"My music isn't me jerking my dick off all over a piano trying to feel something. I make soulless electronic pop."
Brilliant. This is why I want to ride your disco stick, Lady Gaga. Years ago Bowie, Freddie Mercury, and Madonna circa 1984 had a threesome and their love child was named Gaga. She emerged from a giant wedding cake....singing.
Merging art and commercial pop is not easy to do without putting forward an agenda or a message. But Warhol was hands down an artist and well I have no idea how Bowie was received back then and how people handled the androgynous glamor of Ziggy Stardust, a literal work of art. Lady Gaga does the same with her body and her performance. In an interview with Johnathan Ross she talked about her early burlesque performance art on the Lower East Side. She would light aerosol cans on fire, and go-go dance
in a leather thong and an "Indian headress." This is the same girl who got EARLY ADMISSION to TISCH and dropped out. She wrote piano ballads at 14. Who wrote the lyric, "Cause I'm bluffin' with my muffin." Her devotion to making her life art is comparable to the devotion of pilgrims crawling across countries on their knees. She is naturally less hypocritical.I seriously cannot think of anyone more talented making pop music. This includes Beck. I can't believe I just said that. Damnit, Radiohead too. I don't think people get it quite yet, but Ziggy wasn't born in a day right?
The worst part is the complete addiction to watching her. Which I get when I start watching Britney videos or Madonna or them together in the brilliant VMA Hollywood performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ9QVHWWSy4). On the other hand, good art always gives me a little buzz, a calm high. I feel it in a museum when I walk into that room in the Met filled with El Greco. I get it when I hear Nessum Dorma. Anything Debussey. Watching Revelations. The two feelings combine when watching Gaga. Sugary guilty pleasure that is actually really, really good. I can't stop looking up this stuff. I bet she would just be a smash in Bollywood.
Speaking of which, I downloaded the soundtrack to Om Shanti Om. I suggest you all do the same.
Amadou et Miriam deserve their own post. And some research. I don't have time because I have to look up more Gaga stuff on you tube. For now enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iju1_DhH2Qs&feature=related
That Amadou et Mariam song is so beautiful. I am so glad you know it. Do you know the translation? I will do one for you quickly in case you don't.
ReplyDeleteJe pense a toi, mon amour, ma bien aimee
->I think of you my love, my beloved
Ne m’abandonne pas, mon amour, ma cherie
->Don't abandon me, my love, my dear
Quand je suis dans mon lit, je ne reve qu’a toi
->When I'm in my bed I dream only of you
Et quand je me reveille, je ne pense qu’a toi
->And when I wake, I think only of you
Si je ne te vois pas, je ne peux rien dire
->If I don't see you, I can't speak
Je ne peux rien faire, je ne peux rien voir
->I can't do anything, I can't see anything
Je ne veux rien savoir
-> I don't want to know about anything
Mon amour, ma cherie
->My love, my dearest
Certains t’ont promis la terre
-> Some people have promised you the world
D’autres promettent le ciel
-> Others have promised you the heavens
Il y en a qui t’ont promis la lune
-> There are some who have promised you the moon
Et moi je n’ai rien que ma pauvre guitare
-> And me, I have nothing but my poor guitar
So freaking gorgeous.
I'm not sure if it's fair to classify Lady Gaga in the same genre of pop with Radiohead and Beck, since she admits she's trying to make pop music, whereas they both make music that happens to be quite popular.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand soulless electronic pop and while I think that Lady Gaga's comment about 'not jerking off on a piano' is a but condescending, I read the lyrics to 'Pokerface' and have to admit it's far more creative than most music of its type.
Thought:
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't jerk off over the piano but she basically does so on film in her music videos.