ARTPOP is a confusing masterpiece

[MonsterMom 12,647]

3 minutes ago, ArtGagaPop said:

ARTPOP had the potential to be one of the best eras ever. It had great ideas and concepts, cool visuals and amazing songs. But thanks to the mess that happend in her team at the time kind of ruined everything. 

It deserved to be a visual album like planned with a video for every song and different single choices. Only the Applause era was planned almost perfect but got ruined because of the leak.

A video for every song . That would of been too amazing for words.

[Cloudbusting 1,548]

4 minutes ago, ArtGagaPop said:

ARTPOP had the potential to be one of the best eras ever. It had great ideas and concepts, cool visuals and amazing songs. But thanks to the mess that happend in her team at the time kind of ruined everything. 

It deserved to be a visual album like planned with a video for every song and different single choices. Only the Applause era was planned almost perfect but got ruined because of the leak.

Omgggg a visual album would be amazingg!!! Ugh I can only dreammm! So sad her team fell apart. It's still a masterpiece though

[Werewoof 2,460]

ARTPOP will forever be my favorite Gaga artwork. It also may be one of my favorite music-art concepts of all time as well. There’s just so much to go off of. I feel like it’s one of the only eras that you can revisit constantly and get new satisfaction, if that makes sense. Because it is so layered and complex. There’s something new to pull from it every time, and not to mention it bends into so many different moods. It’s the right amount of madness and sincerity. I don’t know, I’m just rambling. But I absolutely am OBSESSED with this era as a whole. From the music, all the way down to how she was portraying herself (both intentionally and unintentionally).

[Werewoof 2,460]

Another thing as well, what makes this era so fantastic to me is how she took deep dark emotions, like shame, anger, and hopelessness and taboo stuff such as sexuality and addiction and hung them out to dry like dirty laundry for all to see. Does that make sense? Like it seemed as though she knew she was kind of a mess, but was wearing her battle scars and insanity as a trophy of sorts. It just blows my mind how psychologically analytic one can get with ARTPOP

[Cloudbusting 1,548]

2 minutes ago, Aubbie said:

ARTPOP will forever be my favorite Gaga artwork. It also may be one of my favorite music-art concepts of all time as well. There’s just so much to go off of. I feel like it’s one of the only eras that you can revisit constantly and get new satisfaction, if that makes sense. Because it is so layered and complex. There’s something new to pull from it every time, and not to mention it bends into so many different moods. It’s the right amount of madness and sincerity. I don’t know, I’m just rambling. But I absolutely am OBSESSED with this era as a whole. From the music, all the way down to how she was portraying herself (both intentionally and unintentionally).

Yess the concept for the album is geniussss! Once you understand it and try to go back and look at the era again you can see all the ways she used the concept in fashion, music, video, art.... ughh she was so creative. I just feel as a part of the locals at the time  the concept was a little badly explained if you didn't actively try seek an answer to it. But then again I don't feel like she should dumb her art down for people to understand.... I'm in a weird limbo about it tbh. But nowadays I saw the light, love ARTPOP and truly think it's just her trying to be as creative as she can! 

[Jadeykins 1,418]

1 minute ago, Aubbie said:

Another thing as well, what makes this era so fantastic to me is how she took deep dark emotions, like shame, anger, and hopelessness and taboo stuff such as sexuality and addiction and hung them out to dry like dirty laundry for all to see. Does that make sense? Like it seemed as though she knew she was kind of a mess, but was wearing her battle scars and insanity as a trophy of sorts. It just blows my mind how psychologically analytic one can get with ARTPOP

she somehow managed to turn trauma and all the dark things in her life into this psychedelic, artistic celebration of life and it is the best thing ever! 

[Werewoof 2,460]

2 minutes ago, Jadeykins said:

she somehow managed to turn trauma and all the dark things in her life into this psychedelic, artistic celebration of life and it is the best thing ever! 

Yes absolutely!! This is a tad bit gruesome of a metaphor, but to me it feels like we watched her bleed onto a canvas and hold it up proud. Like, she was dealing with such yucky stuff at the time, but the fact that she let herself be so INSANELY honest in her art with how scattered she was feeling is so amazing to me. 

[Cloudbusting 1,548]

7 minutes ago, Aubbie said:

Another thing as well, what makes this era so fantastic to me is how she took deep dark emotions, like shame, anger, and hopelessness and taboo stuff such as sexuality and addiction and hung them out to dry like dirty laundry for all to see. Does that make sense? Like it seemed as though she knew she was kind of a mess, but was wearing her battle scars and insanity as a trophy of sorts. It just blows my mind how psychologically analytic one can get with ARTPOP

Yessss that's truly the best part about AP for me. How she creatively channeled her dark emotions into music is brilliant. It makes it easier for me to understand why it was so complex tbh. Pain, anger and addiction are not simple emotions to conceptualise. 

 

[Jadeykins 1,418]

10 minutes ago, Aubbie said:

Yes absolutely!! This is a tad bit gruesome of a metaphor, but to me it feels like we watched her bleed onto a canvas and hold it up proud. Like, she was dealing with such yucky stuff at the time, but the fact that she let herself be so INSANELY honest in her art with how scattered she was feeling is so amazing to me. 

yeah! i interpret it as she married the night and makes love to the dark. she celebrates the darkest parts of herself because without them she couldn't be who she is now and that's what she wishes for everybody that has been through dark times. for people to love themselves and continue to dance and find joy even when the world is trying to tear you apart. x

[Oriane 20,543]

There's a real storyline in the album, from the first track to the last one, it's a true concept album. I made my analysis here a long time ago but it seems that now you can't access your posts prior to a year ago 

Edit : found it. I'd probably have a lot of things to add but this "short version" is already long.

It starts with Aura where she says she wants to be naked. This is an announcement. I don't know if there's a similar expression in English but in French, "to put oneself naked" means you reveal yourself, your feelings and your inner self, without being scared of the others' reaction. And that's literally what she does for ARTPOP. She drops the outfits and the wigs and we see her naked. Because that's what the public wants, right ? They ask her to show the real her, so that's it. She's naked. She's also opening the curtain here, the curtain of the ARTPOP show.

So of course the song that follows is Venus. The Goddess of Love. Naked, too. And the main theme from ARTPOP is revealed : Love. At first sight it's a cliché theme (perfectly defines pop) but it's in fact a lot deeper for her (the "art" she's trying to get from "ARTPOP"). This album will show little by little her relationship with love and how she struggles to keep it her #1 value. Venus is a sign of rebirth too, a rebirth after her hip surgery, a rebirth after the dark albums she made before.

Then there's G.U.Y. She keeps on with the mythological theme and starts to talk about opposite things. Love and sex. Domination and submission. She starts to make a comparison that will go on in the other songs : romantic love and the love for her fans. Things that can go good or bad. Duality is a prominent theme in all the album.

Then we have Sexxx Dreams, and she starts to deepen the theme of sex. This time it's not about pure love only, we enter the "dark" side with all her struggles. Of course she likes sex but is it the most important thing compared to love ? This is another one of the major themes in the album : accepting the dark side of things.

So Jewels N' Drugs makes a reminder that love is still there and it should not be forgotten. For the first time in the album there's a comparison between love and drugs. Love is still there and will always be there because she's addicted to it, as well as she is to drugs or sex or fame or fashion or all these less important things. Things get interesting here. The first songs of the album opposed the "good things" to the "bad things" but now she's mixing them up, comparing love to drugs. Has love become a bad thing for her ? We enter the "struggle" phase here.

And in MANiCURE, she continues with the idea that love is a drug she has to be healed from. This has made her suffer too much, even if deep inside she knows that's better to her than her other addictions. It's easier to take drugs for now, to choose the shallow things (pop) over the important ones (art).

Then we're almost at the middle of the album. Until now, she has talked about love and has gently drifted to its dark sides and to her preferring her other addictions. But in Do What U Want she expresses her anger for the first time in the album. We all know the meaning of the song. In the context of the general storyline, here she talks about her body as a shell, something that protects the important thing, her mind. She reminds us she's naked now but she's not afraid, she's proud of it, because even naked we can't see what's inside. And she always loves her fans but in this song she just addresses her haters and the media, forgetting for a moment the only ones she should make music for.

So there's ARTPOP, right in the middle of the album. She explains everything and nothing. She keeps on saying she's doing her music for the ones who love her and understand her. This is the core of the album, literally. For a moment, she forgets about the rest and focuses on the real message she wants to give, about art and pop.

And we start the anger again with Swine. It's interesting how the two "angry" songs of the album are on each side of the core song of the album. As if you had to go through it and break these feelings to really get the meaning. We all know the meaning of the song too. This time love doesn't solve everything - and maybe that's why she tries to get away from it after all. She's more and more into her addictions because she wants to forget what happened.

So we're entering the "fun" part, where she completely forgot about love and is now all in her addictions. This is more "pop" than "art". There's Donatella where she doesn't talk about serious stuff, just about beauty, fashion, money, she's having fun. And why should it be bad after all ? Life is not about being serious all the time and only seeking for love and art and all the noble stuff.

Then comes Fashion! with the same meaning, this time she starts to be really high and feels "on top of the world", she doesn't want to hear about other things. I feel that it kind of reflects how she was in 2012, with Fame and everything.

So in the theme of addiction, we're coming to Mary Jane Holland where she obviously talks about drugs. The "fun" things are getting worse, it's not just for fun, it's actually damaging. She's fine when she's high and has nothing else to care about. She sometimes wishes she could be like this all the time, just to be away from the trouble and the pain she deals with when she's into more serious stuff. And there's of course a parallel with Venus, the Goddess of Love. Mary Jane Holland is the Goddess of Addiction in a sense. It doesn't mean she's all bad but she's not the one Gaga should turn to if she had to choose one.

And she knows it very well because there's Dope. Yes, she loves drugs and all of this, but what does it mean ? She does drugs to escape from her reality for a while but it's precisely these drugs that destroy her reality and take her apart from her love, her friends, her family, and her fans. She doesn't always know the limit and sometimes loses herself. From now, she has to struggle to remember the important things in her life, so she has to remember "art" and not always dive into "pop".

So there's Gypsy, with more hope. This is again a song for her fans and her family, but this time she took her decision : she won't let them down. Even when she goes somewhere else - another country or another state of mind - whe will always make sure to come back. Love is the most important thing after all.

And finally Applause. What would make more sense than this song at the end ? She literally says to her fans that she made this album for them, not for the haters, no matter how she got lost at some point. So she's waiting for the applause. She's still saying that her art is the most important thing when it comes to her music : not the fame, the pop or the money. It's fun but she really wants to deliver a message after all. She lives for the applause. She lives for love. But if she doesn't get the applause, this love may hurt. And she may return to her addictions.

I think overall this album is a lot about duality, and how instead of choosing one side of things, she should try to conciliate them. It's a long struggle that is even harder as a celebrity, and I think the whole thing echoes very well her situation in 2012, until she broke her hip in 2013. It made her reconsider things.

[Infinity Wave 7,634]

8 hours ago, derpmonster said:

Nice try sweetie.

Australia is a hoax and we all know it. No one can live upside down.

Will Byers can 

[Didymus 34,379]

@Oriane Omg how funny I just analyzed the album track by track too in another thread Look at us typing warriors.

 

We disagree about a couple of things but I'm glad you also see some kind of narrative in the album. I'm happy other people are thinking along the same lines

[Oriane 20,543]

10 minutes ago, Didymus said:

@Oriane Omg how funny I just analyzed the album track by track too in another thread Look at us typing warriors.

 

We disagree about a couple of things but I'm glad you also see some kind of narrative in the album. I'm happy other people are thinking along the same lines

I have just rewrote some parts in mine, my English got better in 3 years I think 

I'll go read it right away !

[Saint Gaga 1,466]

10 hours ago, Hoss said:

her best album wbk. not a single filler 

Dope exists

[Cloudbusting 1,548]

Spoiler

2 hours ago, Oriane said:

There's a real storyline in the album, from the first track to the last one, it's a true concept album. I made my analysis here a long time ago but it seems that now you can't access your posts prior to a year ago 

Edit : found it. I'd probably have a lot of things to add but this "short version" is already long.

It starts with Aura where she says she wants to be naked. This is an announcement. I don't know if there's a similar expression in English but in French, "to put oneself naked" means you reveal yourself, your feelings and your inner self, without being scared of the others' reaction. And that's literally what she does for ARTPOP. She drops the outfits and the wigs and we see her naked. Because that's what the public wants, right ? They ask her to show the real her, so that's it. She's naked. She's also opening the curtain here, the curtain of the ARTPOP show.

So of course the song that follows is Venus. The Goddess of Love. Naked, too. And the main theme from ARTPOP is revealed : Love. At first sight it's a cliché theme (perfectly defines pop) but it's in fact a lot deeper for her (the "art" she's trying to get from "ARTPOP"). This album will show little by little her relationship with love and how she struggles to keep it her #1 value. Venus is a sign of rebirth too, a rebirth after her hip surgery, a rebirth after the dark albums she made before.

Then there's G.U.Y. She keeps on with the mythological theme and starts to talk about opposite things. Love and sex. Domination and submission. She starts to make a comparison that will go on in the other songs : romantic love and the love for her fans. Things that can go good or bad. Duality is a prominent theme in all the album.

Then we have Sexxx Dreams, and she starts to deepen the theme of sex. This time it's not about pure love only, we enter the "dark" side with all her struggles. Of course she likes sex but is it the most important thing compared to love ? This is another one of the major themes in the album : accepting the dark side of things.

So Jewels N' Drugs makes a reminder that love is still there and it should not be forgotten. For the first time in the album there's a comparison between love and drugs. Love is still there and will always be there because she's addicted to it, as well as she is to drugs or sex or fame or fashion or all these less important things. Things get interesting here. The first songs of the album opposed the "good things" to the "bad things" but now she's mixing them up, comparing love to drugs. Has love become a bad thing for her ? We enter the "struggle" phase here.

And in MANiCURE, she continues with the idea that love is a drug she has to be healed from. This has made her suffer too much, even if deep inside she knows that's better to her than her other addictions. It's easier to take drugs for now, to choose the shallow things (pop) over the important ones (art).

Then we're almost at the middle of the album. Until now, she has talked about love and has gently drifted to its dark sides and to her preferring her other addictions. But in Do What U Want she expresses her anger for the first time in the album. We all know the meaning of the song. In the context of the general storyline, here she talks about her body as a shell, something that protects the important thing, her mind. She reminds us she's naked now but she's not afraid, she's proud of it, because even naked we can't see what's inside. And she always loves her fans but in this song she just addresses her haters and the media, forgetting for a moment the only ones she should make music for.

So there's ARTPOP, right in the middle of the album. She explains everything and nothing. She keeps on saying she's doing her music for the ones who love her and understand her. This is the core of the album, literally. For a moment, she forgets about the rest and focuses on the real message she wants to give, about art and pop.

And we start the anger again with Swine. It's interesting how the two "angry" songs of the album are on each side of the core song of the album. As if you had to go through it and break these feelings to really get the meaning. We all know the meaning of the song too. This time love doesn't solve everything - and maybe that's why she tries to get away from it after all. She's more and more into her addictions because she wants to forget what happened.

So we're entering the "fun" part, where she completely forgot about love and is now all in her addictions. This is more "pop" than "art". There's Donatella where she doesn't talk about serious stuff, just about beauty, fashion, money, she's having fun. And why should it be bad after all ? Life is not about being serious all the time and only seeking for love and art and all the noble stuff.

Then comes Fashion! with the same meaning, this time she starts to be really high and feels "on top of the world", she doesn't want to hear about other things. I feel that it kind of reflects how she was in 2012, with Fame and everything.

So in the theme of addiction, we're coming to Mary Jane Holland where she obviously talks about drugs. The "fun" things are getting worse, it's not just for fun, it's actually damaging. She's fine when she's high and has nothing else to care about. She sometimes wishes she could be like this all the time, just to be away from the trouble and the pain she deals with when she's into more serious stuff. And there's of course a parallel with Venus, the Goddess of Love. Mary Jane Holland is the Goddess of Addiction in a sense. It doesn't mean she's all bad but she's not the one Gaga should turn to if she had to choose one.

And she knows it very well because there's Dope. Yes, she loves drugs and all of this, but what does it mean ? She does drugs to escape from her reality for a while but it's precisely these drugs that destroy her reality and take her apart from her love, her friends, her family, and her fans. She doesn't always know the limit and sometimes loses herself. From now, she has to struggle to remember the important things in her life, so she has to remember "art" and not always dive into "pop".

So there's Gypsy, with more hope. This is again a song for her fans and her family, but this time she took her decision : she won't let them down. Even when she goes somewhere else - another country or another state of mind - whe will always make sure to come back. Love is the most important thing after all.

And finally Applause. What would make more sense than this song at the end ? She literally says to her fans that she made this album for them, not for the haters, no matter how she got lost at some point. So she's waiting for the applause. She's still saying that her art is the most important thing when it comes to her music : not the fame, the pop or the money. It's fun but she really wants to deliver a message after all. She lives for the applause. She lives for love. But if she doesn't get the applause, this love may hurt. And she may return to her addictions.

I think overall this album is a lot about duality, and how instead of choosing one side of things, she should try to conciliate them. It's a long struggle that is even harder as a celebrity, and I think the whole thing echoes very well her situation in 2012, until she broke her hip in 2013. It made her reconsider things.

 

Wow this was really good! I never thought of ARTPOP as a representation of love! It's so interesting to my how deeply you can dive in the album and create concepts... it's just so complex and interesting! I guess when I first heard the album I wasn't trying (or was prepared) to focus on these underlying messages sadly, thank god we grow as individuals and start appreciating things that were once confusing. Thank you so much for this