Thoughts on Disease?

[Arthur Warhol 61]

I don't like it 

Why does she sound like Miley Cyrus??

[clownery 3,849]

I love the production and vocals, the lyrics are kinda meh but I am bopping 

[Lucas 24,259]

Also for all people who only listened to it once or twice, the song is definitely a grower. I had really mixed feelings at 1st listen and now I'm obsessed. The only thing I'd improve are the lyrics to give it more fantasy because damn they're basic 

Now my main thought about this is that people want music that is NOT SAFE for LG7 and this being the lead single, we know damn well the safest track was picked. Just wait until the next singles/full album and you'll get your not safe crazy dark music

[whyl 84]

At first listen i was a little bit dissapointed actually if I'm being honest. And now I am OBSESSED , these vocals , that background demonic voiceee and the beat  . It's literally mix of ARTPOP and born this way me thinks

[Jay23 145]

It’s not a bad album song. But I wouldn’t have chosen it as a single, at least not a lead single.  I was hoping it would’ve been more upbeat like a party song vibe. 
 

But tbh I find the lyrics uncomfortable.. like who wants to sing/dance to that? She used to handle cringe concepts well before (Swine is a masterpiece of this), but yeah. This one missed that.

Edited October 25 by Jay23

[Alfonso 1,412]

I think the song would've benefited from something exciting, like lawyers, a great bridge or a climax. It just feels a bit flat but it is a grower and will probably sound better live. I just wish it was a bit more unique. I. feel like ARTPOP had a lot of these elements that helped the songs stand out. To me it feels like Perfect Illusion (though PI had a stronger presence).

I still don't get why there's no music video and total silence about it. It should've been dropped with the song. I'm excited to hear the rest of the record. 

[Didymus 34,379]

23 minutes ago, lolitamuse said:

Care to comment on the several other examples I used, from every era of her career? 

My point about cleverness, jest and unabashed artifice works for all of them. To compare that unfavorably to Disease's lyrics is just wildly irrelevant to me, especially when you're promoting the idea that we need to judge things dependent on context. The context of Gaga's latest solo music is that it's deep, dark, dives into trauma and healing, so ok. Where is that in the lyrics? Do they reflect that or are they actually trite in that context?

[lolitamuse 277]

34 minutes ago, Didymus said:

My point about cleverness, jest and unabashed artifice works for all of them. To compare that unfavorably to Disease's lyrics is just wildly irrelevant to me, especially when you're promoting the idea that we need to judge things dependent on context. The context of Gaga's latest solo music is that it's deep, dark, dives into trauma and healing, so ok. Where is that in the lyrics? Do they reflect that or are they actually trite in that context?

Hmm. I think you're taking for granted that any of the lyrics I pointed out actually stand for or illustrated "cleverness, jest, and unabashed artifice." We haven't agreed on that premise, nor has Gaga said with concrete certainty that was her intention - it's just a personal opinion you've positioned as the truth. 

To that end, I disagree with your starting premise that the lyrics in question represent those 3 things. We can discuss whether her body of work as a whole does or does not, because do I think all of her bodies of work find ways to make successful commentaries on the artifice of fame, using clever word play and jesting lyrics? Yes, certainly. I don't see those specific lyrics as being examples of that, and Occam's razor - we go with the simplest explanation that they're generally just bad lyrics. Perhaps bad isn't the right word - they're unskilled lyrics. The Donatella lyrics are actually so on the nose of the satirical point she's trying to make that it ends of evading the point of her satire. Cleverness in satire is a subversion of expectations - not running straight into them.

Anyway, you haven't made a compelling argument for those lyrics being able to uphold the epitaphs of "cleverness, jest, and unabashed artifice" so I currently reject that premise. In which case, we've lost our "point of view".

So we circle back to the original commenter, who critiqued Disease's lyrics for 'not having a point of view' from the basis that Gaga's lyrics have always had a point of view to begin with, which is where my original push back came from. For my part, I fully see the Black Widow, "let me hurt you to make you feel better", pseudo-sadist Dominatrix perspective of the song and I think her lyrics embody it well. My whole point with plucking out the other examples is we have plenty of times when Gaga threw some whack lyrics at us in an otherwise good or great song. I'm not personally hearing anything 'whack' in this song, and while the lyrics themselves rely on a lot of metaphor, every line is indeed in service to the greater whole. 

"Slap honey on a young pancake" was not in service to the greater whole, it was so she could build a skewed rhyme with "money" in the next line so she concocted a weird little lyric she could just throw away before it.

[robotvoiceinalice 1,142]

fckn love it, its such a grower

[Controversiaga 9,367]

I think its pretty great.

[jackweller 295]

With the sound she’s going for I feel like she should’ve waited until feb and released the whole album with no singles the way Billie did. I like the song but I feel like it will make more sense with the album as a whole rather than on its own. And because there’s such a long way to the album I’m worried the whole project will lose steam by the time it comes out the way ‚Radical Optimism’ did.

[Mitosisoffuture 177]

12 hours ago, Yaaaas Gaga said:

Vocally it reminds me a lot of MANiCURE and the production is very ARTPOP. Even if people aren't massive fans of the song as a lead single, if nothing else it's a sign of the type of sound we will be getting on the album, which ultimately is a return to a much darker pop sound.

It reminded me of Swine

[degenerate 526]

1 hour ago, Alfonso said:

I think the song would've benefited from something exciting, like lawyers, a great bridge or a climax. It just feels a bit flat but it is a grower and will probably sound better live. I just wish it was a bit more unique. I. feel like ARTPOP had a lot of these elements that helped the songs stand out. To me it feels like Perfect Illusion (though PI had a stronger presence).

I still don't get why there's no music video and total silence about it. It should've been dropped with the song. I'm excited to hear the rest of the record. 

Agreed because someone should sue her for the lack of MV.

[LibraOctober98 3,462]

I don’t feel like it’s a grower, I liked it immediately and here’s why: she is very dramatic vocally, ya know? Like theatrically? And that lends well to the vibe of this song, which kind of creepy and grunge. It’s perfect for it actually. Favorite lead single since… many albums ago lol

[wahkeenasitka 1,986]

First and foremost, I think this song demonstrates a level of maturity as an artist.. I can hear all of these elements that have come together for her in this track, to really show how mature she is now as an artist and vocalist. 

I think her vocals on this track are excellent. Incredible. 

I think the production is sick AF. 

It's super catchy. 

The lyrics are a bit weak, but other than the lyrics, I think it's tight and going to be incredible to hear her perform this live on tour.