for the music video explanation: "The video thematizes military homoeroticism and celebrates Gaga's admiration of the gay community. She explained it is about the "purity of my friendships with my gay friends, and how I've been unable to find that with a straight man in my life."
Directed by Steven Klein, a photographer who collaborated pretty significantly with Madonna in the early 2000s. He also shot loads of designer ad campaigns and did provocative editorial work. His signatures are all over this...from the militant prettyboys to that bare mattress/bed frame setup.
That was the golden age of Gaga. The first two albums were pure pop galore + insane creativity in videos and performances. Gold. The big return of pop and dance in the ocean of hip hop and rent-a-rapper hits of that time. She made pop great again. For a while. I absolutely love the 2008/09 Gaga. She could do no wrong then.
I really wish we still had music videos like this to look forward to! Not everything has to be CGI! This is not my favourite Gaga single but I do enjoy it from time to time. You should definitely do Bad Romance or the Judas video!!
Yes,also according to a huge amount of critics and music reviewers in the medias have reported since years ago that this is AOB and ABBA vibed. And the instrumentation is very much reminiscent of 'Don't turn around/The Sign".In my top 3 Gaga recordings.
@@Techjunkiero Stop being shady, this was Gaga's own work, no matter the spin you put on it. Gaga always said Madonna was one of her inspirations. You all need to let the beef go, there wasn't even one to begin with. It was all publicity, Gaga and Madonna have been friends for years now and while Madonna occasionally pokes fun at the so called 'fued' between them, its all in jest and Gaga never mentions it and only has positive things to say about Madonna. Grow up and move on.
@@uilliam6926 The Madonna references were clear as day when this video came out, and that was years before there was any "beef". In fact, it's partly WHY I was a Gaga fan back then. I thought she referenced Madonna in unique and interesting ways, rather than just ripping them off. The machine gun bra, for instance. It's a clever nod to her idol but takes it one step further in a tongue-in-cheek way that itself recalls Madonna's sense of humor. So pointing out that there are references isn't "shady" unless you're projecting your own spin on it.
I SWEAR she is trolling with this video. Everyone said she was copying Madonna and so she kind of referenced several iconic Madonna music videos in one.
This was released before "Born This Way", which is when she was first really accused of "copying" Madonna. Comparisons had been drawn before then (like they were between every new female pop singer and Madonna back then), but it wasn't until "Born This Way" that she was accused outright of copying Madonna (and she didn't like that at all).
Yes, because Steven Klein helped produce it who is friends with Madonna and helped with her music videos. Nothing to do with copying or any of the BS you lot bring up. This is Gaga's work, end of.
Well its a obviously a homage to Madonna, no need to credit her because its so obvious. Gaga did a great job and Madonna should be actually proud about it caus its a big honor when a big artist like gaga is inspired by her and is not afraid to show it!
Gaga has always admired Madonna and most of these looks on this video were of her admiration of Madonna. But unfortunately Madonna didn't quite welcome her to the industry. Gaga was only 23 when this video was shot. It is very unfortunate that an icon like Madonna was very harsh to such a young and inspired artist
This isn't accurate. Madonna was extremely supportive of Gaga from day one and was so for several years after this video came out. It was only after Born This Way, when Gaga got called out and then lied, that their relationship soured.
Here's my interpretation of the video. The scenes in the video are mostly out of order, but you can reconstruct the story, I think. Here they are in chronological order: 1. Meeting. Scenes at the bar (the very first scene in the video and scenes near the end). Lady Gaga as a bar singer (acapella part near the end of the song). Some sort of general or dictator came here. It seems to be late; everyone's asleep or doesn't pay any attention, but the general is awestruck by Gaga. 2. Propaganda. Gaga gets together with the general. Starting at 5:36, this shows the progression of Gaga's performance from a simple singer to the dictatorship propaganda machine. The black-and-white part is almost like a chronicle. First she dances alone, then slowly more and more military appears. Then, in color, it's full-blown military propaganda with a gun bra. 3. Uprising. The scenes throughout the video (mostly on screens) with burning cars and running people. It seems there was some sort of uprising in the country. 4. Funeral. The military seems to be in control after the uprising, but the general is dead. Gaga walks in front of the procession, carrying the general's heart. 5. Corruption. As Gaga watches the military dance, she starts noticing all the young soldiers. She does the same dance as in the propaganda part in her underwear - she uses her influence to use them for her pleasure. This includes all the orgy scenes. 6. Enlightenment. Scenes of Gaga in a robe. She sees the general looking at her during the orgy (7:00). She realizes what she has become and stops participating. In the end, as she adopts religion, completely turns her attention inside and finds enlightenment. In the very last scene, her inner light burns the film, erasing all her sins.
I see so much in this music video. The themes of gender and sexuality playing off of the authoritarian/ militarist motifs are definitely what stand out most to me. It makes me think about the exploitation of servicemen, especially lgbt servicemen, considering the video came out while Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, was still an official policy of the US military. I could go on and on about this music video, honestly. The color choices, the fashion, the references, everything is so good. 🫨
@@bridgethegapreactions That‘s correct. He produced some songs on their second album The Bridge in 1995. You should give this album a listen. It also contains many mature and downtempo songs besides their upbeat happy music. An underrated album in my opinion.
@@bridgethegapreactionsYeah he got his break with them. Their demo got stuck in another guys car. They were forced to listen to it for weeks. Then they said there is something in this band. Those songs turned into The Sign, All that she wants…They’ve a great back story you’d never expect for a pop band.😊
Before you react to anything from Lady Gaga, watch everything from Madonna. She's a copycat. Look up "Two Steps Behind Me" from Madonna. Her video captures all of Gaga's poor imitations of her. 💯
That was a terrible video and song. Only Madonna could pull off something like this. Gaga is no Madonna. I expected better from Gaga with her amazing voice. This is not her style genre. Just a horrible mess. Why would she release this; I'm shook.
I like this video a lot. One of her best. I think she pulls it off well. It's only starting with the Artpop album, after she fired her whole creative team, that she started to slip. She never really recovered IMO. But those first two albums were pretty great.
