Music Review: Lady Gaga "Applause"

Lady Gaga

Applause

Album: ARTPOP

Year: 2013

              The transformation into the living, breathing fame monster is complete for Lady Gaga in the laborious “Applause.”

                Static synths open the single, setting an exasperating tone. The picture was posted a minute ago. With her arms are folded against her chest and her phone on the table, she checks the clock. The beeps should be starting any moment now, alerting her of any responses. Beep. Beep. Beep. She can see what they are saying in her head: “luv U gaga!URso daring!” She fetches her assistant to get her phone and began reading off the messages. Indeed, they tell her she’s a beautiful goddess, she’s edgy and that the reporters don’t know art.  Soon, they will be trolling the reporter’s Twitter and the webpage. Her celebrity is her life. (“I stand here waiting/For you to bang the gong/To crash the critic saying/Is it right or is it wrong?/If only fame had an IV baby could I bear/Being away from you I found the vein put in here.”)

         In the chorus, the adulation and endless praise have become her reason for being.  (“I live for the applause, applause, applause/I live for the applause-plause/Live for the applause-plause/Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me/The applause, applause, applause/Give me that thing that I love (I'll turn turn the lights out)/Put your hands up make'em touch (make it real loud)/ Give me that thing that I love (I'll turn turn the lights out)/Put your hands up make'em touch (make it real loud) A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E/Make it real loud (put your hands up make'em touch)/A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E/ A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E.”)

           She’s read her reviews. The critics believe she’s ripping off Madonna and trying too hard. She’s well-versed in her pop culture. However, she thinks Madonna is an iconic part of it. Imitating is an honor. She was once looking at magazines in stores, reading the cover stories and admiring the photos inside them. Now, she is on the cover of the same magazines. (“I overheard your theory/Nostalgia's for geeks/I guess sir, if you say so/Some of us just like to read/One second I'm a Kunst fan/Suddenly the Kunst is me/
Pop culture was in art now/Art in Pop culture in me.”)

                  The chorus is sung again.

                 In the bridge, she tries to get everyone to clap in as the piano intones its notes in a slow, dramatic fashion that a collapse is expected. (“Whoo!/Touch-touch!/Whoo! Touch-touch now! Whoo”)

          The chorus is sung again.

          Lady Gaga spells out Artpop, the album’s title, to end the single. (“A-R-T-P-O-P.”)

           Lady Gaga’s  didatic, comptemptous vocals mock, giving the middle finger while sticking her tongue out in a crotch-grabbing pose to her critics (the bloggers, actually, which she shouted in an August 11, 2013 tweet.). It’s unfortunate she won’t listen to negative feedback. Otherwise, someone would’ve told her the single is almost all chorus and it doesn’t really gel until after the bridge, as though it were half-finished.

            The faint “Applause” is met with silence.