Lady Gaga reflects on her 2016 album, Joanne, and how it’s different from MAYHEM

[Knife 6,811]

I'm glad that it felt cathartic for her to create Joanne, but it's an album that I have repressed from my memory and would never go back to listen to.

If you asked me at gunpoint to name every song on Joanne, I'd be dead as hell. 

[Starmie25 17,117]

On 3/22/2025 at 6:42 AM, HotLikeMexico said:

I feel she’s been saying this every album starting from Joanne. She’s going to say this about Mayhem when LG8 drops. 

She's clearly very happy with MAYHEM, but we all know during Joanne and Chromatica that there was a lot of sadness in her life. 

[Oriane 20,520]

8 hours ago, XxBones said:

I think it’s because Joanne is her breakup album. She did seem sad and the first single was perfect illusion. She convinced everyone that perfect illusion is about the illusions of social media but lyrically you can tell she wrote it after her breakup with Taylor that happened I think the same year. She was running away from “Gaga”. It’s nice to see her in a happy relationship again and mayhem reflects it. I agree tho that getting older you can appreciate it more the rawness of the music and I can tell why Gaga is distancing herself now because it’s like a time capsule and it might not always bring back the best feelings for her. 

I hate it when people think that. 

First of all she didn't write it. 

Second of all, how can you think she would write "it wasn't love" about Taylor when it was the longest relationship she ever had and almost got married? They had something beautiful and complex together and she wouldn't just dismiss it like that by saying it wasn't love.

[HayThurJack 245]

I absolutely love Joanne. I can understand why others might dislike it but Diamond Heart, Come to Mama, Grigio Girls, Just Another Day, Million Reasons, etc. are gold dust.

(I also thought Harlequin was 10/10)

[XxBones 1,168]

49 minutes ago, Oriane said:

I hate it when people think that. 

First of all she didn't write it. 

Second of all, how can you think she would write "it wasn't love" about Taylor when it was the longest relationship she ever had and almost got married? They had something beautiful and complex together and she wouldn't just dismiss it like that by saying it wasn't love.

It’s just a perfectly natural observation to make. She actually is a writer she also sang and released it under her name. I am not sure how each song on that album can be so extremely personal, diamond heart, Joanne etc. and perfect illusion isn’t? The song is clearly about a breakup that was released the same year as her breakup. Million reasons is another song lyrically about breaking up and it comes right after that one on the album and has lyrics that relate to perfect illusion “and if you say something you might even mean, it’s hard to fathom what parts I should believe” I mean I know only she knows her relationship but from listening it’s hard to not think that. It’s just an observation only she knows if it is or isn’t in the end. I don’t think she would ever openly admit to it knowing her but she used to always say she liked being “private in public”. 

[XxBones 1,168]

49 minutes ago, HayThurJack said:

I absolutely love Joanne. I can understand why others might dislike it but Diamond Heart, Come to Mama, Grigio Girls, Just Another Day, Million Reasons, etc. are gold dust.

(I also thought Harlequin was 10/10)

I love Joanne too. Diamond Heart is my favorite. I think music lovers of every genre can appreciate Gaga’s exploration with music because I love her dance music as much as I love Joanne or her jazz. Don’t even get me started on Harlequin. I just bought the vinyl recently and keep listening to it sometimes then I’ll put mayhem on again lol

[AiDi 186]

3 hours ago, Oriane said:

They had something beautiful and complex together and she wouldn't just dismiss it like that by saying it wasn't love.

 

And how the hell do you know that? xD I hate when people think they know more about Gaga than others. You don't. For me, releasing this song after a breakup speaks volumes.

 

And btw, I've been in a 5 year long relationship and it wasn't love, on both sides. And it took us a LONG time to realise that. 

Edited March 25 by AiDi

[Oriane 20,520]

3 hours ago, XxBones said:

It’s just a perfectly natural observation to make. She actually is a writer she also sang and released it under her name. I am not sure how each song on that album can be so extremely personal, diamond heart, Joanne etc. and perfect illusion isn’t? The song is clearly about a breakup that was released the same year as her breakup. Million reasons is another song lyrically about breaking up and it comes right after that one on the album and has lyrics that relate to perfect illusion “and if you say something you might even mean, it’s hard to fathom what parts I should believe” I mean I know only she knows her relationship but from listening it’s hard to not think that. It’s just an observation only she knows if it is or isn’t in the end. I don’t think she would ever openly admit to it knowing her but she used to always say she liked being “private in public”. 

 

1 hour ago, AiDi said:

 

And how the hell do you know that? xD I hate when people think they know more about Gaga than others. You don't. For me, releasing this song after a breakup speaks volumes.

 

And btw, I've been in a 5 year long relationship and it wasn't love, on both sides. And it took us a LONG time to realise that. 

The Kevin Parker original demo is right there  It's also one of the few songs in her discography where she's not credited as the main writer. Let's not be blinded fans and acknowledge it when it happens.

You talk about Million Reasons, let's talk about this one indeed. It's a song where she actually goes deeper and evokes the hardships of the relationship while still acknowledging her strong love and desire to stay. She talked about how the song came to life after venting to Hillary Lindsey, who answered "it's a song, you should write about it!". Just another day is another example - and this one is even self-written.

Her love songs in general have always been deeper and more interesting that a simple "it wasn't love, bye lol". And I can't see her releasing a petty breakup song two months after breaking up.

[PartySick 153,965]

4 hours ago, XxBones said:

I am not sure how each song on that album can be so extremely personal, diamond heart, Joanne etc. and perfect illusion isn’t? 

It can be personal without her being the main writer. There's a lot more to creating music than just putting pen to paper and writing the words down  

I'm not sure what goes through her mind when she sings Perfect Illusion, I kinda doubt it's thoughts of Taylor 'cause they were so happy together and the breakup seemed to be pretty civil, but when I hear it it's just kinda the emotion that it drives. 

A lot of her music is like that where you have to listen less to what she's saying and more to how she's saying it and what sounds are being wrapped around the words (another reason why Chromatica is a flop for me 'cause she says the words but nothing conveys the feeling).

Frustration, pain, anger, pure energy, there's a rawness about it and I think that's what she wanted to convey more than simply "hi this is me being mad at my ex".

[banjosnap 174]

Uh.. guys. I dont think she wrote MR or PI... or ARUTW for that matter... I think the "writing" she did on them was more... artistic flourish...

[XxBones 1,168]

7 hours ago, PartySick said:

It can be personal without her being the main writer. There's a lot more to creating music than just putting pen to paper and writing the words down  

I'm not sure what goes through her mind when she sings Perfect Illusion, I kinda doubt it's thoughts of Taylor 'cause they were so happy together and the breakup seemed to be pretty civil, but when I hear it it's just kinda the emotion that it drives. 

A lot of her music is like that where you have to listen less to what she's saying and more to how she's saying it and what sounds are being wrapped around the words (another reason why Chromatica is a flop for me 'cause she says the words but nothing conveys the feeling).

Frustration, pain, anger, pure energy, there's a rawness about it and I think that's what she wanted to convey more than simply "hi this is me being mad at my ex".

I agree with everything you are saying. That’s also a point I was making that Joanne specifically was very personal. A lot of the album conveys a lot of sadness and hurt overall. Diamond heart losing innocence, dancing in circles about loneliness, Joanne about loss etc. I do think that perfect illusion etc. is about heartbreak even if she wasn’t a main writer. It might not be specifically about Taylor but it’s definitely driven by her heartbreak and probably how she felt inside at the time. That’s just how interpreted the album. Not to mention the stages of grief when a relationship does end includes anger before sadness. It doesn’t mean their relationship was bad but it’s pretty clear she deals with things through her music.
 

I also agree with you about chromatica. I mean I don’t think it’s bad and unlistenable but to Gaga’s standards it was missing the emotion behind her lyrics. I think there is a lot of dance records that convey that feeling of emotion and even hope and I think Chromatica just failed at that. My personal thoughts. 

[NotoriousEden 146]

Perfect Illusion and Sinners Prayer are like the only songs on par with her standards. Very mediocre album. She really should’ve stuck with the original plan and not crammed to meet the album deadline. She straight up bought songs and just recorded her vocals. This point also sticks with Chromatica 

[XxBones 1,168]

8 hours ago, Oriane said:

 

The Kevin Parker original demo is right there  It's also one of the few songs in her discography where she's not credited as the main writer. Let's not be blinded fans and acknowledge it when it happens.

You talk about Million Reasons, let's talk about this one indeed. It's a song where she actually goes deeper and evokes the hardships of the relationship while still acknowledging her strong love and desire to stay. She talked about how the song came to life after venting to Hillary Lindsey, who answered "it's a song, you should write about it!". Just another day is another example - and this one is even self-written.

Her love songs in general have always been deeper and more interesting that a simple "it wasn't love, bye lol". And I can't see her releasing a petty breakup song two months after breaking up.

I think there is confusion. I am saying the album lyrically is about heartbreak contrary to what she was saying about it being about social media. That’s why I brought up Taylor and how it relates to her heartbreak at the time. I am not arguing if she wrote it or was or wasn’t a main writer. In the end it doesn’t matter because she still chose to sing it and release under her name making the song personal to her. That’s what makes the song personal. You are right she would never release a breakup song now because she is in a happy relationship and her music reflects that. I mentioned before that when a relationship ends anger comes before sadness in the stages of grief. It makes sense for her to want to sing that right after. It doesn’t mean their relationship was so horrible but how she usually deals with things through her music. If it’s not lyrically about Taylor it definitely how she felt at the time or she wouldn’t have sung it. 

[PartySick 153,965]

On 3/25/2025 at 1:40 PM, XxBones said:

I agree with everything you are saying. That’s also a point I was making that Joanne specifically was very personal. A lot of the album conveys a lot of sadness and hurt overall. Diamond heart losing innocence, dancing in circles about loneliness, Joanne about loss etc. I do think that perfect illusion etc. is about heartbreak even if she wasn’t a main writer. It might not be specifically about Taylor but it’s definitely driven by her heartbreak and probably how she felt inside at the time. That’s just how interpreted the album. Not to mention the stages of grief when a relationship does end includes anger before sadness. It doesn’t mean their relationship was bad but it’s pretty clear she deals with things through her music.
 

I also agree with you about chromatica. I mean I don’t think it’s bad and unlistenable but to Gaga’s standards it was missing the emotion behind her lyrics. I think there is a lot of dance records that convey that feeling of emotion and even hope and I think Chromatica just failed at that. My personal thoughts. 

I have this whole theory about Joanne being the story of one single traumatic experience told through emotions rather than words  full stages of grief and everything

Diamond Heart - trauma, defiance
A-Yo - denial
Joanne - sadness
John Wayne - self destruction
Dancin' in Circles - self indulgence, loneliness
Perfect Illusion - anger
Million Reasons - acceptance
Sinner's Prayer - stoicism
Come to Mama - healing
Hey Girl - love
Angel Down - becoming grounded
Grigio Girls - facing the next trauma in a healthier way
Just Another Day - fully healed and loving life, even in the face of pain

I love this album so much