Baby, I Was Born This Way
I love that the criticism of "Born This Way" (sort of like the criticism of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) matters not at all. The song is a huge hit and for good reason: it's fucking awesome.
I listened to it like ten times on the way home. Just kept hitting replay. It's not something I do often.
I don't understand why people hate on pop music. If the goal of music is to make you feel something, I don't get why songs that make you feel happy (or like dancing) should be deemed less important than songs that make you feel sad or contemplative. Are certain emotions less valid than others?
When I listen to "Born This Way," I feel happy. We react to music on a chemical, visceral level. The beat, the melody. Every time I listen to "Telephone," I have to dance. And I am briefly lifted outside of my body and away from my troubles. It sounds trite and trivial--just dance--but it actually helps me to put things in perspective. Why be sad if you're alive and healthy and you're physically capable of dancing? There is beauty in the world. Some find it in a flower. Some find it in a thumping electro beat.
But it's not just the beat that is good in "Born This Way." The lyrics are uplifting. The message is simple, but beautiful: "just love yourself and you're set." And EVERYONE needs to hear that and I think that's why it's the subject of at least three diva pop songs I can think of off the top of my head (this one, P!nk's "Fuckin' Perfect," and Katy Perry's "Firework"). During a particularly dark period (let's call it "a few weeks ago"), "Firework" came on the radio and I immediately fell to the floor crying.
I tear up sometimes when I listen to "Born This Way," but it's out of joy. It's a mantra, an affirmation. I think we can't get enough songs like this (particularly from strong women) because loving yourself is a marathon, not a sprint. Try to do it. Start by dancing.
A lot of people didn't get the imagery of the Grammy performance. The egg vessel is about birth (get it? BORN This Way?). She says the song is about "birthing a new race" which sounds a little Nazi-ish, but she means it in the exact opposite way--a race completely free from prejudice and hatred. I thought her new look--bones protruding, no eyebrows--was supposed to be fetal and unformed. Then I thought it might be about changing people's ideas about beauty by making herself look more conventionally ugly. I think both of those ideas are there, in addition to what she said about a new race. There is so much more to GaGa than her music, so many layers, so much to dissect and study. If you don't see it, look closer. I hate when people just say "I don't get it." Try harder. It's not haphazard and it's not purely for shock value. Everything she does is methodical and meaningful.
I listened to it like ten times on the way home. Just kept hitting replay. It's not something I do often.
I don't understand why people hate on pop music. If the goal of music is to make you feel something, I don't get why songs that make you feel happy (or like dancing) should be deemed less important than songs that make you feel sad or contemplative. Are certain emotions less valid than others?
When I listen to "Born This Way," I feel happy. We react to music on a chemical, visceral level. The beat, the melody. Every time I listen to "Telephone," I have to dance. And I am briefly lifted outside of my body and away from my troubles. It sounds trite and trivial--just dance--but it actually helps me to put things in perspective. Why be sad if you're alive and healthy and you're physically capable of dancing? There is beauty in the world. Some find it in a flower. Some find it in a thumping electro beat.
But it's not just the beat that is good in "Born This Way." The lyrics are uplifting. The message is simple, but beautiful: "just love yourself and you're set." And EVERYONE needs to hear that and I think that's why it's the subject of at least three diva pop songs I can think of off the top of my head (this one, P!nk's "Fuckin' Perfect," and Katy Perry's "Firework"). During a particularly dark period (let's call it "a few weeks ago"), "Firework" came on the radio and I immediately fell to the floor crying.
I tear up sometimes when I listen to "Born This Way," but it's out of joy. It's a mantra, an affirmation. I think we can't get enough songs like this (particularly from strong women) because loving yourself is a marathon, not a sprint. Try to do it. Start by dancing.
A lot of people didn't get the imagery of the Grammy performance. The egg vessel is about birth (get it? BORN This Way?). She says the song is about "birthing a new race" which sounds a little Nazi-ish, but she means it in the exact opposite way--a race completely free from prejudice and hatred. I thought her new look--bones protruding, no eyebrows--was supposed to be fetal and unformed. Then I thought it might be about changing people's ideas about beauty by making herself look more conventionally ugly. I think both of those ideas are there, in addition to what she said about a new race. There is so much more to GaGa than her music, so many layers, so much to dissect and study. If you don't see it, look closer. I hate when people just say "I don't get it." Try harder. It's not haphazard and it's not purely for shock value. Everything she does is methodical and meaningful.