Music Review: Lady Gaga "The Edge of Glory"

Lady Gaga

The Edge of Glory

Album: Born This Way

Year: 2011

          Lady Gaga realizes she’s in love in the complacent  “Edge of Glory.

                A pumping bass and anxious “oohs” open the single, setting a high-strung tone.  She’s been going on dates and talking to a couple guys. Lately, though, she has been thinking about a friend of hers. She’s had her eye on him for awhile now.. However, he listens to her when she rants about her day at work. He comforts her when she’s upset. She thinks they should start a relationship. She touches his arm, saying he could drive back to her place and see what happens. She adds he shares her odd sense of humor, It’s new territory for both of them, who have only been in casual relationships.  (“There ain't no reason you and me should be alone/Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!)/And I got a reason that you're who should take me home tonight (Tonight)/I need a man that thinks it's right when it's so wrong/Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!)/Right on the limits where we know we both belong tonight.”

         In the pre-chorus, she’s been skeptical of letting someone in. Someone to know her completely is scary for her. With him, it seems right. Being in love with him requires no strings or conditions, only herself. (“It's hard to feel the rush, to brush the dangerous/I'm gonna run right to, to the edge with you/Where we can both fall far in love.”)

              In the chorus, it’s an important moment for her and possibly one of the best choices she’ll ever make. All she needs to hear is a yes from him. (“I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment of truth/Out on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you/I'm on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge/I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you/
I'm on the edge with you.”)

           He has given her the answer she’s been wanting. She buys both him and herself a shot, celebrating their new relationship. Everything is going to change now and it won’t ever be like it was before. She’s finally said what she’s been holding inside for a long time and for her feelings to be returned, it’s gratifiying.  Usually she can’t stand attention but she’s joining in every dance and talking to whomever she meets. (“Another shot before we kiss the other side/Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!)/
I'm on the edge of something final we call life tonight (Alright! Alright!)/Put on your shades, 'cause I'll be dancing in the flames/Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!)/It isn't hell if everybody knows my name tonight (Alright! Alright!).”)

              The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

        During the bridge, as the late Clarence Clemons’ saxophone solo starts, she repeats “I’m on the edge with you” twice. It’s a glorious moment as he continues for nearly a minute. His solo leads to a sparkling beat, which spins in shiny, blinding circles. A guitar careens right into the beat, setting off sparks.

             The chorus is sung again, with Clemons’ stunning saxophone as the background, to close the single.

      Gaga’s severe, showy vocals are pretentious, expounding on the words and punctating every sentence punctated with an exclamation mark. It’s Clarence Clemons who brings the single to life. Up until the bridge, the drum programming is on “mid 90s diva” setting, filling in the approriate amount of bass in the beginning. Then, in the middle, as expected, the drums flare as if to say “jazz hands!” Some Europop, like floral skinny jeans, does not need to be revisited.

    The  “Edge of the Glory” tumbles over the top full spead ahead, taking out whatever decent beat in it’s path.