Music Educator analyses Gaga's Inauguration Performance

[Bebe 15,921]

I found it super interesting, he really liked the performance. He loved how Gaga put a "sorely needed" reinterpretation of the anthem by using it to tell a story, in the vein of classical American Broadway, and turning the song into a song of "contemporary Opera". He also talks about some interesting insights by discussing how, for example, it sounds like she runs out of breathe when singing "Land of the free" but that the orchestra pauses at the exact same moment. It's the things like this that, in my opinion, make the performance so interesting and great.

 

The song sounds as if it's almost a battle and struggle, not in a bad way, in a deliberative way.  She is intentionally keeping the audience on their toes, even with her long pauses in her phrasing which he also mentions. It really, I think, captures a particular national mood.

Also think the video is super interesting in general. I am musically illiterate, but the way he explained the musical choices made where very interesting. He discusses the "cultural baggage" from Whitney's performance (which he obviously also loves), that set the expectations of the anthem being performed with these Pop-R&B stylings and how Gaga pulls away from those stylings with this Inauguration performance while drawing more into that style with her Superbowl performance.

[TSUNAMI 17,524]

Everything has a meaning. 

I think that the Anthem was faster than usual because she wanted to show swiftness and importance of it. 

Also, her dress. Peace Dove above the bloodbath 

[roy 1,103]

charlie puth was right 

[C1trus 3,995]

I wonder if the sudden cut of her vocals in "the bombs bursting in air" is also intentional.

[Lumiere 2,129]

6 minutes ago, TSUNAMI said:

Also, her dress. Peace Dove above the bloodbath 

wow I never saw the red skirt as symbolism for blood. This actually makes sense.

[TSUNAMI 17,524]

1 minute ago, Lumiere said:

wow I never saw the red skirt as symbolism for blood. This actually makes sense.

That's the reference I got. Could be wrong hahaha

But I believe it's left open for a interpretation 

[Helxig 25,175]

I really forget that Gaga is such an intelligent and studied musician! She knows music inside and out. It's her lifeblood. Remember also that she arranged the Chromatica interludes    how lucky we are that we have a musical genius who loves dance and pop music. The rarest combination

[PunkTheFunk 109,016]

I don't know what the proper musical term is, but I like that she sang it very "brightly". Maybe "with gusto" is the right phrase. Every word was clearly enunciated and she had a huge smile on her face the entire time. It was like it belonged in a WWII propaganda film with images of soldiers marching into battle, and I mean that in the best way possible.

I don't think anyone has sung the anthem in this particular way in modern times and it was so refreshing to see, and the power and passion she brought with this rendition was exactly what America needed in this moment. A regular "Beyonce" or "Demi Lovato"-esque version with all the showy trills and vocal acrobatics wouldn't have been appropriate.

I think that's why it received such an overwhelmingly warm reception (I have yet to come across a single bad comment about it), and one of the reasons I like it a little more than the SB version.

[LG6IsHere 2,322]

this is what seperates gaga from all other pop girls. she is a MUSICIAN. this is why she will live on as a legend and an influence of culture in a way that these other girls won't.

Edited January 25 by LG6IsHere