RentalDeception

I’ve had very mixed feelings about Lady Gaga in the run up to the release of her new album, Born This Way.

Having been a fan since midway through 2008, I feel like I have followed her career — at least the one we have known since ‘Just Dance’ was thrust upon us — all the way from the very beginning.

And that’s why it pains me to feel unsure of her current decisions with both her music and her style.


Lady Gaga: then and now 

I can’t say she’s never put a foot wrong before — her BRITs performance of ‘Telephone’ and ‘Dance in the Dark’ was one of the most disappointing I’ve ever witnessed — but she’s always bounced back with something incredible.

I was certainly excited about a new era of Lady Gaga having been pleased she’d decided to take some time away from releasing music while she toured the world with The Monster Ball, a show I saw, and loved, twice in the last year.

But that was shortlived when she issued the lyrics to ‘Born This Way’, an ode to loving who you are no matter what people say. It’s not the sort of thing that usually appeals to me anyway, and certainly not from one of my favourite popstars whose most memorable lyric is the hook from ‘Bad Romance’.

Last week the song was premiered and I can’t say I was overly impressed. I was relieved it wasn’t a ballad in the style of ‘Speechless’, an undeniable great song but nevertheless not something I’d want released as a single, and yet something didn’t sit right with me.

I must confess, having played it a lot over the past five days I have grown to like it a lot and just seeing Gaga dance to it in the studio when playing it to the 60 Minute crew has helped me understand why she has so much passion and belief in it. I was even one of the 62,000 people who helped catapult it to #3 in the charts after only 34 hours of sales. I can’t see it going down as a classic Gaga track, but I can see why it has an important place in her history.

Two nights ago she performed the track for the first time at the 53rd Grammy Awards in America. I didn’t know what to expect and having watched it I was left underwheled on first viewing; the staging and lighting were appalling for such a huge occassion and the less said about the outfit the better. It felt like a waste.

But watching it again, I could see the utter JOY on her face as she ripped into the final pumping chorus and it made me beam. She sang it incredibly and the dancing was fun, even if she isn’t the world’s greatest mover.

And for once she even had a concept that made a bit of sense, arriving first in a coffin (saying goodbye to The Fame Monster) and then ‘walking’ the red carpet in an egg (rebirth for Born This Way). It must be hard sometimes for her to think of shocking ideas, especially with the likes of Nicki Minaj emerging, who has been filling the void of unsual outfits just fine in Gaga’s fleeting absence.

I just hope she doesn’t someday go too far. But perhaps that’s what she’s aiming for.

In just two years Lady Gaga has gone from somebody who seemed effortlessly cool and self-assured, to someone geeky and insecure. Is either the real her? Maybe both were at the time. I just feel like the Gaga I fell in love with, with the sleek hair, nice make-up, leotards and Disco Stick, is long gone. And I miss her. Maybe Born This Way will get something out of her system. Or it could just lead on to something even more extreme.

Somehow she seems to feel the need to remind us she’s not just an empty headed bimbo singing a souless pop song given to her by a bunch of suits. Everybody knows she’s talented. I won’t deny I’m quite shallow when it comes to female popstars, though: but can we not have an intelligent woman who writes their own music, sings live and looks pretty all at the same time? Why does she feel the need to make herself look less than flattering at every opportunity when it’s clear to see she’s really quite pretty, if a little unconventionally so.

She could be the most perfect popstar the world has ever seen, but perfect doesn’t seem to be what she wants. She wants to be the most memorable, the most famous.

I guess the best thing about her is that really never know what you’re going to get next. And for that you can only applaud her.

I await Born This Way with great intrigue and excitement.