MYTH No. 3: Lady Gaga Is All Style, No Substance
REALITY: Lady Gaga's bizarre getups only distract from the fact that she's a brilliant songwriter.
Lady Gaga's purportedly transgressive persona -- wearing doilies over her head in lieu of pants, possibly having a secret penis -- relentlessly dares you to despise her, and it's no surprise so many have taken the bait.
The press focuses on her performance-art shtick in lieu of her songs, so even though The Fame has been one of 2009's biggest-selling albums, nobody seems to have pointed out that it's also one of the best.
Partly it's the sound -- an unabashedly bonkers, rubbery synth-loop boogie that manages to sell back 35 years of esoteric Eurotrash as something unmistakably in-your-face and American, without ever branding itself as retro. If you're tuned in to them, blatantly uncool references abound: Ace of Base's Swedish reggae, Aqua's Danish Barbie twirl, Boney M.'s Teutonic West Indies world disco; her single "Paparazzi" has the ominous minor-key fragility of '80s Italo-pop.
Gaga ropes in distorted rhythms from KMFDM sprocket-rock to Peaches electroclash. But she also croons a cascading Latin freestyle ballad called "Brown Eyes," heartfelt enough to be Lisa Lisa in 1987.
16 ROCK MYTHS DEBUNKED:
1. Radiohead
2. Nirvana
3. Lady Gaga
4. Biggie & Tupac
5. Marilyn Manson
6. Emo Oversharers
>> Gallery: 10 More Rock Myths
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And in her flirtiest tracks, "Boys Boys Boys" and "Summerboy," she's a California girl on Echo Beach, bopping along to Blondie in her new-wave bikini.
All of which would already be wonderful if Gaga's songwriting wasn't just as inventive. But on The Fame, she leaves no doubt that word games are as much her idea of a good time as love games. "Poker Face" extends a gambling metaphor through several verses as cleverly as any country outlaw. Over the hard thump of "Just Dance," a celebratory night out implodes into fright and confusion in ways so mundane it's a shock no lyricist thought to detail them before: A boozed-up girl misplaces her keys and phone, turns her shirt inside out, forgets what club she's in and what song is playing.
Gaga's most inescapable obsession albumwide, though, is kinky sex, which she's sane enough to depict as not so much decadent as funny. And through it all, she's tossing off nonsense syllables and phrasing pirouettes and juvenile side chants and martial Marine grunts and cherry-cherry-boom-booms just to throw you off balance, preferably without losing her own footing. If you play along with her bag of tricks and disco sticks, accept her pretensions as a new twist on club music's costumed tradition, and refuse to be blindsided by her backstory, it's as delirious a dance as you've witnessed all year.
Agree? Disagree? Tell us what you think below!
97 Comments
Click here to comment- Posted By Temecula
01.16.10 11:29 PM
It's going to be tough on the haters because Gaga is not going to fade away like other manufactured acts. Part of her genius is Gaga is self-made and talented enough to write her own songs.
I'm tired of supporting 'indie' artists who don't have the nerve of Gaga. I'm tired of lazy artists who are forever protecting their precious integrity. Yawn. At least with Gaga I can talk to anyone about her music.
What's worse for the haters is how many other artists in the same vein as Gaga is coming down the pike. I've even begun to dig, god help me, Ke$ha. Shoot, this isn't the first music article I have read praising Gaga. Don't be surprised if your favorite indie bands discovers fashion or even starts practising stage craft. Yeah for Gaga.
- Posted By Stereosonic
01.15.10 8:55 AM
Bluffin with my muffin........ still think she is a great song writer?
- Posted By Anonymous
01.12.10 2:52 PM
"In that sense, she is a money producer and an entertainer, not a musician."- anonymous 12/2/09
Let me start by saying I enjoy hearing Gaga's tracks on the radio occasionally. It seems very clear in reading the comments that the lovers and haters have one thing in common. The refusal to look at the topic from all angles. Gaga is a talented dancer. She is unbeatable as far as not giving credit to influences, the artistic references and images that she copied for her videos, or the technical people that made her sound quality so money. I do, however, love the way some 80's sounds were brought back into current music. I suppose we shall see in the next year or so precisely how timeless her music is. Poker Face is nearly forgotten already. If there is one bit of advice for anyone who does not have formal musical education, it would be to get some, because it will open your eyes to real music.
"If you go platinum, its got nothin' to do
with luck, it just means that a million people
are stupid as *&#%." -Immortal TechniqueThank you for your time.
- Posted By MelindaLu
01.09.10 4:42 AM
I saw Gaga in concert in Vancouver, BC. I am a 49 year old businesswoman. When I saw her on SNL, I hadn't paid any attention up until then... but her performance of Just Dance, Bad Romance and a mash up of improv and complete ingenuity totally won me over. She is endlessly entertaining. I have been attending concerts since 1977 and this was by far the best concert I have ever seen. She is at once an audacious spectacle, a dreamer, a spectacular musician and a woman who doesn't really need attention: it just happens because of her own outlandishness. She's a "free b*tch, baby" and I was amazed. She is NOT another Brittany Spears or another Madonna. She is creative and she surrounds herself with creative people. She invited us all at the show to allow ourselves to be free and to extend that freeness to our neighbors, and if you couldn't do that, she told you to leave. Astonishingly enough, the people sitting next to me did leave, and that's totally fine. As a classically trained musician who doesn't like rap or dance music, she had me the second her second 7 minute song on SNL was done. She is one of a kind...and if you don't like her or hate her I don't think she cares. She speaks to disenfranchised youth of all genders and sexualities who feel out of place (something I could totally relate to in my teens). I am a richer person for having gone to her show...and really...when does music move you that often? Go, Gaga, go!!!
- Posted By Anonymous
01.09.10 1:20 AM
The fact that so many people call lady gaga a genius makes me lose a little more hope in my generation. If a song about a disco stick is what qualifies as a masterpeice then I think I wanna crawl into a corner and wait until people wake the f**k up and learn to appreciate real music. Lady gaga is a perfect example of how easy it is to become famous, all you need is a way to get people to notice you. that's it, notice how talent is not necessary, something just isn't right with that.
- Posted By SamuelJohnson
01.06.10 3:24 PM
The correct spelling is "because" or perhaps "'cause."
It is not "cos." Cos is an archaic English term for a relative who is more distant than a cousin. I'm sure the irony of you complaining about getting old and then using an cookie-cutter incorrect internet spelling is not lost on you.
Also, I know that italics are impossible on the internet, but please do not emphasize with by typing in all capital letters. It is terribly obnoxious.
Finally, I'm compelled to note that everyone giggles at sex. A brief study of any classic comedy, say, Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," which includes a great many crude jokes about female genitalia, not to mention sex both kinky and otherwise, demonstrates that this is neither a new impulse nor a particularly infantile one (unless you want to call Shakespeare infantile, in which case you must be John Milton).Sincerely,
The Intelligentsia
- Posted By machamunk18@yahoo.com
01.06.10 12:09 PM
!! I AM IN LOVE WITH LADY GAGA!!!
- Posted By Anonymous
01.06.10 2:01 AM
It's not saying it makes her giggle. She portrays sex in a completely new light instead of the serious way that most people do nowadays. "Disko stick" is a metaphor she uses. She's giving sex a lighthearted side while still remaining herself and still remaining censored.
- Posted By ERIN KELLY
01.06.10 12:03 AM
****ing finally. nobody knows what good music is, unless of course it's manchester orchestra. good music does not stop at indie, people, open your ****ing eyes. oh, yea, fyi; beatles were pop. does that mean they were ****? no.
- Posted By ♥ Mz. Gaga ♥
01.04.10 6:50 PM
Gaga is the best!!! The things she does and the way she dresses are ways to help us remember her through the generations!!! No one should put her down because of what the ~ paparazzi ~ says. If you really listen to the words of her songs, they all have a special message that you have to find for yourself. From love stories gone wrong to checkin' out hot guys on the beach to whatever!!!! Find the messages that she gives to us. After all, no one does it like GAGA!!!!!!!! GAGA ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!
- Lady GaGa's biggest " Little Monster "
- Posted By daevos
01.04.10 6:27 PM
I must be getting old, cos she SUCKS.
"Gaga's most inescapable obsession albumwide, though, is kinky sex, which she's sane enough to depict as not so much decadent as funny."
So, her main thing is SEX and it makes her giggle? Woah, I really am getting old, I thought the only people who giggle at sex are children, which may sum up the writers here.
- Posted By Abbie
01.03.10 4:38 PM
Personally, I'm a huge fan of Gaga. People who think she has no talent should really do their research, because she is extremely talented (listen to her acoustic versions, or even her album when she was in university), however you may not realise this as she's almost "dumbed-down" because she knows what the public want and she knows it sells. She's actually more clever than you give her credit for.
And as for her being a hermaphrodite, again, it's Lady Gaga, she likes to cause controversy because it all goes in her favour.
Sure, she's crazy but you've got to love her.
- Posted By Renee V.
01.02.10 3:53 PM
Okay.... where shall i begin? Weeell, for starters, Lady Gaga (if you can even call her a lady for having a ****) is not an innovative singer/songwriter. Her lryics are repetitive, annoying, scummy, and cliched. How many girls are there like Gaga? Sure, she dresses in crazy dresses and tells everyone she's changing the way they think of music, but really she's just lining her eyes with a munch of glittery eyeliner. I mean, did the Beatles ever have to dress up in a Kermit the Frog outfit to get good? The answer is no.... She is just a sad little worthless creature who must dress up in rediculous outfits to grap attention despitet the fact that her lryics mean NOTHING and she is a HORRIBLE singer.
- Posted By Honest Abe
01.02.10 1:49 AM
Okay
i've got to say Lady Gaga's voice isn't that amazing .
Katy Perry i thought was a "crazy" yet cute dresser but Gaga is too much and just wants attention
I don't see anything great in her videos but her exposing her self and her tongue
and Her music Yeah her songs are catchy but i don't see how her lyrics are genius. I liked her before The Fame Monster she got to over the top.
and i'm not a hater .. that's pretty dumb thing that if i say one negative thing about Lady Gaga i'm jealous & hate her, but she seems fake.
- Posted By Sean Wilson
12.27.09 2:00 AM
Lady Gaga is to music what the Joker is to Batman.
03.03.10 7:12 PM
Of course she's fake. They all are, at least a little bit. You think you can find one popular singer who isn't? Because you can't. They all have to change a little bit, or a lot, and create an image if they want to make it in that industry. Her being fake is just fine with me. Because I'd rather have an icon than a girl-next-door singing strange club beats to me on the radio. Her music isn't even that great, in my opinion. But I respect her, and I believe she will, in fact, become an icon associated with this generation. She's a David Bowie, a Madonna, an Elton John. They each started out crazy, to get your attention, their image evolving with each album, influencing society instead of vice versa. Oh yeah about that other comment of yours... Of course she wants attention! That's their job!