ARTPOP in depth album analysis

[PartySick 155,022]

Hello, friends

I did this with Born This Way so there's no way I could just not do it for my favorite album: ARTPOP. Plus @AphroditeLaydee, @Edonis, and @Lord Temptation requested it and I'm all about pleasing people  As usual, please do give your own thoughts and feedback on anything I say or the album itself

Grab your face paint and your pig noses 'cause we're getting high on Venus one more time!

Aura
Theme: Perception

Spoiler

Do you wanna see me naked, lover?
Do you wanna peak underneath the cover?
Do you wanna see the girl who lives
Behind the aura?

"This is really a song that is about a lot of different things, but what really it's about is that people have a certain perception of me because I wear lot of very visual fashion and I'm a very creative person. So this song is about me basically saying that just because all of those things are there doesn't mean that there is not sort of the same person underneath. And then, also that these veils, they are really just protecting me from the thing that I held the most sacred, which is my creativity."

"Everyone thinks that everything I do is a statement but some times I'm just moved by something passionate and I want to express it"

Taken from Gaga's statements about the song and the song itself, Aura, to me, is about insanity and...maybe recognition is a good word, truthful perception might be a better way to say it, though. Wanting to be seen as who you really are, not for any prideful reasons but just so that you're understood. It's like Gaga says, the wigs and outfits aren't just some loose veil, they are her. She is the girl behind the aura, and the aura is her.

Storytime! Infected Mushroom sent Zedd the track "Kink" to be finished, but Gaga liked it and wanted it. Zedd told them and they said she could have it as long as she credits them under their legal names, not the name "Infected Mushroom", so they don't embarrass their fans because "they don't associate with the Britney's or the Gaga's of the world out of 'artistic integrity'". Gaga insisted that she credit "Infected Mushroom" and they said they just couldn't turn the money down and agreed. Some artistic integrity you got there *spitefully dances to Aura*

Venus
Theme: Love, sex

Spoiler

The song whose fashion inspired much of the album's art, live performances, and overall theme! Venus is the first song that Gaga wrote and produced herself (with minimal co-production by Madeon).

"So, this song is about faith, but it's also about finding faith in other places, in the beyond, and my experience with love being something that took me up a really long time to find".

I think the song does a great job of encompassing that feeling of an almost turbulent euphoria you get when you're in love. The driving beat and airy bits in between, it's all like some kind of interstellar disco roller coaster! Of course, I also love space themed anything so the bridge naming the planets/gods was a real treat.

A cute little bit of trivia is that the French have an expression: "La petite mort" (the little death) which means "the brief loss or weakening of consciousness". In modern times, that's specifically tied to the sensation of an orgasm as liked to death. Gives a new meaning to the lyrics, huh?

When you touch me, I die
Just a little inside
I wonder if this could be love
This could be love

G.U.Y.
Theme: Empowerment

Spoiler

I'm gonna wear the tie
Want the power to leave you
I'm aimin' for full control of this love

G.U.Y. is a sort of Scheiße 2.0, but it addresses feminism in a different light. Rather than wanting to be strong and stand alone, she wants to have the power to give in.

"Any kind of feminist has valid views for herself about what it means to be a feminist, but, as a new-age feminist, I would say I quite like the transference of strength I feel by submitting to a man – being under him."

The pulsing, almost dark sound of the song gives it a strong aggressive tone, which is ironic considering it's quite a tender thing to lie down and relinquish yourself to someone else. It's the song that reaches out to the people who know they're strong enough to make it on their own, but they're perfectly happy relying on and coexisting with others.

I love trivia/fun facts so here's an explanation behind what some call a "cringe" lyric. During a Twitter Q&A, a Monster asked Gaga why she says "please retweet", Gaga explained that it's because the retweet symbol looks like 69...you be the judge haha 

Sexxx Dreams
Theme: Passion

Spoiler

Heard your boyfriend was away this weekend
Wanna meet at my place?
Heard that we both got nothin’ to do
When I lay in bed I touch myself and thinka you

Gaga's said this song is to be taken literally. It's a freaky journey through her mind and thoughts as she's caught in an imaginary love triangle between the person she's with and the person she wants to be with.

In the first verse, she talks to her dream lover and sings to her boyfriend/girlfriend, in the second it switches around.

In my mind, and feel free to drag me for my delusion, Sexxx Dreams is less about sex and more about dreams. This is apparently totally unintentional but art is subjective and up for interpretation. The lover she's bound to, in my mind, is the obstacles she faces. Being dropped from a label or breaking her hip or any number of smaller issues. The lover she aspires to be with is her passion, her dreams, her goals. She aspires to be on that stage singing and expressing her art.

So in this song, I've found a sort of underlying conveyance of reality and struggle. The dark sounding verses really accent that when you listen to the song with this in mind

Jewels n' Drugs
Theme: Rebellion

Spoiler

I admit that my habit’s expensive
And you may find it, quite offensive
But I won’t die at the hands of another
I’m your mother, sister, your father, brother

Not much to be found on this song as not many interviewers asked about it...heh...but Gaga's introduction of JnD at Swinefest let's us know that it's what she did to show that she refuses to be put in a box and told what to do. She won't "die at the hands of another"

In my opinion, the song serves the same purpose that Heavy Metal Lover does on Born This Way. It strengthens the feeling of rebellion while revealing a bit of her view of the music industry. 

This family is stupid attractive
If you've surveyed the way we've acted

This bit alone gives me the feeling that she thinks "the biz" views artists as money making machines (we obviously know from her speeches/interview answers). If they knew how an artist felt and how they expressed themselves and gave them more freedom, music would be held in a higher regard than it currently is. People only care about "bops" when music is an art form and should carry some weight to it. I feel like Jewels n' Drugs is also partially Gaga expressing frustration at that fact.

MANiCURE
Theme: Actualization, "man catching"

Spoiler

I’m the one who's
Been coming 'round lookin' to love in you
You’re the medicine
I need to heal the way you make me feel.

”This song is about getting ready to go out and catch a man, catch a girl…you are manicuring your body, you’re manicuring your spirit, and your mind, and then, the chorus hits and it’s all about being really shocking…You’re gonna get laid tonight.”

Much like Sexxx Dreams (and possibly JnD) I've found my own reasoning and meaning behind this song. Strength and self worth, as well as self actualization. Sort of in the same vein as G.U.Y., MANiCURE comes across as one of those songs that just screams "I want someone else but that doesn't mean I'm weak or incapable of standing on my own."

Some people might think I pull this stuff out of no where but art is meant to be thought of critically and interpreted. If someone can find meaning in a solid black canvas hanging in a museum, I'm allowed to find a meaning of self worth in a song about fleeking yourself to get laid

Do What U Want
Theme: Freedom, strength

Spoiler

Write what u want
Say what u want 'bout me
If you're wonderin'
Know that I'm not sorry

Inspired by the media backlash in late 2012, this song's about Gaga telling the media that they'll never own her. She'll be out there living her life, living her art, and they'll be writing petty articles with buzz word dampened headlines about other people with more going on in their lives. She'll never change in order to bend to someone else's will and she'll never sell out just to make someone else happy.

Of course, it's a song with two meanings, the second being "you can do what you want with me" is one of the sexist things someone can say to their lover. Continuing the album's sexually charged theme.

ARTPOP
Theme: Expression, love, passion

Spoiler

A hybrid can withstand these things
My heart can beat with bricks and strings
My ARTPOP could mean anything

This song is a true and totally free love song expressing Gaga's view of music and art as a whole. She wants to bring back the passion and value of music. She wants to paint with a different brush than everyone else.

This song is constant. No climax, no build, no orgasm, just a constant and droning sonic expression of thought. In this song, I've found less of a meaning but more of a message to really think when it comes to music. To be more critical but also more open minded (free my mind).

It also gave us the iconic "music, not the bling" line that I still value more than anything. Sure, commercial success is awesome but I think I'd rather have Gaga scrape the bottom of the top 200 list than sell out, writing only radio friendly dance songs. I think she feels the same way

Swine
Theme: Pain, relief

Spoiler

Maybe I should have a little more,
Just to stay out of my mind.
Cuz it’s when I’m not thinking with you 
That I act like a swine!

"I was really sick all the time in my head, in my heart. I felt trapped, but I was free. And then it was like a slow death. A slow death of my innocence and my youth. And I had to climb through a lot of swine, and that's where that song came from. This idea of something so dark and something so awful and perverted that at a young age you don't really understand. And you don't want to know and understand it. And then, as I'm older, I understand the intenseness of the experiences that I went through. They have affected and changed who I am now."

It's about her being taken advantage of by some scumbag when she was young and naive. It's meant to get out all of that anger and pain.

This song is my favorite track on the album...no, in Gaga's entire discography. I hate that I find myself droning on about my experiences, but the only way you can truly appreciate how I feel about Gaga's music and artistry is to know what I've been through.

I was raped by my first boyfriend when we were young. I'm talking about 14 and 15 young. After that, I lost all sense of myself. Not that I had any before 'cause I was just discovering who I really was when he came along, but it truly broke me. After that, drugs were the only things that numbed the pain and it took a long time for me to get out of that. When Gaga debuted Swine and spoke about her experiences at Swinefest, I reflected on her story and the song. Where my best friends were dancing to Swine, I just stared blankly at the screen, thoughts racing through my head, emotions that I had buried resurfaced, memories of a time I blocked out came back. I never healded, I just ignored the pain.

Through Swine, Gaga helped me face those memories and that time in my life. Instead of ignoring the blood pouring out, I squeezed the wound and it hurt like hell but I'm better off for it. I've healed because of it. Not completely, of course, but then that's not really the kind of thing you just get over. I've learned to be patient about my healing process and one day the nightmares and anxiety attacks will stop. All thanks to Gaga writing a song about a pig.

Keeping on with the cute little facts, Gaga actually uses a pun in the first verse. "You're just an ani-mal" sounds like "you're just a little mole"...then she says "but deep down you are just a shrew"...get it?

Donatella
Theme: Self worth

Spoiler

'Cause she walks so bad
Like it feels so good
Listen to her radiate her magic

Even though she knows
She's misunderstood
Voodoo voodoo, voo-don-na-na

"It’s about being a fearless female and not caring what people say about you – being proud of who you are and walking the walk no matter what."

In Fame-esque fashion, the verses satirize the high class lifestyle, the chorus is where the true meaning of the song reveals itself. People can talk a lot of sh*t, you might be misunderstood, but in the end you are you and you better werk it 'cause your view of yourself is the only thing you ever truly have!

Fashion!
Theme: Pride, expression

Spoiler

Walk into the light
Display your diamonds and pearls in my
Fashion!
Married to the night
I own the world, we own the world

"Sometimes people always thought that when i was getting dressed up or, you know, putting on my outfits, or doing my live shows that it was for attention, but I really feel a sense of growth and of confidence about myself and I'm able to transform, and that's what this is about, and I think other people do too, just maybe on a smaller scale than I do."

Fashion! is a feel good song about expressing yourself through your outer appearance. It's become part of my daily ritual, actually. I blast it when I'm getting dressed for the day as a sort of pick-me-up. Repeating the mantra "looking good and feelin' fine" has a way of giving you a warm feeling and a little smile on your face

The call back to Marry the Night and allusion to David Bowie's song Life on Mars are also pretty great.

The bridge, again, reinforces what she said about fashion designers. She likes to be their muse and canvas, their looks are always so ethereal

Mary Jane Holland
Theme: Transformation, freedom

Spoiler

Lady of the 'dam won't be a slave to the blonde
Or the culture of the popular (she won't, she won't)
Sing at you, I'll fly under radar tonight
Make deals with every devil in sight (I will, I will)

The lyrics above perfectly encompass the song's meaning. When she was in Amsterdam during the Born This Way Ball she dyed her hair brown (because she felt that the world owned her blonde haired image) and went out on the city, having a good time, smoking weed, and getting drunk in clubs. That night of anonymity gave her comfort. She felt normal for the first time in a long time. She could feel fine if she can be Mary Jane Holland tonight.

Dope
Theme: Reflection, regret, growth

Spoiler

I'm sorry and I love you
Stay with me, Bell Bottom Blue
I'll keep on searching for an answer
'Cause I need you more than Dope

An apology song, Dope is about Gaga's recovery from her hip operation. She'd smoke 15-20 joints a day just to cope with the physical and emotional pain and she felt like that pushed away the people she loves. It's an apology to her fans, family, and loved ones.

Some people prefer I Wanna Be With You over Dope, and that's understandable. I feel that they're two sides of the same coin. IWBWY is her reasoning behind the pain, Dope is the coping mechanism and her reflection on that time.

Of course, after recovering from my addictions, this song resonates with me personally, even though it came out years after I kicked the crap I was on. Drugs, or any other harmful habit...they can ruin your life in many ways. One of the worst ways is to have you alienate yourself from everyone that cares about you. A fix isn't worth it and there are healthier coping mechanisms.

Gypsy
Theme: Togetherness, love

Spoiler

Be my home just for the day
I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy, hey

One of the most passionate songs in Gaga's entire discography, "The Edge of Glory 2.0", Gypsy is about Gaga feeling lonely on the road, but realizing that her heart lies with her fans because she puts her everything into the music that we love. She can feel at home wherever we are It's also about falling in love, Taylor being the initial inspiration behind the song.

Gypsy is such a freedom anthem to me. Being a Michael Jackson fan and taking his music to heart at a young age, I've always viewed humanity through a wide lens. We're not divided into nations, regions, continents, or any silly lines drawn on a map. We're all human beings, we all share this planet together, and we should all make an effort to love and understand one another. Gypsy reinforces that feeling inside of me, stirring my love for human kindness and hospitality which, despite what you see on the news, is plentiful. The world is a bright and happy place, it's the bad things that are the oddities so never let yourself grow bitter because of a few people's heinous actions. Where there's one person robbing you, there's ten more that would give you the shirt off their backs

Applause
Theme: Determination, love

Spoiler

If only fame had an IV
Baby, could I bare
Being away from you
I found the vein put it in here

Applause comes from the time near the end of the Born This Way Ball. She was in terrible pain from her undiagnosed broken hip and labral tear but her fans applauding her and showering her with love kept her going. 

There's not much personal reflection to be done with this song, but I do appreciate what she's saying. It's an ode to her passion and a thank you to the fans for our

Also...that is one tough f*cking woman! I once bruised my knee and didn't walk properly for a few days while this bitch DANCED on a BROKEN HIP for WEEKS and all because of the support her fans showed her. Let's just take a moment to applaud that and make sure she never does it again.

So, yeah. Some people might say ARTPOP is a weak album with no substance, just dated EDM dance tracks and poorly written lyrics about sex and drugs but I'm here to tell you that you're wrong. Well, you're entitled to your opinion, but your opinion isn't really rooted in fact, just your personal taste. Which is totally fine, I'm just trying not to offend anyone here  I just don't believe there is such a thing as bad music unless it's something that literally no heart went into and Gaga puts her entire being into everything she does. ARTPOP has just changed my perspective and sense of self to such a degree that there's no way I could ever think less of it, especially not from some weak comparison to her own earlier work or someone else's.

"That’s what’s really exciting to me about this album. In a way, it’s showing my fans how to have a more detailed and critical eye with music and what they’re looking at."

It's ARTPOP that got me through some tough times and gave me the inspiration to over analyze music and find meaning where it might not have even been intended. Music is an art form, after all, and art is subject to criticism and all us little ARTPOPists pondering the meaning behind the words and sounds, connecting the dots that may or may not be there but at some point, whether they exist or not doesn't really matter. At the end of the day intentions are pointless. It's what you take away from something that matters, and things are a lot more interesting when you paint with your own brush.

We could belong together, ARTPOP.

[PartySick 155,022]

ARTPOP is paid dust once again

I stand happily corrected

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

20 minutes ago, PartySick said:

Hello, friends

I did this with Born This Way so there's no way I could just not do it for my favorite album: ARTPOP. Plus @AphroditeLaydee, @Edonis, and @Lord Temptation requested it and I'm all about pleasing people  As usual, please do give your own thoughts and feedback on anything I say or the album itself

Grab your face paint and your pig noses 'cause we're getting high on Venus one more time!

Aura
Theme: Perception

  Reveal hidden contents

Do you wanna see me naked, lover?
Do you wanna peak underneath the cover?
Do you wanna see the girl who lives
Behind the aura?

"This is really a song that is about a lot of different things, but what really it's about is that people have a certain perception of me because I wear lot of very visual fashion and I'm a very creative person. So this song is about me basically saying that just because all of those things are there doesn't mean that there is not sort of the same person underneath. And then, also that these veils, they are really just protecting me from the thing that I held the most sacred, which is my creativity."

"Everyone thinks that everything I do is a statement but some times I'm just moved by something passionate and I want to express it"

Taken from Gaga's statements about the song and the song itself, Aura, to me, is about insanity and...maybe recognition is a good word, truthful perception might be a better way to say it, though. Wanting to be seen as who you really are, not for any prideful reasons but just so that you're understood. It's like Gaga says, the wigs and outfits aren't just some loose veil, they are her. She is the girl behind the aura, and the aura is her.

Storytime! Infected Mushroom sent Zedd the track "Kink" to be finished, but Gaga liked it and wanted it. Zedd told them and they said she could have it as long as she credits them under their legal names, not the name "Infected Mushroom", so they don't embarrass their fans because "they don't associate with the Britney's or the Gaga's of the world out of 'artistic integrity'". Gaga insisted that she credit "Infected Mushroom" and they said they just couldn't turn the money down and agreed. Some artistic integrity you got there *spitefully dances to Aura*

Venus
Theme: Love, sex

  Reveal hidden contents

The song whose fashion inspired much of the album's art, live performances, and overall theme! Venus is the first song that Gaga wrote and produced herself (with minimal co-production by Madeon).

"So, this song is about faith, but it's also about finding faith in other places, in the beyond, and my experience with love being something that took me up a really long time to find".

I think the song does a great job of encompassing that feeling of an almost turbulent euphoria you get when you're in love. The driving beat and airy bits in between, it's all like some kind of interstellar disco roller coaster! Of course, I also love space themed anything so the bridge naming the planets/gods was a real treat.

A cute little bit of trivia is that the French have an expression: "La petite mort" (the little death) which means "the brief loss or weakening of consciousness". In modern times, that's specifically tied to the sensation of an orgasm as liked to death. Gives a new meaning to the lyrics, huh?

When you touch me, I die
Just a little inside
I wonder if this could be love
This could be love

G.U.Y.
Theme: Empowerment

  Reveal hidden contents

I'm gonna wear the tie
Want the power to leave you
I'm aimin' for full control of this love

G.U.Y. is a sort of Scheiße 2.0, but it addresses feminism in a different light. Rather than wanting to be strong and stand alone, she wants to have the power to give in.

"Any kind of feminist has valid views for herself about what it means to be a feminist, but, as a new-age feminist, I would say I quite like the transference of strength I feel by submitting to a man – being under him."

The pulsing, almost dark sound of the song gives it a strong aggressive tone, which is ironic considering it's quite a tender thing to lie down and relinquish yourself to someone else. It's the song that reaches out to the people who know they're strong enough to make it on their own, but they're perfectly happy relying on and coexisting with others.

I love trivia/fun facts so here's an explanation behind what some call a "cringe" lyric. During a Twitter Q&A, a Monster asked Gaga why she says "please retweet", Gaga explained that it's because the retweet symbol looks like 69...you be the judge haha 

Sexxx Dreams
Theme: Passion

  Reveal hidden contents

Heard your boyfriend was away this weekend
Wanna meet at my place?
Heard that we both got nothin’ to do
When I lay in bed I touch myself and thinka you

Gaga's said this song is to be taken literally. It's a freaky journey through her mind and thoughts as she's caught in an imaginary love triangle between the person she's with and the person she wants to be with.

In the first verse, she talks to her dream lover and sings to her boyfriend/girlfriend, in the second it switches around.

In my mind, and feel free to drag me for my delusion, Sexxx Dreams is less about sex and more about dreams. This is apparently totally unintentional but art is subjective and up for interpretation. The lover she's bound to, in my mind, is the obstacles she faces. Being dropped from a label or breaking her hip or any number of smaller issues. The lover she aspires to be with is her passion, her dreams, her goals. She aspires to be on that stage singing and expressing her art.

So in this song, I've found a sort of underlying conveyance of reality and struggle. The dark sounding verses really accent that when you listen to the song with this in mind

Jewels n' Drugs
Theme: Rebellion

  Reveal hidden contents

I admit that my habit’s expensive
And you may find it, quite offensive
But I won’t die at the hands of another
I’m your mother, sister, your father, brother

Not much to be found on this song as not many interviewers asked about it...heh...but Gaga's introduction of JnD at Swinefest let's us know that it's what she did to show that she refuses to be put in a box and told what to do. She won't "die at the hands of another"

In my opinion, the song serves the same purpose that Heavy Metal Lover does on Born This Way. It strengthens the feeling of rebellion while revealing a bit of her view of the music industry. 

This family is stupid attractive
If you've surveyed the way we've acted

This bit alone gives me the feeling that she thinks "the biz" views artists as money making machines (we obviously know from her speeches/interview answers). If they knew how an artist felt and how they expressed themselves and gave them more freedom, music would be held in a higher regard than it currently is. People only care about "bops" when music is an art form and should carry some weight to it. I feel like Jewels n' Drugs is also partially Gaga expressing frustration at that fact.

MANiCURE
Theme: Actualization, "man catching"

  Reveal hidden contents

I’m the one who's
Been coming 'round lookin' to love in you
You’re the medicine
I need to heal the way you make me feel.

”This song is about getting ready to go out and catch a man, catch a girl…you are manicuring your body, you’re manicuring your spirit, and your mind, and then, the chorus hits and it’s all about being really shocking…You’re gonna get laid tonight.”

Much like Sexxx Dreams (and possibly JnD) I've found my own reasoning and meaning behind this song. Strength and self worth, as well as self actualization. Sort of in the same vein as G.U.Y., MANiCURE comes across as one of those songs that just screams "I want someone else but that doesn't mean I'm weak or incapable of standing on my own."

Some people might think I pull this stuff out of no where but art is meant to be thought of critically and interpreted. If someone can find meaning in a solid black canvas hanging in a museum, I'm allowed to find a meaning of self worth in a song about fleeking yourself to get laid

Do What U Want
Theme: Freedom, strength

  Reveal hidden contents

Write what u want
Say what u want 'bout me
If you're wonderin'
Know that I'm not sorry

Inspired by the media backlash in late 2012, this song's about Gaga telling the media that they'll never own her. She'll be out there living her life, living her art, and they'll be writing petty articles with buzz word dampened headlines about other people with more going on in their lives. She'll never change in order to bend to someone else's will and she'll never sell out just to make someone else happy.

Of course, it's a song with two meanings, the second being "you can do what you want with me" is one of the sexist things someone can say to their lover. Continuing the album's sexually charged theme.

ARTPOP
Theme: Expression, love, passion

  Reveal hidden contents

A hybrid can withstand these things
My heart can beat with bricks and strings
My ARTPOP could mean anything

This song is a true and totally free love song expressing Gaga's view of music and art as a whole. She wants to bring back the passion and value of music. She wants to paint with a different brush than everyone else.

This song is constant. No climax, no build, no orgasm, just a constant and droning sonic expression of thought. In this song, I've found less of a meaning but more of a message to really think when it comes to music. To be more critical but also more open minded (free my mind).

It also gave us the iconic "music, not the bling" line that I still value more than anything. Sure, commercial success is awesome but I think I'd rather have Gaga scrape the bottom of the top 200 list than sell out, writing only radio friendly dance songs. I think she feels the same way

Swine
Theme: Pain, relief

  Reveal hidden contents

Maybe I should have a little more,
Just to stay out of my mind.
Cuz it’s when I’m not thinking with you 
That I act like a swine!

"I was really sick all the time in my head, in my heart. I felt trapped, but I was free. And then it was like a slow death. A slow death of my innocence and my youth. And I had to climb through a lot of swine, and that's where that song came from. This idea of something so dark and something so awful and perverted that at a young age you don't really understand. And you don't want to know and understand it. And then, as I'm older, I understand the intenseness of the experiences that I went through. They have affected and changed who I am now."

It's about her being taken advantage of by some scumbag when she was young and naive. It's meant to get out all of that anger and pain.

This song is my favorite track on the album...no, in Gaga's entire discography. I hate that I find myself droning on about my experiences, but the only way you can truly appreciate how I feel about Gaga's music and artistry is to know what I've been through.

I was raped by my first boyfriend when we were young. I'm talking about 14 and 15 young. After that, I lost all sense of myself. Not that I had any before 'cause I was just discovering who I really was when he came along, but it truly broke me. After that, drugs were the only things that numbed the pain and it took a long time for me to get out of that. When Gaga debuted Swine and spoke about her experiences at Swinefest, I reflected on her story and the song. Where my best friends were dancing to Swine, I just stared blankly at the screen, thoughts racing through my head, emotions that I had buried resurfaced, memories of a time I blocked out came back. I never healded, I just ignored the pain.

Through Swine, Gaga helped me face those memories and that time in my life. Instead of ignoring the blood pouring out, I squeezed the wound and it hurt like hell but I'm better off for it. I've healed because of it. Not completely, of course, but then that's not really the kind of thing you just get over. I've learned to be patient about my healing process and one day the nightmares and anxiety attacks will stop. All thanks to Gaga writing a song about a pig.

Keeping on with the cute little facts, Gaga actually uses a pun in the first verse. "You're just an ani-mal" sounds like "you're just a little mole"...then she says "but deep down you are just a shrew"...get it?

Donatella
Theme: Self worth

  Reveal hidden contents

'Cause she walks so bad
Like it feels so good
Listen to her radiate her magic

Even though she knows
She's misunderstood
Voodoo voodoo, voo-don-na-na

"It’s about being a fearless female and not caring what people say about you – being proud of who you are and walking the walk no matter what."

In Fame-esque fashion, the verses satirize the high class lifestyle, the chorus is where the true meaning of the song reveals itself. People can talk a lot of sh*t, you might be misunderstood, but in the end you are you and you better werk it 'cause your view of yourself is the only thing you ever truly have!

Fashion!
Theme: Pride, expression

  Reveal hidden contents

Walk into the light
Display your diamonds and pearls in my
Fashion!
Married to the night
I own the world, we own the world

"Sometimes people always thought that when i was getting dressed up or, you know, putting on my outfits, or doing my live shows that it was for attention, but I really feel a sense of growth and of confidence about myself and I'm able to transform, and that's what this is about, and I think other people do too, just maybe on a smaller scale than I do."

Fashion! is a feel good song about expressing yourself through your outer appearance. It's become part of my daily ritual, actually. I blast it when I'm getting dressed for the day as a sort of pick-me-up. Repeating the mantra "looking good and feelin' fine" has a way of giving you a warm feeling and a little smile on your face

The call back to Marry the Night and allusion to David Bowie's song Life on Mars are also pretty great.

The bridge, again, reinforces what she said about fashion designers. She likes to be their muse and canvas, their looks are always so ethereal

Mary Jane Holland
Theme: Transformation, freedom

  Reveal hidden contents

Lady of the 'dam won't be a slave to the blonde
Or the culture of the popular (she won't, she won't)
Sing at you, I'll fly under radar tonight
Make deals with every devil in sight (I will, I will)

The lyrics above perfectly encompass the song's meaning. When she was in Amsterdam during the Born This Way Ball she dyed her hair brown (because she felt that the world owned her blonde haired image) and went out on the city, having a good time, smoking weed, and getting drunk in clubs. That night of anonymity gave her comfort. She felt normal for the first time in a long time. She could feel fine if she can be Mary Jane Holland tonight.

Dope
Theme: Reflection, regret, growth

  Reveal hidden contents

I'm sorry and I love you
Stay with me, Bell Bottom Blue
I'll keep on searching for an answer
'Cause I need you more than Dope

An apology song, Dope is about Gaga's recovery from her hip operation. She'd smoke 15-20 joints a day just to cope with the physical and emotional pain and she felt like that pushed away the people she loves. It's an apology to her fans, family, and loved ones.

Some people prefer I Wanna Be With You over Dope, and that's understandable. I feel that they're two sides of the same coin. IWBWY is her reasoning behind the pain, Dope is the coping mechanism and her reflection on that time.

Of course, after recovering from my addictions, this song resonates with me personally, even though it came out years after I kicked the crap I was on. Drugs, or any other harmful habit...they can ruin your life in many ways. One of the worst ways is to have you alienate yourself from everyone that cares about you. A fix isn't worth it and there are healthier coping mechanisms.

Gypsy
Theme: Togetherness, love

  Reveal hidden contents

Be my home just for the day
I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy, hey

One of the most passionate songs in Gaga's entire discography, "The Edge of Glory 2.0", Gypsy is about Gaga feeling lonely on the road, but realizing that her heart lies with her fans because she puts her everything into the music that we love. She can feel at home wherever we are It's also about falling in love, Taylor being the initial inspiration behind the song.

Gypsy is such a freedom anthem to me. Being a Michael Jackson fan and taking his music to heart at a young age, I've always viewed humanity through a wide lens. We're not divided into nations, regions, continents, or any silly lines drawn on a map. We're all human beings, we all share this planet together, and we should all make an effort to love and understand one another. Gypsy reinforces that feeling inside of me, stirring my love for human kindness and hospitality which, despite what you see on the news, is plentiful. The world is a bright and happy place, it's the bad things that are the oddities so never let yourself grow bitter because of a few people's heinous actions. Where there's one person robbing you, there's ten more that would give you the shirt off their backs

Applause
Theme: Determination, love

  Reveal hidden contents

If only fame had an IV
Baby, could I bare
Being away from you
I found the vein put it in here

Applause comes from the time near the end of the Born This Way Ball. She was in terrible pain from her undiagnosed broken hip and labral tear but her fans applauding her and showering her with love kept her going. 

There's not much personal reflection to be done with this song, but I do appreciate what she's saying. It's an ode to her passion and a thank you to the fans for our

Also...that is one tough f*cking woman! I once bruised my knee and didn't walk properly for a few days while this bitch DANCED on a BROKEN HIP for WEEKS and all because of the support her fans showed her. Let's just take a moment to applaud that and make sure she never does it again.

So, yeah. Some people might say ARTPOP is a weak album with no substance, just dated EDM dance tracks and poorly written lyrics about sex and drugs but I'm here to tell you that you're wrong. Well, you're entitled to your opinion, but your opinion isn't really rooted in fact, just your personal taste. Which is totally fine, I'm just trying not to offend anyone here  I just don't believe there is such a thing as bad music unless it's something that literally no heart went into and Gaga puts her entire being into everything she does. ARTPOP has just changed my perspective and sense of self to such a degree that there's no way I could ever think less of it, especially not from some weak comparison to her own earlier work or someone else's.

"That’s what’s really exciting to me about this album. In a way, it’s showing my fans how to have a more detailed and critical eye with music and what they’re looking at."

It's ARTPOP that got me through some tough times and gave me the inspiration to over analyze music and find meaning where it might not have even been intended. Music is an art form, after all, and art is subject to criticism and all us little ARTPOPists pondering the meaning behind the words and sounds, connecting the dots that may or may not be there but at some point, whether they exist or not doesn't really matter. At the end of the day intentions are pointless. It's what you take away from something that matters, and things are a lot more interesting when you paint with your own brush.

We could belong together, ARTPOP.

I really enjoyed your assessment of ARTPOP! Well done!

It's fast becoming my new favourite Gaga album. But that's all a matter of how I feel at the time, I guess. 

There are elements of what you say that I overwhelmingly agree with but in particular when you say "It's what you take away from something that matters, and things are a lot more interesting when you paint with your own brush". To me that is the most important lesson in ARTPOP. The nature of criticism is that it is always subjective. It is always personal. Or it should be personal. The only universal truths are mathematical, like 1+1=2. Everything else is subject to interpretation.

We need to interpret our own thoughts and ideas, otherwise we tend to pick on somebody else's.

In my view, the ARTPOP experience was about everything you stated. But I also have some ideas about the meaning and context behind certain songs.

(1) It is a violent album. In the song 'Aura' Gaga declares "I may not walk on your street, or shoot a gun on your soil. I hear you screaming, is it pleasure or toil".  There is a unsettling aspect to the opening where she says "She killed her former" and that the "knife is in Hollywood". In the song 'MANiCURE', she sings about serial killers. 'Swine' is purportedly about her own rape at the age of 19. Why such rage? I think about it a lot, but I don't yet dare to say...

(2) It is the most intensely electronic, sonically experimental Gaga we have yet seen. To me the project feels like a kiss of death to EDM, which at the time Gaga started working on ARTPOP in 2011, was just starting to become mainstream. The sound incorporated many of the more underground, idiosyncratic aspects of the emerging EDM scene - in particular dubstep (Aura), psychedelic trance (ARTPOP), vaporwave (Applause and DWUW) and trap (Jewels N Drugs). Listen to the instrumentals on loudspeakers or good headphones - they are absolutely insane. With ARTPOP, rather than working with established big dollar producers, she chose Zedd and Madeon, two young guys in their early 20s!!! I mean, it's clear that to her, the music is the most important part of what she does, not the bling. She is a huge supporter of young talent.

Well that's enough for me about ARTPOP for today. I love ARTPOP. It frees my mind and stops my heart.

I literally could write for hours and hours about it. But as much as I love doing it I would rather just listen to it again 

 

 

[PartySick 155,022]

2 minutes ago, Lord Temptation said:

I really enjoyed your assessment of ARTPOP! Well done!

It's fast becoming my new favourite Gaga album. But that's all a matter of how I feel at the time, I guess. 

There are elements of what you say that I overwhelmingly agree with but in particular when you say "It's what you take away from something that matters, and things are a lot more interesting when you paint with your own brush". To me that is the most important lesson in ARTPOP. The nature of criticism is that it is always subjective. It is always personal. Or it should be personal. The only universal truths are mathematical, like 1+1=2. Everything else is subject to interpretation.

We need to interpret our own thoughts and ideas, otherwise we tend to pick on somebody else's.

In my view, the ARTPOP experience was about everything you stated. But I also have some ideas about the meaning and context behind certain songs.

(1) It is a violent album. In the song 'Aura' Gaga declares "I may not walk on your street, or shoot a gun on your soil. I hear you screaming, is it pleasure or toil".  There is a unsettling aspect to the opening where she says "She killed her former" and that the "knife is in Hollywood". In the song 'MANiCURE', she sings about serial killers. 'Swine' is purportedly about her own rape at the age of 19. Why such rage? I think about it a lot, but I don't yet dare to say...

(2) It is the most intensely electronic, sonically experimental Gaga we have yet seen. To me the project feels like a kiss of death to EDM, which at the time Gaga started working on ARTPOP in 2011, was just starting to become mainstream. The sound incorporated many of the more underground, idiosyncratic aspects of the emerging EDM scene - in particular dubstep (Aura), psychedelic trance (ARTPOP), vaporwave (Applause and DWUW) and trap (Jewels N Drugs). Listen to the instrumentals on loudspeakers or good headphones - they are absolutely insane. With ARTPOP, rather than working with established big dollar producers, she chose Zedd and Madeon, two young guys in their early 20s!!! I mean, it's clear that to her, the music is the most important part of what she does, not the bling. She is a huge supporter of young talent.

Well that's enough for me about ARTPOP for today. I love ARTPOP. It frees my mind and stops my heart.

I literally could write for hours and hours about it. But as much as I love doing it I would rather just listen to it again 

 

 

Yes yes and more yes!

[Computer 10,973]

I love ARTPOP and the era so much.  I enjoyed reading all of this. 

[PartySick 155,022]

6 minutes ago, Computer said:

I love ARTPOP and the era so much.  I enjoyed reading all of this. 

So did I  thank you

[littlepotter 74,826]

That was genius. AMAZING job.

The thing you wrote about Swine is heartwrenching. I hope that song helped you healing  

[PartySick 155,022]

1 minute ago, littlepotter said:

That was genius. AMAZING job.

The thing you wrote about Swine is heartwrenching. I hope that song helped you healing  

Thank you, fellow GGDDR judge  (shameless promo once again )

It definitely did. I could never thank her enough for sharing her story and that song

[Dominic 11,922]

I really enjoyed reading this,  I agree with certain aspects and disagree with others but that is the point really with ARTPOP. 

I particularly enjoyed the trivia throughout.  Do you have links to your other album analysis? 

[Bradley 58,681]

ARTPOP (song)

I love the way ART sings to POP in the first verse and POP sings to ART in the second verse

they are separate in both verses but collide to form a 'hybrid' in the choruses. It says that when the two elements belong together, they withstand anything that comes against it.

I can't at the beautiful construction of this song.

[PartySick 155,022]

1 minute ago, Dominic Marc said:

I really enjoyed reading this,  I agree with certain aspects and disagree with others but that is the point really with ARTPOP. 

I particularly enjoyed the trivia throughout.  Do you have links to your other album analysis? 

I only did ARTPOP and Born This Way a few hours ago here

1 minute ago, Tom Hardy said:

ARTPOP (song)

I love the way ART sings to POP in the first verse and POP sings to ART in the second verse

they are separate in both verses but collide to form a 'hybrid' in the choruses. It says that when the two elements belong together, they withstand anything that comes against it.

I can't at the beautiful construction of this song.

It's amazing

[Bradley 58,681]

It's funny how those who disparage ARTPOP think we defend the album because we couldn't help but to view Gaga as someone who is invulnerable or flawless and delivers a solid record every time she puts out one, when in fact my love for the album comes from a genuine place, I genuinely enjoyed the album, even more than Born This Way which I've witnessed its growth from day one to its end.

I appreciated Born This Way for its message but I guess I wasn't really insecure to a great extent (which I'm grateful for) and therefore didn't really resonate with the overall theme as I did with ARTPOP.

ARTPOP taught me to appreciate any form of art/entertainment and to understand as much beauty as possible derivable from one form of work itself, whether it being motion pictures or movies. And I've become happier ever since.

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

3 minutes ago, Tom Hardy said:

It's funny how those who disparage ARTPOP think we defend the album because we couldn't help but to view Gaga as someone who is invulnerable or flawless and delivers a solid record every time she puts out one, when in fact my love for the album comes from a genuine place, I genuinely enjoyed the album, even more than Born This Way which I've witnessed its growth from day one to its end.

I appreciated Born This Way for its message but I guess I wasn't really insecure to a great extent (which I'm grateful for) and therefore didn't really resonate with the overall theme as I did with ARTPOP.

ARTPOP taught me to appreciate any form of art/entertainment and to understand as much beauty as possible derivable from one form of work itself, whether it being motion pictures or movies. And I've become happier ever since. 

I can't help but feel the same way.

ARTPOP spoke to me in a...deeply profound way. To put it lightly. Like urging me to break free.

When I read criticism of the album I realise that most people don't actually hate the album - they just hate the media noise surrounding it. Which is ironic considering how ARTPOP delves into the way the media subjugates beliefs.

It's good to know I am in great company.

[AphroditeLaydee 1,230]

Yaaaaasss! Thank you for this! The trivia was amazing too!

And the thing you wrote with Swine, it's unfortunate that it happened to you, and I give my genuine admiration. It's very brave of you to choose to survive and rise from that incident, and it's very brave of you to talk about it now. It's amazing how music can help heal wounds isn't it? This is why I follow Gaga, her music not only let's you dance your butts off, but there's genuine meaning behind it that can really help anyone.

 

[PartySick 155,022]

52 minutes ago, Tom Hardy said:

It's funny how those who disparage ARTPOP think we defend the album because we couldn't help but to view Gaga as someone who is invulnerable or flawless and delivers a solid record every time she puts out one, when in fact my love for the album comes from a genuine place, I genuinely enjoyed the album, even more than Born This Way which I've witnessed its growth from day one to its end.

I appreciated Born This Way for its message but I guess I wasn't really insecure to a great extent (which I'm grateful for) and therefore didn't really resonate with the overall theme as I did with ARTPOP.

ARTPOP taught me to appreciate any form of art/entertainment and to understand as much beauty as possible derivable from one form of work itself, whether it being motion pictures or movies. And I've become happier ever since.

Right? I totally understand where people are coming from when they say they didn't enjoy it or even that they didn't like it, but to deny the weight held in every lyric and every sound is just...I don't even know the word for it. It's freedom in a 59 minute package with foil letters.

3 minutes ago, AphroditeLaydee said:

Yaaaaasss! Thank you for this! The trivia was amazing too!

And the thing you wrote with Swine, it's unfortunate that it happened to you, and I give my genuine admiration. It's very brave of you to choose to survive and rise from that incident, and it's very brave of you to talk about it now. It's amazing how music can help heal wounds isn't it? This is why I follow Gaga, her music not only let's you dance your butts off, but there's genuine meaning behind it that can really help anyone.

 

Thank you for reading  She's a saint, isn't she? I admire her so much.