MichellePfieffer 222 Posted yesterday at 01:49 AM Share Posted yesterday at 01:49 AM 11 hours ago, bxr said: I do want to go back and read what we wrote at the outset, for the sake of sheer curiosity, and because I know your thesis remains consistent, while my perspective (while still Applause-affirming) has likely shifted … I was thinking about it a bit more after the thread … and then, I just stopped thinking about the lyrics so much … particularly the operative lyric (“I’ve overheard your theory, “nostalgia’s for geeks!” / I guess, sir, if you say so, some of us just like to read…”) … and then I was just like … why do I like that lyric … why do I admittedly feel some sense of unironic lyrical allegiance to that expression … I couldn‘t quite articulate it, but I felt the affinity all the same … that said, what did surface was the sense … and practical reality … that that lyric is quintessentially ARTPOP … not only because it is clearly a signature reference from the definitive lead single, so by necessity it carries distinct significance … but/and, moreover, it is the polarization of this admitted attempt to marry the erudite “well-read/educated” artiste posturing and the “corny” common denominator of mainstream pop … it leans into its own sophomoric bourgeoisie bricolage … the tone feels so very “I know you are but what am I?” … it feels Manhattan Catholic school girl speaking Hollywood to Middle America from the soapbox of a Tisch dropout … “some of us just like to read…” Kant, some Steinbeck, some hooks, some TMZ or People magazine, some like to read Pitchfork or ONTD … no one said Gaga‘s too nostalgic, but the insinuation was not ever too far removed from “how derivative … can pastiche be coherent … who is she cosplaying now …” … no one said Gaga‘s too nostalgic, but Bach and Pop can coexist in sonic composition and chord arrangement … and Rilke can live on the arm of the girl who‘s gonna drink those tears tonight … if you‘re gonna engage haters, speak their language, echo their antagonisms … she‘s speaking the unspoken assumption on both of their behalf … she‘s too pretentious with the intention to be pop and not precise enough with the pen to be art … that‘s the problem with ARTPOP … that‘s the flaw in formation … that‘s the VMA Paparazzi death on stage revisited as a shoddy attempt to write the critics into shame … she wrote it because she had to, if only to say it was done … whether or not that was the intention at the outset, ARTPOP becomes ARTPOP over time … and what a ramshackle record this lil‘ ode to ovation continues to fail into its own fruition … That said, I honestly just went stream-of-consciousness after the first few lines, so I can‘t vouch for any relevant sense articulated in the aforementioned … but … as always, much appreciate the discourse … and, as always [2], y’know just salt grain musings into the airwaves … ARTPOP Suddenly desperate to read 500 pages of ARTPOP critical essay. An album thata too much and yet not enough all at once. Its easy to dismiss it as the ramblings of an overworked popstar smoking too much weed, as gaga herself has all but done, but for all its posturing and artificiality as each year goes by it feels more and more like her most honest album, if not in what it literally says then at least in what it implies and represents amongst her greater body of work. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bxr 2,047 Posted yesterday at 02:11 AM Author Share Posted yesterday at 02:11 AM 21 minutes ago, MichellePfieffer said: Suddenly desperate to read 500 pages of ARTPOP critical essay. An album thata too much and yet not enough all at once. Its easy to dismiss it as the ramblings of an overworked popstar smoking too much weed, as gaga herself has all but done, but for all its posturing and artificiality as each year goes by it feels more and more like her most honest album, if not in what it literally says then at least in what it implies and represents amongst her greater body of work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FFXIV WhiteMage 6,297 Posted yesterday at 02:40 AM Share Posted yesterday at 02:40 AM Bad Romance! It’s a unique monster pop smash. The lyrics are weird and campy but in the best Gaga way. Truly one of the best pop song ever made! 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apec 260 Posted yesterday at 04:27 AM Share Posted yesterday at 04:27 AM (edited) 3 hours ago, bxr said: That is gold right there! Thanks for the laugh here. I'm struggling between BTW (sans a descriptive term or two that shouldn't be there at all - but the rest is just fantastic) and BR... And Disease but that might be the whole song speaking to me so much. "Like a God without a prayer" is underrated though, as in a lot of Greco-Roman mythology the most pain-like state a God or Goddess could be in was caused by being forgotten by mortals and not being prayed to in their respective temples. Edited yesterday at 04:37 AM by Apec 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bxr 2,047 Posted yesterday at 06:35 PM Author Share Posted yesterday at 06:35 PM 15 hours ago, FFXIV WhiteMage said: Bad Romance! It’s a unique monster pop smash. The lyrics are weird and campy but in the best Gaga way. Truly one of the best pop song ever made! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bxr 2,047 Posted yesterday at 06:50 PM Author Share Posted yesterday at 06:50 PM 14 hours ago, Apec said: That is gold right there! Thanks for the laugh here. I'm struggling between BTW (sans a descriptive term or two that shouldn't be there at all - but the rest is just fantastic) and BR... And Disease but that might be the whole song speaking to me so much. "Like a God without a prayer" is underrated though, as in a lot of Greco-Roman mythology the most pain-like state a God or Goddess could be in was caused by being forgotten by mortals and not being prayed to in their respective temples. Spoiler Ough … the ”Under Review“ on the quoted—file under: uh oh the art police (algorithmic division) is here 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apec 260 Posted 4 hours ago Share Posted 4 hours ago 21 hours ago, bxr said: Reveal hidden contents Ough … the ”Under Review“ on the quoted—file under: uh oh the art police (algorithmic division) is here What? I hope that's resolved and I didn't contribute or anything. And thanks for the beautiful - well, incredibly awesome and sweet - recreation of what we've talked about journey-wise (I'll answer you asap ). Just need a little more sleep now. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
River 126,938 Posted 4 hours ago Share Posted 4 hours ago budramans and scrimifomibebe So sploosh your juice all over me you Riverboy 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVeryGagaHolyDick 31,647 Posted 3 hours ago Share Posted 3 hours ago On 7/10/2026 at 3:05 PM, Ladle Ghoulash said: Yeah, I feel like the lyricism on Chromatica gets a lot of unnecessary heat. For an artist who usually layers emotions in a couple levels of metaphor, it was refreshing to hear straightforward, simple lyrics tbh. I think laying it bare/unvarnished and letting it be imperfect was a valuable exercise for her I really think it lacks style and poetry… It’s one thing to be literal (and it was probably needed for an important song like Born This Way) but it’s an other thing to just write whatever you think without giving it a bit of style except for the first rhyme you can find I find lines like “you love the paparazzi, love the fame, even though it causes me pain” “Malibu Gaga, what is this saga?” truly painful to hear, and they’re everywhere on the album. 911 must be the only exception and yet it’s still very literal (except for the “pop a 911” metaphor) Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleGAGA 816 Posted 3 hours ago Share Posted 3 hours ago My thumb just surprised me by voting for Applause! As has been said before… this woman wrote a song about clapping and it’s THAT good. “One second, I’m a Koons, then suddenly the Koons is me Pop culture was in art, now arts in pop culture in me” Legendary mission statement perfect crystallization of her ethos as an artist right there Monsters 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bxr 2,047 Posted 1 hour ago Author Share Posted 1 hour ago 2 hours ago, Apec said: What? I hope that's resolved and I didn't contribute or anything. And thanks for the beautiful - well, incredibly awesome and sweet - recreation of what we've talked about journey-wise (I'll answer you asap ). Just need a little more sleep now. You‘re all good … I think the algorithmic decency division didn‘t particularly care for said siren scene‘s sartorial choice du jour Sleep well! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bxr 2,047 Posted 1 hour ago Author Share Posted 1 hour ago 2 hours ago, River said: budramans and scrimifomibebe Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bxr 2,047 Posted 1 hour ago Author Share Posted 1 hour ago 1 hour ago, NashvilleGAGA said: My thumb just surprised me by voting for Applause! As has been said before… this woman wrote a song about clapping and it’s THAT good. “One second, I’m a Koons, then suddenly the Koons is me Pop culture was in art, now arts in pop culture in me” Legendary mission statement perfect crystallization of her ethos as an artist right there Monsters 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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