Gaga, lyrically speaking: Which lyric best defines each (solo) album / era?

[bxr 1,016]

Effectually the title, but just wondering which lyric from each album do you feel best defines or encapsulates the entirety and/or Gaga during that era … (Just solo albums for the sake of streamlining the signature, so to speak.)

For example, just my take for today (since, I’m in no position to commit to forever all-time absolutes on this right now) …

The Fame: “Half psychotic, sick hypnotic; got my blueprint: it’s symphonic.”

The Fame Monster: “Find your freedom in the music; find your Jesus, find your Kubrick … You will never fall apart Diana, you’re still in our hearts…”

Born This Way: “Dancing in my revelation, underground pop civilization; concrete poetry to feed my mind, old symbolism was left behind.” // (But, if we’re going standard canon…) Ough, tough stuff, but somewhere between, “When I’m on a mission, I rebuke my condition…” and “Another shot before we kiss the other side…”

ARTPOP: “Free my mind, ARTPOP; You make my, heart stop.”

Joanne: “I might not be flawless, but you know I got a diamond heart … Good thing I know what I'm worth; want a good thing, put the money down first.”

*(edit) LG6: *“pregnant” pause*

Not sure if this has been posted before (I’m new here); but since I didn’t see it around, figured might as well ask … Either way, have fun with it — no wrong answers — as long as it’s your truth, all perspectives are on the right track.

[HoneyB 26,866]

I think the lyrics you chose work really well!

I’d probably only change ARTPOP’s to be: “My ARTPOP could mean anything”

[brucee 1,690]

i'm in for all you choices especially for BTW, I was totally expecting that. 

[Pop Music 20,522]

I thought Joanne would be "girl where do you think your going"

[Schizophonic 5,103]

by the way i really think TFM had the best lyrics and some BTW tracks as well... after this and especially with joanne she wanted to be evolved to a level when it lost a bit of the effortless enjoyable popmusic - if u know what i mean

she thought too much

[not a french fry 1,565]

“Love it when u call me legs, in the morning but me eggs” is definitely the fame’s defining lyric 

[bxr 1,016]

1 hour ago, Talenti said:

I think the lyrics you chose work really well!

I’d probably only change ARTPOP’s to be: “My ARTPOP could mean anything”

Grazie mille! 

I mean … you’d probably be quite literally correct on the album / era-defining lyric -- completely valid pivot. I went with the “Free my mind…” just to mix it up a bit. I think it kind of elaborates or expresses the how of the enigmatic “could mean anything” (it could mean anything because the creator’s mind is free of creative interpretation limited to conventional meaning (maybe)), or it  just underscores that crucial exchange of the “could belong together” of ARTPOP (where she’s beckoning to ARTPOP, so kind of like, “Free my mind” was the call and the album itself was the response  between the two … again, maybe? Tbh, at this juncture I’m just making it up as I go along.)

 

1 hour ago, brucee said:

i'm in for all you choices especially for BTW, I was totally expecting that. 

*[Edit] maybe the fame : "I'll follow you until you love ma, paparazzi" because it sums her seek of Fame in an ingenue way.

Danke schön!

Definitely thought about the canon “Paparazzi” hook -- especially with that song’s aesthetic impact on the entire era … my goodness: the video, the live performances, the everything, just truly a genesis of what The Fame meant / means to pop culture.

 

1 hour ago, Haus Swiftie said:

I thought Joanne would be "girl where do you think your going"

That was my immediate reaction, like, the first lyric that came to mind; but, similar to ARTPOP, I went with something a bit more subtle or just expressive / illustrative that still spoke to that core sentiment. So, with Diamond Heart, it explores that venture into the unknown, and doubles down on the imagery and backstory and a bit of the not-sure-where-she’s-going-but-there’s-where-she-ended-up … and branching out to Gaga during the era, just, the undeniable duality of commercial artistry at the forefront during the Joanne era (into ASIB, but solo albums only, but it’s a fair point for context) I think is echoed strongly in the not-flawless diamond heart who delivers the goods -- if, and only if, the royal you puts that money down first … if any of that makes any sense

 

but … that’s just a bit of my non-methodology

[bxr 1,016]

1 hour ago, Schizophonic said:

by the way i really think TFM had the best lyrics and some BTW tracks as well... after this and especially with joanne she wanted to be evolved to a level when it lost a bit of the effortless enjoyable popmusic - if u know what i mean

she thought too much

TFM was lyrical mastery … all of the albums have a specific “voice” or a kind of script that seems to speak from a specific lyrical perspective (if that makes any sense), and TFM feels so very Rilke to the extent of that poet who just writes themselves back to life from the depths of that darkness -- just, that pure poetry. BTW coming off the heels of that feels like it has those residual rhythms, too. 

The after-this, might have been balancing out the lyrics with the production / instrumentation, and having the aural really come through to develop the sonic aesthetic of the album if that makes any sense? ARTPOP was so incredibly visual and just immersive in the multisensory, that the tone of the lyrics and the cadence or delivery, as opposed to the lyrical text itself, played more prominent roles in the work as a whole … similar to The Fame -- but on post-that adrenaline. Joanne felt less “poetic” and more prose or just narrative autobiographical, so more straight-forward lyrical content, I guess, and stripped back so just telling tales of what it’s like at that point in life … it was introspective also, and deep dives become cerebral sometimes, making sense of everything in your memory’s museum, and then having to translate for the mass audience (and the label, and the marketplace, etc.) … it can get kind of think-y

If you know what I mean (which, I can’t entirely vouch that I even do …)

 

41 minutes ago, GagaVenusStan said:

“Love it when u call me legs, in the morning buy me eggs” is definitely the fame’s defining lyric 

Not psychotic, or dramatic… I like your choice and that is that