Is Gaga a Mediocre Songwriter?

[Controversiaga 16,059]

3 hours ago, steven said:

I think she's an average songwriter and her lyrics can be cringey sometimes, but she sure knows how to write melodies. I just wish she'd diversify her themes a bit. It feels like it's always love, men, breakups, or death. I'd love to see her work with more co-writers for LG8.

She use to have such a unique outlook before the fame was released, and was soooo creative with her themes and concepts.. but lately it’s been way too on the nose, straightforward and unoriginal tbh   Like , plastic doll? Lovedrug? I’m not saying they’re bad, just not original lyrically.   Meanwhile abracadabra is great! Even disease and killah .  But then garden of Eden?? How bad do u want?? Come on 

Edited 6 hours ago by Controversiaga

[Ladle Ghoulash 52,971]

Ngl I do think the nostalgia bias on here is very real sometimes and I’ll leave it at that.

[SleepingSun 1,392]

12 minutes ago, nkta said:

sorry I heard Express Yourself there on the first listen, and that kinda killed the song for me 

[steven 6,539]

17 minutes ago, Controversiaga said:

She use to have such a unique outlook before the fame was released, and was soooo creative with her themes and concepts.. but lately it’s been way too on the nose, straightforward and unoriginal tbh   Like , plastic doll? Lovedrug? I’m not saying they’re bad, just not original lyrically.   Meanwhile abracadabra is great! Even disease and killah .  But then garden of Eden?? How bad do u want?? Come on 

Probably one of the main reasons I still have some hard time connecting with the second half of Mayhem, it feels redondant and uninspired 

[TheARTPOPball 1,645]

6 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

I mean, is there not a ton of metaphorical writing on MAYHEM tho lol. Disease, Abra, GOE, PC, Killah, VIY, ZB, TDD, LD, KFL, SOAM, TB,and BOG are all built around central metaphors

I think I mean more when the songs itself is a metaphor for something else. She’s lost her sense of imagery she had during the fame monster/born this way, taking a cultural moment and relating it to her own life and making a song about it. While she is still using metaphors, the verses themselves in mayhem are pretty straight forward. I’d say the strongest song lyrically is probably lovedrug 

[LM 4,070]

3 hours ago, monketsharona said:

And my post is worthy enough for you to comment. Idiot.

Wtf? You are on a public forum, if you cant handle others reactions to your posts, leave or at least dont be rude

[Obobo 3,984]

i think she’s a great songwriter, it’s just that her highs are extremely high.

like tdd and hbdym aren’t like BAD BAD but if you compare that to abracadabra, judas, aura, etc they sound a mess.

but if you were to compare Gaga’s lows they’re miles better than the “highs” of artist’s like taylor swift and sabrina carpenter (in my scientifically correct opinion xoxo)

[timdrake 1,924]

She's great, and has probably the best complete understanding of music compared to most mainstream acts today. 

If you're strictly talking about lyrics, I think we all have a few lines here and there that hit our ears weird. But also I think these lines stand out because we're used to such quality with Gaga. It's all personal taste, I guess : )

[Charliie 1,986]

She can write whatever she desires, whatever she has on her mind and heart. That's her personal relationship with her creativity. She writes from her personal  life experiences.

That's why she is the artist. 

I think she can write "beautiful" , complex, polished lyrics if she desires.  However,  one thing that makes Gaga unique is her raw talent. She is not afraid to have flaws. Not afraid to look weird on a cover of a magazine etc. 

Maybe she will get inspired in a unique way one day and can give a different type of writing. I have no doubt that she can do that. She is nowhere to be mediocre.

Edited 2 hours ago by Charliie

[robotvoiceinalice 2,117]

uhm are we really questioning this?

[BornAsUnic0rn 2,245]

She is no Ava Max.

[Omegahedron 355]

17 hours ago, Omegahedron said:

I think it's hits and misses but I would say that lyrical complexity and sophistication has not generally been her strength.

What she excels at is creating lyrics and hooks which are catchy and memorable. The laser focus and stuttering repetition is a classic Gaga sound she's carried throughout her career.

That said sometimes she takes it to excess and one of her worst habits is to hammer you around the head with repetition - which works sometimes for me but others just sounds repetitive (Million Reasons). 

Occasionally songs peter out so much that it seems half written (MANiCURE) or have moments of seeming a bit under written (I think the bridge to ZombieBoy is a bit weak, for example).

She's put out some abominable lyrics on some songs ("Just ask your gay friends their advice before you, get a spray tan on holiday in Taipei" is something you might hear on an SNL sketch).

For lyrics, I'd say that The Fame, The Fame Monster, Joanne and ASIB are probably her strongest eras which show a care and craft to the lyrics.

ARTPOP and Chromatica are probably have some of her weaker songs lyrically.

This all said, her vocals and melodies are generally excellent and more than make up for occasional lyrical shortcomings for me.

I wanted to revisit this as I spent some time after writing my original post revisiting her songs.

 

I'll be honest, I stand by a lot of what I originally said and she is no Bob Dylan you could say ... but I think actually having listened to some of her songs across different albums and eras with a fresh and focussed lens I think her lyrics and songwriting stand up stronger than I perhaps gave credit for. There's a lot of texture and complexity and more honest storytelling than I think I was giving credit for. There's misfires for sure but I think the simplicity of some songs perhaps reflects the conventions of pop, whereas other songs offer more overt depth in the lyrics?

 

To flag some particular moments I really enjoyed:

 

Summer Boy (one of her better bridges that crystallises resolves the tension of the song - is this a love that will last or not?)

 

Bad Romance (the Hitchcock references will always be genius to me)

 

Bloody Mary (abstract, but yet something still tangibly about an ex and her relationship with herself as a pop star)

 

Bad Kids (seeing my own nieces and nephews go through their own childhood struggles puts a different focus on this for me)

 

Heavy Metal Lover (let's head into the streets, drink beer and get into trouble)

 

Venus (it's camp but I think the chorus is luscious and the verses are strident - and I love the stomping Sun Ra reference from the start)

 

ARTPOP (a hybrid can withstand these things, my heart can beat with bricks and strings, my ARTPOP could mean anything)

 

Diamond Heart (is this her best autobiographical song??)

 

Sinners Prayer (I always thought this was a great song)

 

Hey Girl (a staunch defender of this one as a whole, but the bridge is dreamy and nostalgic)

 

Is that Alright? (always brings me to tears, not just the impeccable vocals but the pathos of the lyrics, a deep deep pleading you can't ignore)

 

Alice (a song that immediately locates the audience in the pain and dissociation of her mind at the time)

 

Abracadabra - (feels obvious to reference her gobbledegook-yet-Gaga-branded lyrics but this is a recent example of how she can use a lyrical style she more or less created herself for a completely different purpose)

 

Killah (a funk and rhythm she achieves in the staccato words and syllables that matches the funky rhythm of the music in a way I think most people don't appreciate)

 

How Bad Do U Want Me (I think the layers she achieves in this song through the lyrics, not the delivery, need to be acknowledged)

 

So yes, still hit and miss, but I think I want to revise my earlier assessment and give her more credit. I suppose in honesty as a mega fan I just am too close to the painting sometimes.

 

[Erotica 34,928]

She has her ups and downs..