How Lady Gaga’s “Joanne” Describes Her New Career Direction

[highongaga 829]

so i’m high listening to joanne and i started thinking about it and i wrote this post, i guess this is what an english major does while high LOL  but as someone who was only in 7th grade when this album came out and has always loved it, i feel like i’m just now truly understanding it.

 

diamond heart + a-yo

the opening tracks detail lady gaga’s rise to fame and her life experiences. they talk about her comeup and her struggles in pursuing a career in music. it paints a picture of how hungry she was for fame.

joanne

this song would be better placed as the albums opener as it fits the role better. the first meaning of the song is mourning and moving on from her aunt’s death and the effect it had on her family. the second meaning is about letting go, realizing how short life is and to make the best of what we have instead of holding onto something that’s gone. she’s going to go in a different direction, something she delves into again later on sinner’s prayer. her having to go in a different direction is probably because of her hip injury and fibromyalgia, which is further supported by five foot two

john wayne + dancin in circles

these songs build off of what a-yo was saying, just describing the beginning of her career what she stood for back then

perfect illusion

the suffering she went through during ARTPOP era making her realize that she was surrounded by fake people who didn’t really love her and betrayed her. she expresses her anger in this song, as well as its accompanying music video, reminiscent of how she felt during the ARTPOP era.

million reasons

once she was alone, she had to find herself again. everyone called her a flop, her fans and friends betrayed and belittled her. she had a million reasons to quit being a pop star but she just needed one, her fans, to stay. this is expressed in the music video as well.

sinner’s prayer

revisiting the idea of gaga going in a new direction due to her injury and her clear inability to continue down her original path, evident in the ARTPOP era, sinner’s prayer tells about gaga’s honesty in saying she knows people will be put off by her change but she is who she is and she just wants her fans to accept her and she doesn’t want to break their hearts.

come to mama + hey girl + angel down

gaga begins to talk about her new purpose and perspective for her career, spreading love and kindess and being involved in politics. this is further evident by her later work with joe biden and emphasis on kindness. come to mama and hey girl talk about uplifting and being kind to one another. angel down talks about the age of social media and how it has made us become self-absorbed, desensitized, and less inclined to fighting for social and political issues. gaga shows her fans that she is now going to focus on these things now throughout the future of her career and that she can’t be the same pop star she once was.

[ThatsGossip111 211]

This is a really great analysis ! It’s funny because I was listening to Joanne the other day, and I had the same realization, that the last half of the album is really about the direction she wants to continue down. Never thought of it that way until recently.