My eclectic taste in music stretches from the heavy metal bowels of Metallica to the boa clad harmonies of Elton John. In the midst of this wide-spanning spectrum is Stefani Germanotta, famously known as Lady Gaga. I spotlight her lexicon building because she routinely evokes avant-garde songwriting.
I can assure you that her doing so is not coincidental; one not does gain early admission into the Tisch School of the Arts by being accidentally creative. I am going to forgo claiming that one does not become a worldwide sensation by the same means because there are countless examples of successful artists who are devoid of talent.
All of Lady Gaga's excessive showmanship is firmly rooted in Glam Rock, borrowed heavily from the icons Freddie Mercury (whose song Radio Gaga' provided her moniker and David Bowie (whose fashion is strikingly similar); the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers influence on Lady Gaga is overwhelmingly apparent. It is important to keep in mind that aside from her lyrical prowess, Lady Gaga is a persona, a self-proclaimed fame monster. The outlandish outfits, the bizarre personality, and the bloated ego are all carefully crafted traits that complement her as a performer. She is entirely aware of naysayers' perception of her, and that is exactly how she hypothesized the reaction to occur.
Lady Gaga's writing style has a strong connection to the concepts of lexicon building. Rather than rely on clichd rhymes and overkilled themes, she focuses on provocative imagery using irregular lyrical combinations; Bad Romance' being one of her most innovative pieces.
I want your ugly/I want your disease/I want your everything as long as it's free
She assaults our verbal understanding from the beginning. Our first reaction is to believe that the song is an anti-love song or a scathing message to a previous lover, yet it is the opposite. She has taken the reverse angle against the traditional love song and its listing of the benign attributes of a lover. Here Lady Gaga has stripped love down to its dirtiest. She wants their ugly' and their disease' her love is as deep as the darkest of negatives.
I want your drama/The touch of your hand/I want your leather studded kiss in the sand
The standout in this verse is leather studded kiss in the sand'. The imagery produced runs the gamut from highly sexual to gibberish. I believe that it leans more toward sexuality. The leather studded kiss' provides her lover's tongue and lips with the concept of pain and torture, bordering on sadomasochism. Again, she is linking it to the idea that she is so deeply in love that she yearns for a kiss, despite the mental and physical pain. The sand' of the lyric may very well be From Here to Eternity' imagery, which contains one of the most recognizable cinematic love scenes. I will touch upon my belief as to why later in the article.
I want your love and/I want your revenge/You and me could write a bad romance
I want your love and/All your love is revenge/ You and me could write a bad romance
The chorus depicts the possibility that Lady Gaga is experiencing unrequited love. You and me could write a bad romance' is speaking about a prospect, not a past experience, and it also invites us to believe that should they get together, it will be a wreck of a relationship.
I want your revenge' and All your love is revenge' are essential to the song. She seeks his revenge, what that revenge will be and for what reason is beyond the reader's knowledge, but in receiving it, she is being showered with love in the form of loathing. It is another form of attention upon her, despite its negative connotation; the style in which the entire song is written.
I want your horror/I want your design/Because you're a criminal as long as you're mine
Invoking the image of a Frankenstein's monster with the use of I want your horror' and I want your design' in a sense that he is some kind of creature pieced together in a macabre fashion.
Because you're a criminal as long as you're mine' could be taken two ways. The first being that Frankenstein himself was a criminal, stealing cadavers for his experiments; just how the object of Lady Gaga's affection steals hearts. The second concept being that she views him as a no-good, dirty rotten, scoundrel, but loves him in despite of, or due to, him being so.
I want your psycho/Your vertigo stick/Want you in my rear window, baby, you're sick
This lyric is a high fly ball over 95% of people's heads. In following her writing style for this song, Lady Gaga is keeping true to the negative traits of his while maintaining a sexual edge with vertigo stick' (read: penis) and rear window' (read: sodomy). While I believe that these were her main aim in writing, she also took the opportunity to lace the lyrics with cinematic reference.
Psycho', Vertigo', and Rear Window' are three movies by master of horror Alfred Hitchcock. Lady Gaga has now connected her object of affection's personality to the main character's personalities in these three movies while linking this verse with the previous verse which begins I want your horror'. This is also the reasoning for my belief that her sand' lyric refers to From Here to Eternity'.
I want your love and/I want your revenge/I want your love/I don't wanna be friends
J'ai ton amour et/ je veux ton revenge/J'ai ton amour/I don't wanna be friends
It is with these lyrics that we now learn that Lady Gaga is experiencing unrequited love and that she don't wanna be friends'.
Why confess her desire in French? Does it work well from a musically aesthetic standpoint? Absolutely it is perhaps the most favored line in the entire song. But, there is another reason.
Her love is so heart wrenchingly fulfilling that she is confessing in the one of most romantic and beautiful languages on Earth; not only do I love you in English, I love you in French.
Lady Gaga is more than deserving of her mention in lexicon building. She adeptly crafts subtle references and motifs into her songs while maintaining a veneer of simplicity. Her persona has given rise to the belief that she is nothing but a puppet for songwriters and producers through whom to perform their creations.But again, one does not merely waltz through the doors of Tisch.
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