Mayhem is the personification of how Gaga reflects on her career

[dancedance 47]

In my opinion, Mayhem is the personification of how Gaga reflects back to her career, dating all the way back to her debut as Stefani. Despite being physically impaired, a symbolic representation of how a decade in the industry leaves her tired and bruised, Mayhem still manages to dance as seen in Disease and Abracadabra. Which brings me to my next point, "Dance or die". In the music videos, this character can be seen as a background character, observing each of her versions dancing for their life. Almost as if she is searching for the "Perfect Celebrity" among all versions of herself. Since Mayhem shows no empathy or remorse towards her alter versions, I think it is implied that she only seeks appeal and longevity within herself. This aligns with with Gaga's remark on the album, where the album is a "recollection of all these bad decisions that I made in my life, and it ends with love." Also, I think Mayhem's behavior also alludes to music critics and record labels, as in watching from a distant while dictating how music and artistry should be. It is implied in Applause's lyric:

"I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong
To crash the critic saying, Is it right or is it wrong?"

 

 

I think that every version of Gaga we've seen represents a different Gaga era. If I had to guess:

Stefani / Red And Blue: The earliest version of Gaga, she's seen in her natural brown and a white night gown with no signs of stardom. In the middle of Disease, she is ran over by Mayhem but survives, which is where the music video actually starts (With her lying in the windshield with a bloody nose). I think this represents Gaga being scarred right from the start of her career by the messed-up industry, but despite this, still keeps dancing.

 

The Fame & The Fame monster: In this version, both Gagas are growing blonde roots (Unusual for Gaga's natural hair), and have visible bruises on their arms, which could represent the transition to Lady Gaga while baring some scars. It's interesting that one of them are unchained while the other one isn't, but the free Gaga is allowing the chained one to stand on her for support. One detail I don't think anyone picked up yet, in 2:09 you can see that there is an open door the whole time, meaning that the unchained Gaga could have left anytime, but instead gets up and voluntarily holds her hand up to the bar, showing Gaga's resilience to the industry and not quit.

ARTPOP: This Gaga fights with Stefani after the collision, but is still defeated and chased down at the end. Gaga considers ARTPOP to be some of the hardest times of her life, where she also addressed her trauma for the first time. The orange hair, flannel shirt, and boots is a clear reference to this particular look during the ARTPOP era.

 

Chromatica: Baring the same hairstyle and outfit aesthetic as the Chromatica ball, this Gaga initially embraces Mayhem, but when Mayhem unveils her mask to reveal her dark and ugly reality, she looks in horror and sprints away. Similar to Abracadabra, she is then prompted to "Dance or die", where the houses move away when she begins dancing in 2:32, but move closer and crushes her when she stops and attempts to flee. It's interesting because in Chromatica, Gaga emphasizes on how she tries to escape from her truth by creating an alternative universe/state of mind.

 

 Born This Way: As for the Abracadabra version, who I think is the "final girl" of the "Dance or die" concept, clearly refuses to dance in the start of the music video and shakes her head to antagonize Mayhem when she notices. She tries to break free of Mayhem's curse, and dances because of her passion for it, rather to save her life. My guess is that this Gaga represents Born This Way, who was willing to make music that advocates causes at times when they were considered controversial, even at the heights of her success. There are also visual nods to BTW, such as the fully bleached hair, group huddling, and the cross necklace/dress (Or heavy religious/catholic themes overall). Also, at the end of Marry The Night's music video, Gaga is seen in a red dress and long hat, very similar to that of Abracadabra's Mayhem.

 

And finally, I think this is why Mayhem was announced by revisiting each of her past albums. It's a reflection of how each era defined Gaga's artistry and her resilience to be willing to keep making music. Gaga did not dance for over a decade for longevity or public appeal, but because of her love for music and discovering her own artistry. To quote Happy Mistake, "I can try to hide behind the makeup, but the show must go on."

This may also explain why the album will be a fusion of genres and different eras of music, which Gaga has proven to have an expertise on, whether it's the 90's dance anthems on Chromatica, or a feel-good jazz record like Harlequin. Hope this resonates with some people or sparks more discussions as we await for the full album and more context!

Edited February 13 by dancedance

[Dragons Eyes Watch 25]

I love this theory and representation.

Since begging of MAYHEM era i always thought Gaga is making something new with small amount of feelings of earlier days (kinda she wants us to feel nostalgic yk). She's clearly making flashbacks in music videos for this era. Also a lot of references from her previous work, such as all you mentioned, but even small details are fantastic. 

It's so exiting to see what's more to come.

Also I can't help but as a big horror fan to see that Gaga is largely inspired by horror culture this time around. 

[Anderson123 36,466]

3 more weeks guys. 

[gypsyprinc3sss 5]

im too stupid to understand this but I agree w u

[hamartia 171]

Yaaass come through Little Dissertationers!!!! We are so back