Lady Gaga - "Born This Way"

Maybe you heard that "Born This Way," the title track and lead single of Gaga's upcoming album, came out today. Maybe you care. I do; if you don't that's okay too.

After listening to it I thought Hmm...not so good. Sure, the message is nice enough, but like many "message" songs it has little or no actual emotional content. The lyrics are too busy sloganeering to actually express anything. It has none of the dark edge that make "Bad Romance" and "Paparazzi" such a sick thrill to listen to. And the production is WAY too busy. And what is that weird cello sample at the beginning? Is it from Tron: Legacy? Whatever it is, it doesn't work. Worst of all, the song isn't even that catchy! The tune just kind of goes through the motions all the way through without ever really firming up into a decent hook. All in all: not horrible, but definitely Gaga's weakest song since her songs started to get good, maybe her weakest single yet.

Then I listened to it again, and this time I thought about all the drama geeks and chubby gay kids and weirdos in all the high schools in America all pogoing ecstatically to it at their respective junior proms, and I thought Hmm...who gives a shit about my opinion? Nobody, and especially not them. Fact is, this song is not meant as music. It is meant as a rallying cry for the outcasts, and in that I'm sure it will succeed splendidly. And for the rest of us listening at home on our headphones, I'm sure her next single will be plenty better.

Also: "God makes no mistakes" is not such a bad theological argument against homophobia.

PS As happy as I'm sure she is for the Egyptian people, I'll bet Gaga is a little pissed that Mubarak chose today to leave office. After six months of buildup, her new single is still only the second biggest news item of the day.