeptical about the message of the song, and it was predicted to be pandering to religious figures in a sexual way. Which it kinda was. She had also described it as “Bad Romance 2.0″ because the collaboration with RedOne, which made alot of little monsters really excited. The morning it leaked, I wanna say it was .... April 5? 14th? 15th? ... Anyways, I listened to the song in snippets, until Gaga gave up on releasing it on its intended date and just put it out. WOW. what a banger. I was kinda fucking shook by the chorus, and the sledgehammer beats were BIG, as expected. The message wasn’t as sexual as thought but it did manage to piss a lot of people off and even set the song back from achieving top 10 status. My main criticism of the song is that she screeches too much when singing lmfao. I fell asleep listening to it once and heard her screeching in my dreams and dreamt of dying animals. I woke up laughing because I really don’t like how she screeches in the song but the rest of the song is great.

Americano - 6/10 This song is in the top 5 of my least favorite Gaga songs. It feels like a false, almost racist representation of illegal immigrants and she manages to mash in gay marriage themes in with the ideas of illegal acts. Screeching mariachi noises and gun shots don’t exactly depict her ideas in a good light, but I can appreciate the production of the song. Garibay does a great job in this album and this song is a highlight of his abilities as a producer, but maybe a little less clapping beats next time. I’ve had a few bad memories with this song and I’d rather not recall them.

Hair - 10/10 “I am as free as my hair.” This is how Gaga teased this song for us. Wow. I thought “this song is gonna be my favorite on the album.” I was obsessed with having long hair in high school. I always was the kid whose parents kept in buzz cuts, and wanted to grow my hair out and be a little freer. This, along with the message of having your parents and friends love you and accept you, and with me still figuring out my sexuality, wow, it hit me hard. Still does. What a wonderful song, perfect for budding teenagers and people with insecurities. It didn’t end up being my favorite just because of MTN, but the production and the message have it as one of my favorites of all time. My favorite performance of this has always been when she performed it on a show in France, with a long ass teal wig that was stuck in a model Eiffel Tower. She sang for like 10 minutes with the most flawless vocals the song could receive.

Scheiße - 9/10 This song was the first taste of what was to come for the album, in the form of a remix played at a Mugler fashion show. I thought it was so freaking weird and European of her to have a song like this at first, and yet, I found myself working in the yard with my dad, reciting the faux German verses within a day of the remix dropping. Nobody expected it to be a standout song on the album. When the album version dropped, boy, was everyone fucking SHOOK. It was an absolute banger and a feminist anthem.

Bloody Mary - 10/10 This song is religious, foreboding, sad, ominous, and frightening. It’s perfect. Her vocals kill in the most melodic way possible, she gives a great performance as Mary Magdalene, eerily introduces the title only 3 times in the song, and her screaming and chanting give this dark and discomforting feeling. She introduced the instrumental as a song used in her Gagavision videos, and it sounded so industrial and dark that I was pretty skeptical about it being in the album. I’m so glad it is, though. My favorite memory with this song is being in a car with my friends in high school, nobody singing along to the words because we were too busy talking. And when the breakdown came around, we had stopped talking, and all, in unison, started chanting “Ga-ga.... Ga-ga....” before erupting into laughter. I don’t know if I’d consider this a pop song. It’s just an amazing piece in her discography.

Black Jesus + Amen Fashion - 7/10 It feels a little out of place to have a song about Gaga’s roots as a musical artist and performance artist in an album about her fans and her pride and her religion. It feels less empowering, and more, reflective, I guess. I like the song, I’m just not sure it fits within the context of the album, and am glad it was kept to the secondary edition of the album. The production on it is very fashion-forward and appealing to the New York types.

Bad Kids - 7/10 When this song was released, I did not like it. I thought it was sloppy, over-produced, and lacking in the chorus. Over time, I’ve grown fond of it. I think it’s a sort of way that Gaga talks to her fans in the way they’ve talked to her. They show her their bad side, and she shows them she still loves them. There’s nothing special about the production, but with a song that is carried by its message, I think that’s okay. The chorus is pretty corny but drives the message home. My favorite line in this song defines me so well. “I’m a nerd; I chew gum and smoke in your face, I’m absurd.”

Fashion of His Love - 8.5/10 I believe it was in 2010 that famous fashion designer Alexander McQueen passed way. It impacted Gaga greatly, as they were close friends. This song is about him and his clothes, and the way they accentuated her artistry perfectly. When it first came out, I thought it was very sweet, but way too 80′s gay for me. Very much like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston. However, since it came out, I have become much more 80′s gay and I believe it’s one of Gaga’s most underrated songs. My favorite tidbit about this song, other than the homage to McQueen, is that the pre-chorus to the 2nd chorus is taken directly from an unreleased track of Gaga’s called “Earthquake.” That song is very dramatic, novella-esque, and sad to listen to, but with that verse placed in FOHL, it sounds so perfect. It’s one of my favorite verses in this album.

Highway Unicorn (Road to Love) - 4/10 The intro goes on too long, and the depiction of motorcycles as unicorns gets a little lost in translation. There’s a proud American type of feeling here, with biker symbols and gay pride all around, and an accentuated drummer driving the song into an over-produced chorus that is barely intelligible because of the vocal and echo effects on Gaga’s voice. The ending is over-produced and very eerie with Gaga shouting “die” echoing until the song ends. It’s the song I skip almost every listen, though I don’t hate it. I just would rather not listen to it.

Heavy Metal Lover - 10/10 EVERYONE expected this song to be a rock pop song, with the main focus about her then-boyfriend Luc Carl. What this turned out to be was a slow burning industrial, experimental, whispering bop about having a dangerously fun night out with your lover and your friends whom may or may not be robots. She introduced the instrumental to this as the intro song to her Gagavision videos. It sounded like dark industrial background shit and was not expecting it to be part of a good song, but damn does this song deliver. Even though most of the song is just a robotic voice repeating the title over and over, those loud squelching synths drive the song forward and the chorus is just Gaga whispering... but it WORKS. And my favorite line in the song? “I could be your girl, but would you love me if I ruled the world?” WHEN WILL YOUR FAVE ??? My favorite memory of this song is me waking up mid-song on an overnight trip in the back of my family’s car. The breakdown was happening as we were going through a tunnel, and the beat dropped when we got out. It was... like... an epic moment... that only I ever experienced... ok bye.

Electric Chapel - 8/10 The integration of guitar riffs and hard dance synths into this love song about needing a spiritual communion with a lover is... beautiful. Not the best lyrics ever, but the melody drives the song, as does the production. She revealed this song in an episode of Gagavision and everyone was shook by the vocals we heard when she sang “glass disco ball”.” Fave lyric: My body is sanctuary, my blood is pure.

The Queen - 9/10 In 2010 when she was on tour, Gagarevealed a lyric that would become one of my favorite lyrics in this album. “Tonight I will return the fame and riches earned, with you I’d watch them all be burned.” Powerful, dark, I would have expected this on any of the other industrial sounding songs on the album, but not this upbeat anthem. When the song title was announced, I think everyone expected something having to do with her status as a pop powerhouse: how she saw herself, how she saw Madonna, etc., but nobody expected this empowering song about finding the drive in your darkness to be the powerful person you need to be. The upbeat song changes to a slower tempo at the end, on a guitar-led ending that lets Gaga belt out some of her best vocals ever. It’s powerful, it’s moving, and it reminds me of just how talented this bitch is. Not my favorite memory, but Jame Rodenmeyer, a little monster that killed himself, was recognized and remembered by Gaga and the fanbase for the last thing he tweeted right before he committed suicide, a lyric from this song. “Don’t forget me when I come crying to heaven’s door.”

You and I - 9/10 When touring the Monster Ball, she premiered this song at one of Elton John’s private parties and integrated a version of this song into her tour set. It was not meant to be on the album, and it was not meant to be a single. Both of which happened. The tour version was way more acoustic and had a different feel from the album version, which is why I didn’t appreciate it as much when it came out. However, the Brian May led guitar and drum sample from Queen’s “We Will Rock You” give this song a country rock feel that the song didn’t previously have. It’s authentic, American, and very true to Gaga’s acoustic talent. My favorite thing about this song is that on the set for the music video, she met her future boyfriend & fiance Taylor Kinney. Even though You and I was written about her ex-boyfriend Luc Carl. It’s just hilarious to me, and a little sad that the wedding in the music video won’t happen now that Gaga and Taylor aren’t together. :(

The Edge of Glory - 10/10 Gaga let us know that this song would be about the death of her grandfather and how her grandmother spent her last hours with him. She left the funeral with her dad to go to a bar and wrote the song on the piano in the bar, crying with her dad. The first time I heard this song, I had come home from a college exam. It was being released as a promo single, and I had missed the premiere. So I got home, listened to it on youtube, and cried. The heartbeat intro and upbeat melody were not what I was expecting. This is a song about love, a love that follows you to the end of the line. It’s powerful, important, and celebratory of life, and death. To think that Gaga could take her sadness and create a banger, something so beautiful and upbeat, was inspiring. I’ve told various people, my friends and family, that I want this song played at my funeral. It’s a perfect song for a death. And it’s a song that will celebrate my love for everyone. Every time she performs this live, I cry. Hard. It’s so beautiful, the way she becomes this toned back artist that belts this celebratory sadness. It’s artistry in a pure form, and I live for it. I feel like I’m talking it up more than it sounds like it is, but I’ve been around this song so long and I know what it means to her and to me and to others. It’s her best song. Clarence Clemons, whom plays the saxophone on the song, got to appear on the music video for this song and died a few days later. It was almost poetic, and sad, and happy. He got to perform one last time, on a song about death, and then passed away, on the edge of glory. Fave lyric: I’m on the edge with you.

Album Rating: 8.32

As is with many of Gaga’s works, songs on this album seem to be hit or miss. She’s a big personality, and takes some big risks, and in this album it seems to pay off more than it seems to fail. Every album has a central theme tying it together, whether an artist realizes it or not. Gaga’s theme in The Fame Monster was fear, and in ARTPOP it was adrenaline, and in Joanne it was grief. In this album, though she never explicitly said it, the theme is pride. Pride of darkness, of sexuality, of self, of insecurities, of love, of ethnicity, etc etc etc. She’s showing us to be proud of who we are, of what we do, and of how we live our lives. I, of course, have a huge bias towards this album, but I still feel as if it’s one of the most iconic pop albums of all time. This album has defined who I am for a majority of my life will continue to do so until I die, at which point, I might just stop listening to it. But probably not.

What do you think? Am I crazy for loving this album? Do you have an opinion on what I should re-view next? Send me an ask and let me know!

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