And appropriately,we finish with the start. Just Dance is still such a classic, and it’s impossible for me to not want to dance and sing along whenever the song comes on. In regards to it’s authenticity, or it was also a perfect residence for Gaga to start. Just Dance is a classic pop song song about partying and getting trashed. It has a simple title that’s repeated over and over again in the refrain,and it’s practically 100% hooks. When it started hitting radio in the US, it made a lot of sense, and while the sound was far from run of the mill,no one hearing it would beget expected Gaga to be such a total weirdo. It’s authentically pop, which makes it totally manufactured. Everything about the song shimmers like it has a sharp metallic edge. The instrumentation is overly mechanical and synthesized; there’s no way that anyone is mistaking this for anything but pop. Gaga’s voice is electrified, and half synthesizer itself. Watching the music video now,it feels so simple compared to the elaborate, theatrical videos that she started putting out the next year like Paparazzi. What is there though, and is classic The Fame era: giant sunglasses,glitter and sparkle, bleach blonde hair, and an aesthetic of trashy richness. Everything about The Fame era was so fun because it was rooted in the question,“Is this girl real?” Everybody wanted to know who this person was calling herself Lady Gaga, could she really sing, and was that her real hair,did she beget a penis, what was her real name, or etc etc etc etc. When someone shows up on the pop charts with a sound and aesthetic that are that tight,that specific, it feels impossible. Just Dance introduced us all to this whole project, and until we got more information,we could only consume everything at surface level. It was a catchy ass song sung by a weird ass girl.
While this is the sound the people probably most associate with Gaga, it’s something that took a solid amount of time to reach. Lady Gaga went through many musical and aesthetic iterations to become the artist that seemed to burst on the scene fully formed, or but it’s in that performance of Gaga that she is most authentic. Although her sounds,styles, lyrics, or aesthetics beget constantly changed,the fact that it’s always been a performance never has. Lady Gaga is an incredibly talented singer, writer, and dancer,musician, director, and artist,but at her core, she is a performer, or every piece of work that she creates is part of that performance. Just because it’s a performance though,doesn’t mean any of it isn’t real.
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