Gaga's love songs are about Fame

[derpmonster 22,412]

So, kids, here's a fresh, hot take!

Tl;dr Bad Romance is about her relationship with Fame. Perfect Illusion is a followup.

I have read most of Gaga's love songs as being about her relationship with Fame (not a love interest) and eventually monsters (her fans). This reading wonderfully explains most of her concepts and I am pretty sure this was the intention--even if it was not, it's an interesting way to look at her art.  It's also important to keep in mind that many songs have multiple interpretations and purposes. An artist can cover many different ideas with the same lyric; so while what you think may be one of the meanings of a song, this might be another. There are a few notable exceptions, I believe, like Eh, Eh and You and I.

Get ready for a wild ride; this will change the way you look at the meaning of her songs. It's a very encompassing theory that goes beyond just love = Fame. And this is a true theory in that you can use this concept to make other deductions about things that maybe I haven't even noticed so far! Have fun with it. Note: This is a concept that only existed very prematurely in The Fame and became fully realized starting with the Fame Monster.

 

The Fame

The first true love () song here was LoveGame. She says, "Let's play a LoveGame, do you want love or you want fame...?" This song shows how she thinks she can only choose one or the other (Luc Carl was prob being a bitch). This is a very elementary form of the idea that is soon to come. It's her first exploration of her relationship with Fame as being equivalent to love. Watch her talk about her "torrid, torrid, torrid" love triangle here (1:22):

Then comes Paparazzi. She explores a similar concept where she's talking not to a person she's in love with but instead Fame itself, which the paparazzi symbolize. In the Joanne World Tour bit before Paparazzi, she says, "Take my picture. I wanna be famous." In the artRave, she said something like, "I promised you something years ago. And I'm keeping my promise. I said I'd follow you until you love me." Despite her tribulations in the ARTPOP era and the pre-ARTPOP era with being famous, she keeps her promise. She keeps following us and she keeps following Fame. Note: I am not saying Gaga is materialistic or she only wants Fame. You can want two things and have sort of an internal struggle, like the love triangle she spoke of.

 

Fame Kills

Paparazzi was her last single from The Fame. She had become famous and started realizing the monsters that came with it. In Paparazzi's many dark performances (and music video), she talked about the debilitating effects of Fame, including death. This is when she was writing the Fame Monster. She realized that she'd gone way too far. She got too deep into it to escape the ill effects. But she still wanted it. She was gonna make it, whatever that meant. 

 

Caught in a Bad Romance... with The Fame Monster

Bad Romance, arguably the epitome of The Fame Monster, described her love-hate relationship that she had developed with the Fame. She was caught in it--she always wanted to be famous but didn't know it would go so far (more on that later). It all happened too fast. But she's not just an assault victim here. She wants it; she wants the Fame as much as it wants to take her life. She wants [Fame's] love, and the revenge for all "dead blondes" (Princess Die) it killed--Marilyn, Judy, Silvia, Diana (Dance In The Dark). And in the video, while she is being forced to ***** herself out for Fame (from her record label and people who make money off of her success) in the beginning, she begins to play their game by her rules and eventually masters the Fame, killing the monster.

Little Monsters: There's a reason she started calling us that. There is no doubt she loves all of us and she needs us as she has said many times (I Wanna Be With You). But the Fame means fans who are intruding into your life and trying to define your life and art whether or not you or even they want it. That's what we did. We ate her heart and then we ate her brain. Gaga's march licensing company is called Ate My Heart, Inc. Merch for fans. For little monsters who Ate [Her] Heart. About her Fame going way too far, way too fast, she talks about that in Monster. "I wanna Just Dance, but he took me home instead." She made her first record, Just Dance, to have fun with being famous. Fame is the man she wanted to dance with, but instead she got taken home by him (kind of against her will). It went way too far.

Free Bitch: In The Fame Monster, she is a "free bitch" because the Fame cannot control her and she is asserting her freedom. No matter how tyrannical, she won't let the Fame win. She'll fight and win. She knows that the industry loves to replace women as fast as possible and considers them old very fast. That's when they're in the dark. Not famous anymore. In their lost glory. So once Gaga isn't famous anymore (which she knows is gonna happen), she will dance in the dark with Diana and not let her fall apart (like many artists who can't take the fall from glory do).

Remember this image: it'll look familiar later.

 

Rehashing the Bad Romance: "but I'm still in love with Judas, baby."

After writing two albums about Fame, Gaga takes a step back and writes mostly about what matters the most to her at that point. Her social awareness movement. Only a true star and genuine person can do that. But, she threw in one more track about Fame here. Judas is not just a musical copy of BR; also thematic.  Maybe she wasn't done with the idea yet and wanted more closure. Anyway, she says how Fame keeps betraying her just like Judas did. "I'll bring him down" -- talking about exactly what I said she was in Bad Romance. That she'll slay this dragon and emerge victoriously. No matter how cruel it's been, she's still in love with Fame, baby (or Luc Carl  but we know she usually doesn't talk about her personal life). And Gaga, who used to be the victim of Paparazzi, is now the victim from Jesus' death:

 

I Wanna Be With You

This is perhaps the example that most people here can agree with. Seemingly a love song but about her to her fans. "Forgive me, monsters, won't you?" Fans, as I said before, are a symbol of Fame. She makes a little bit of a differentiation here. Now it is not Fame as much as fans that she cares about. She thought she was "almost done. Finished," when she had to end the Born This Way Tour which media claimed wasn't doing well anyway (I don't know if that's true except for in Latin America). But she would keep on singing for a living and she wants to be in love, and with us. Throughout ARTPOP, you see this idea repeat a few times. While she was away from us, she put the Fame IV in her vein. The hybridity she had been experimenting with since Born This Way (her artificial shoulders and then limbs, the whole alien thing, etc.) came into a consistent idea with ARTPOP - "A hybrid can withstand these things; my heart can beat with bricks and strings."

This one might be a stretch but it's fun to think of: G.U.Y. is about her domination over Fame. The video supports this because she is a fallen angel with executives with cash running away from her. She asserts her control; she is the one who is gonna wear the towel and be in control. She will settle for a lesser Fame if it means she gets it on her terms. She wants to be able to escape it anytime she wants. "I don't need to be on top to know I'm worth it cause I'm strong enough to know the truth." --As a commercial artist, it is easy to fall into the trap of living for the charts and defining your worth by them. But she is strong enough, now, to know that she doesn't need to be on the very top (as she tried with Born This Way era's multi-million dollar promotion which didn't totally work) to feel like she's worth it. "I just want it to be hot (100? ) because I'm best (artistically) when I'm love and I'm in love with you (Fame)."

 

It wasn't love

It was a Perfect Illusion--mistaken for love. The Joanne era where it's really about the music not the bling, she realizes that what she had with Fame was not love but instead a perfect illusion. Fame got her high like amphetamine - she says in an ARTPOP interview about how she was using the stage as her drug and had really needed a long overdue break from touring. The music video is absolutely supportive of this idea; no question about it. @LIKELADYAGAGA explored some of this in their thread here.

The video begins with Gaga performing as a superstar for a great cheering audience.

1st verse: She's looking at her audience and saying: (I know someone will make a meme of this incredible moment.)

Chorus: She's driving this car on this endless road to love when she realizes:

One second, she's singing in the middle of all of these people. Then suddenly, she is alone.

BONUS: Here's a subliminal flashing of a woman's face which is eerily similar to the original Fame Monster cover art. Go check it out; this was in the PI video all along. And you're welcome. (Also occurs once more later on)

Million Reasons could be about her wanting to "quit the show" @Sailor  as in the industry which she has alluded to in her 2014 interview (ignore the horrible comments and Illuminati agenda bullshit)

 

That was all for her songs. Now you may ask: 

Why does she make love songs about Fame as if it were for a person?

It is a lot more relatable for the GP and fans to take the message that way. Artists hide meanings behind metaphors many times.

Why has she never explained this Fame theory in her interviews if it is really true?

Simply because she doesn't want to. She was in it; she was aware of her image. Telling people that half her songs that they bop to are about Fame would "ruin" them for these people. It would make her look even more self-absorbed than people used to think she was. And in about 2014 or so, she couldn't just rewrite her whole past and erase all interviews. She obviously didn't want people to think she was lying all along. And songs can mean many things--in fact, her ARTPOP could mean anything.  So she isn't lying.

One more thing: We do know that Perfect Illusion wasn't about her breakup even though that rage might have played into it.

“‘Perfect Illusion’ is about a lot of different people in my life, a lot of different things. But the record is about being so intoxicated with love, you know, so high, dilated, falling free, in a modern ecstasy that you wake up one day and you can’t believe that it was not real.” 

 

That's all I have for now, kids. I worked hard on this; don't let this thread flop. 

Discuss.

[Punktious 1,348]

Actually, this is a really interesting read, ahh I love it

[GagasPussy 312]

Stefani regrets selling her soul and did not imagine the impact fame would have had on her life. She called herself the master of the art of fame back in 2009 but as years pased it appears a though she does not care about it anymore. It was her life goal to achieve stardom and  be a musician whose art and work spoke to alarge audience. She has acheived her goal and now after experiencing fame. She no longer wants the kind of fame she was longing for. She misses her life before fame and her days as an artist in NYC in the udnerground scene.

[not asher613 661]

[LIKELADYAGAGA 4,080]

yay! i love exploring her are more in depth. 100 years from now, this is going to be in history books with mona lisa and stuff

[NotMyFlop 1,979]

i have thoughts about this too (the fame monster, mostly) and yours was an interesting read. i mostly agree!

[Douche 106]

Most all of her love songs are about Luc Carl along with a little Taylor Kinney.

 

[derpmonster 22,412]

10 hours ago, LIKELADYAGAGA said:

yay! i love exploring her are more in depth. 100 years from now, this is going to be in history books with mona lisa and stuff

Hopefully 

8 hours ago, Xalejandro said:

Most all of her love songs are about Luc Carl along with a little Taylor Kinney.

 

Really? I thought only You and I was clearly about him and maybe Judas.  What else do you think could've been? And what would Fame have to do with her album TFM if it was only about love?

[PerfectGUY 7,822]

That's the theory I've had for a long time. I don't think GUY is a reach as I got it this way too

Didn't realised it applied for LoveGame and Bad Romance tough

thank you for enlighten me 

[Flawless 2,234]

Perfect Illusion is about her relationship with fame and industry for sure. And it's so clear if you pay attention to the video.

[Diamonster 1,786]

I felt this with million reasons, could be a big reach but it feels a lot like her relationship with us and fame. I'm glad someone looked more into it! 

[holy scheisse 22,321]

If that were the case I'd roll my eyes into the next century bc fame as a concept has been beaten to death especially by Gaga.

Id hope she doesnt only know how to write about fame. 

[TheSlash 14,539]

Now, after I read it, I can totally agree with it. But G.U.Y might be a bit of a stretch, as you said. You have to remember that the video was released merely 5 months after she "fired" her old manager, who just wanted to milk her for the money. So this particular scene might just be a reference to this.  .

On 27.1.2018 at 6:33 AM, derpmonster said:

BONUS: Here's a subliminal flashing of a woman's face which is eerily similar to the original Fame Monster cover art. Go check it out; this was in the PI video all along. And you're welcome. (Also occurs once more later on)

This got me literally scared, tbh  

 

[NIGHTCRAWLER 6,985]

this is not a concept, this is a fact. Already in The Fame and TFM, most of the songs are obviously about the fame since the title is the fame. Moreover when you read the lyrics of the songs in TF or TFM you understand. Then in BTW I agree she did not focus on the fame, but on self-acceptance etc. In ARTPOP she had Applause that is totally about fame. Then Perfect Illusion and Million Reasons are about fame for sure, and maybe more songs on Joanne. In TF and TFM, she was playing with the fame but in Joanne, she sees it like something very dangerous and hurtful. Her relationship with the fame has changed a lot. 

Anyway I think the fame is something that Gaga has been looking for a very long time and she has fought really hard to be famous. I understand that she's fascinated by it in her first albums, and a lil bit disgusted in her last.

[PerfectGUY 7,822]

The thing that I think is genius in Perfect Illusion is the following :

She knows that it's her lead single and that it will be heard by many people wether it's successful or not (radio deals, etc...)

She's addressing all her old 'fans' that were just here because she was on top.

I love the fact that she's screaming in their hears 'YOU WERE A... YOU WERE A PERFECT ILLUSION' 

She's addressing them without them even noticing. I think it's awesome