An Afternoon with the Lady

“Dad can you turn on the radio?”

 “Oh Neethi, why do you always have to listen to some kind of noise?”

 “Daaad, pleaaassseee.”

 “Okay, okay.”

 It is a constant struggle. My mom wants silence, my dad wants Rush, and I want Jay-Z. Most of the time we all (meaning my dad and I…remember- “two out of three ain’t bad”) agree to listen to a station dedicated to the oldies like LiteFm since my Dad can’t handle the auditory assault that is Hot 97. But today was a different day. I managed to guilt my parents into letting me fully control the radio dial (oh the joys of going to school halfway across the country!). Excitedly, I switched the radio on and turned the dial to 96.5. “Po, Po, Po, Poker Face,” blasts from the speakers. My mother looks at me, as if to further prove her point. My dad starts laughing at the absurdity of the song. I didn’t care. My afternoon with the Lady had begun.

 To be honest, when I first heard Lady Gaga’s stuff I didn’t like it. Both her music and persona seemed superficial and ridiculous. I mean anyone can spastically dance around in an outfit made up of stuffed animals of Kermit the Frog- what made Lady Gaga so famous? And what the hell does the name Lady Gaga mean- why can’t celebrities just be normal?! Don’t get me wrong, I liked Just Dance, but Poker Face was mildly annoying and Love Game was downright vulgar. However, a few days ago I discovered her song “Bad Romance,” and I became hooked. Maybe it was the fact that I was delirious with fatigue while writing my Women Studies paper (the night before…don’t judge) or I was in the middle of a sugar coma, but I just couldn’t stop listening to that song. Even though the verses were a little too boring, the chorus was glorious and catchy. Upon further investigation I stumbled upon another one of her new songs called “Telephone.” For any of you Beyonce fans out there, this is a sister song of sorts to Beyonce’s “Video Phone,” except it’s a million times better. Seriously, it’s nearly impossible to not get this song stuck in your head. What is truly fantastic about this track is the production of it. Darkchild (producer extraordinaire) manages to seamlessly infuse real telephone sounds and tones into the track, which make it musically interesting. Also, unlike in Beyonce’s “Video Phone” where Lady Gaga’s contribution seems to be forced and awkward, Beyonce adds to the track by keeping her hip hop influences within Lady Gaga’s song.           

After listening to these two musical gems I decided to check out the entire album. Though I had high hopes for Gaga’s latest creation, I was unfortunately under whelmed. Many of the tracks fell victim to the Gaga formula- synthesizer heavy with a strong 80s influence and similar vocal presentation of the lyrics (i.e the vocal repetition that made Poker Face such a hit). Also, on several of the tracks such as Dance in the Dark, the lyrical content and vocal strength of Lady Gaga is overshadowed by overproduction. You really see her musical and artistic abilities on tracks like “Speechless,” which is by far the best track on the album. This song gives listeners an all too brief glimpse of the person behind the persona with a track uncluttered by dance beats and engineered sounds. Gaga truly shines when presented naturally and stripped down to her essence. I would have loved to hear an album filled with raw and simply produced songs. I think that the world has heard enough of the Lady, and now needs to hear from the woman behind the sensation.  

 Check out Lady Gaga’s new record The Fame Monster and let me know what you think! Have a great week  🙂