River 125,008 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 On 4/25/2026 at 3:07 AM, ActualPatient said: i always sung run run with her twitter run run with her twitter... run run when the fury of satan arise 🔥 bless satan our hairy daddy So sploosh your juice all over me you Riverboy Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apec 177 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 (edited) It's such a difficult task. BTW speaks to abstraction and metaphor, Chromatica is more direct but so to the point in its pain it almost hurts. Mayhem is something in between. Joanne handles personal topics in more universal ways... All her albums tackle their issues in different ways, lyrics-wise, when I think about it. We have such a versatile queen. For me it's between BTW and Mayhem, but by a hair. Edited April 26 by Apec 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornthisway135 720 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 I voted for ARTPOP because the it’s high moments are HIGH. The lyrics of ARTPOP song start to finish is magic. The verses of Gypsy and especially its bridge are so good. Applause’s verses slap. The bridge of Mary Jane Holland stands out. SWINE! the meaning of Do What U Want. I love the lyrics of Dope. Venus, GUY, and Donatella are mid but I still love what they offer. I dunno. Each album has its highlights and its lowlights. But honestly, there needs to be an EP of her best songs lyrically. The Fame has Paper Gangsta The Fame Monster has Dance in the Dark Born This Way has Marry the Night ARTPOP has ARTPOP Joanne has Diamond Heart. It should be Sinners Prayer and Come to Mama, but those were written by Father John Misty tbh Chromatica has 911 and Mayhem has Perfect Celebrity im not gonna gripe into each albums lowlights cuz there’s no need to. But I think creatively, ARTPOP has my vote. Then Mayhem and Born This Way are tied for who’s next. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PartySick 171,262 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 I'm torn 'cause the answer is objectively either Born This Way or Joanne. Both have similar peaks I'll vote Joanne 'cause she's my girl but BTW isn't wrong either tbh Whimsical bitch Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PartySick 171,262 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 On 4/24/2026 at 7:59 PM, Ladle Ghoulash said: That’s basically how I feel about ARTPOP, too. I just kind of feel like the immaturity is wrapped in a psuedo-profundity and self-importance that makes it a little less accessible and a little less effective (to varying degrees. I think Venus threads the needle, GUY doesn’t, for example). MAYHEM’s immaturity leans full send into its campiness while simultaneously fully investing in the emotional stakes, whereas ARTPOP’s feels like it’s fighting against its own desire to be taken seriously and seen as “deep,” which I think undercuts reading it as self-aware/purposeful camp. Basically, both are camp, ARTPOP’s is likely more camp by the truest reading of Sontag’s Notes (becomes camp over time, often requires a lack of awareness of it’s own campiness), but I think MAYHEM’s camp feels more masterful because she reads like she’s in on the joke while simultaneously being brave enough to commit to being completely absurd. Best of both worlds, tbh. I think the pretentious nature of ARTPOP was kind of the point, in a way. That whole album and era felt like she was constantly saying "I'm being completely serious here but please do have fun! However, I must stress the severity of my sobriety on these topics, but don't forget the ✨whimsy✨! This is the album of the millennium, you'll never hear anything as good as ARTPOP, but this album is also just meant to be a light listen for you to dance to! But it's also my pain exploding in electronic music so it's quite heavy" Bitch was messy and I eat it up ngl lmao. Intentional or not, the warring dichotomy works in its favor imo. Whimsical bitch 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladle Ghoulash 45,343 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 (edited) 19 minutes ago, PartySick said: I think the pretentious nature of ARTPOP was kind of the point, in a way. That whole album and era felt like she was constantly saying "I'm being completely serious here but please do have fun! However, I must stress the severity of my sobriety on these topics, but don't forget the ✨whimsy✨! This is the album of the millennium, you'll never hear anything as good as ARTPOP, but this album is also just meant to be a light listen for you to dance to! But it's also my pain exploding in electronic music so it's quite heavy" Bitch was messy and I eat it up ngl lmao. Intentional or not, the warring dichotomy works in its favor imo. I think it was fun at the time, but I don’t know how well that element of it has aged. I’ll always err on the side of seeing ARTPOP as a transitional stage, so the tension that existed at that time (high constructed vs. stripped back, self-serious to the point of being somewhat tone vs. explicitly self-aware etc.) was completely necessary in order for her to break down the creative walls and boundaries she had built through her persona at the time. At the same time, I can’t help but feel that the era is more interesting than the album itself because watching that tension in action was very compelling, but listening to how that tension exists on the album, which I think can be muddy in intent and execution, in part because it’s less overtly apparent without the visual/theatre of the era, is less so. I think Applause is probably the best representation of the issue I have with the album vs. the era: on its face, the song is fairly one note (“I’m a performer, I live for the stage, f*ck the haters, love to the fans”), which I think makes the grandiosity of the vocal delivery and the ornate lyrics feel overblown and functionally unnecessary. However, when coupled with the video, the song (and it’s placement on the album) make perfect sense: it’s the full deconstruction of the “Lady Gaga” persona, with her walking us through the backstage labyrinth, showing us the costumes hanging on the rack, ironically puppeteering this version of herself one last time before putting it to rest. But without the visual, that element of self-awareness and intention is almost completely lost, which makes the song fall flat on the album, imo. Edited April 26 by Ladle Ghoulash We have forgotten our public MANNERS Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PartySick 171,262 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 18 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said: I think it was fun at the time, but I don’t know how well that element of it has aged. I’ll always err on the side of seeing ARTPOP as a transitional stage, so the tension that existed at that time (high constructed vs. stripped back, self-serious to the point of being somewhat tone vs. explicitly self-aware etc.) was completely necessary in order for her to break down the creative walls and boundaries she had built through her persona at the time. At the same time, I can’t help but feel that the era is more interesting than the album itself because watching that tension in action was very compelling, but listening to how that tension exists on the album, which I think can be muddy in intent and execution, in part because it’s less overtly apparent without the visual/theatre of the era, is less so. I think Applause is probably the best representation of the issue I have with the album vs. the era: on its face, the song is fairly one note (“I’m a performer, I live for the stage, f*ck the haters, love to the fans”), which I think makes the grandiosity of the vocal delivery and the ornate lyrics feel overblown and functionally unnecessary. However, when coupled with the video, the song (and it’s placement on the album) make perfect sense: it’s the full deconstruction of the “Lady Gaga” persona, with her walking us through the backstage labyrinth, showing us the costumes hanging on the rack, ironically puppeteering this version of herself one last time before putting it to rest. But without the visual, that element of self-awareness and intention is almost completely lost, which makes the song fall flat on the album, imo. It's definitely an entire vibe you have to immerse yourself in to properly enjoy the album (not to say you can't casually listen to it but it's like the difference between a snack and a meal). I think it's fine for the album to exist within all this contextual noise that only dedicated fans will fully appreciate. ARTPOP, indeed, did not just fall out of a coconut tree Whimsical bitch 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladle Ghoulash 45,343 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 Just now, PartySick said: It's definitely an entire vibe you have to immerse yourself in to properly enjoy the album (not to say you can't casually listen to it but it's like the difference between a snack and a meal). I think it's fine for the album to exist within all this contextual noise that only dedicated fans will fully appreciate. ARTPOP, indeed, did not just fall out of a coconut tree 100%. I think it’s fine that the album lives in that space, but I also think it’s part of the reason why I only ever listen to most of its songs in the context of the vids and live performances, tbh. I appreciate that she kind of got the best of both worlds on MAYHEM: songs that function as standalone material and great pop songs which she also incorporated into a broader concept for a theatrical narrative. We have forgotten our public MANNERS Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladle Ghoulash 45,343 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 2 minutes ago, PartySick said: It's definitely an entire vibe you have to immerse yourself in to properly enjoy the album (not to say you can't casually listen to it but it's like the difference between a snack and a meal). I think it's fine for the album to exist within all this contextual noise that only dedicated fans will fully appreciate. ARTPOP, indeed, did not just fall out of a coconut tree As an aside: during the 2024 campaign, I learned how to say Kamala’s coconut tree line in Spanish and would just randomly spring it on friends and family who don’t speak Spanish as a bit to see if they’d get the reference. We were so young and innocent then… We have forgotten our public MANNERS Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PartySick 171,262 Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 1 hour ago, Ladle Ghoulash said: We were so young and innocent then… Us believing fascism would never hit us twice Whimsical bitch 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
imogen2133 328 Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Probably The Fame Monster. It has some of her most dense and layered metaphors and has very creative lyrics but BTW is a close second(would be first if some of the weaker tracks lyrically like Bad Kids weren't on it). Also I think SHICD is one of her most layered songs lyrically/metaphorically in her whole career and is one of her best songs overall. (And DITD especially the bridge), ARTPOP also has many great songs lyrically like Aura, Gypsy, ARTPOP(especially omg one of her best), Swine, DWUW, Dope, G.U.Y and Applause but not as great as TFM or BTW. This is hard because Gaga is great with her metaphors and layered meanings and campy lyrics that convey many things at once but TFM probably does it best overall. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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