Born This Way (song)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Born This Way" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga, and the lead single from her second studio album of the same name. Written by Gaga and Jeppe Laursen, who produced it along with Fernando Garibay and DJ White Shadow, the track was developed while Gaga was on the road with The Monster Ball Tour. Inspired by 1990s music which empowered women and the gay community, Gaga explained that "Born This Way" was her freedom song. She sang part of the chorus at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards in 2010 and announced the song as the lead single from the album, released on February 11, 2011.
"Born This Way" is backed by rumbling synth sounds, a humming bass and additional chorus percussion, with sole organ toward the end. The lyrics discuss the self-empowerment of minorities including the LGBT community as well as racial minorities, referring to "cholas" and "orients". Critics positively reviewed the song, calling it a "club-ready anthem", though it faced criticism for having similarities with Madonna's 1989 single "Express Yourself". The song reached number one in over 25 countries and was her third single to top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and the 1,000th song in that chart's history (since 1958) to reach number one. "Born This Way" has sold 8.2 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Nick Knight directed the accompanying music video, which was inspired by surrealist painters like Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon. Gaga is depicted as giving birth to a new race during a prologue. After a series of dance sequences, the video concludes with the view of a city populated by this race. Critics noted the video's references to the work of Madonna, Michael Jackson, Björk, and the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, as well as to Greek mythology and surrealism.
Gaga performed the song at the 53rd Grammy Awards after coming out of an incubating vessel. Shortly after, she added it to the setlist of the last leg of The Monster Ball Tour. "Born This Way" was later performed on television shows, such as the Saturday Night Live, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and Good Morning America, many of the singer's tours, and it was notably part of her Super Bowl LI halftime show set. The song was treated with different remixes, including a "Country Road" version recorded by Gaga herself and another by Indian production duo Salim-Sulaiman. Alice Cooper, Madonna, Katy Perry, Maria Aragon, and the cast of the TV series Glee have covered the song. In 2019, the song was covered in the Disney Channel series Andi Mack.
Background
{{Quote box|width=25%|align=right|quote=The nexus of 'Born This Way' and the soul of the record reside in this idea that you were not necessarily born in one moment. You have your entire life to birth yourself into becoming the ultimate potential vision that you see for you. Who you are when you come out of your mother's womb is not necessarily who you will become. 'Born This Way' says your birth is not finite, your birth is infinite.|source=—Gaga talking about the meaning of "Born This Way".
See also
- List of number-one singles of 2011 (Australia)
- List of number-one hits of 2011 (Austria)
- List of Ultratop 50 number-one singles of 2011
- List of number-one pop hits of 2011 (Brazil)
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2011 (Canada)
- List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 2011
- List of number-one singles of 2011 (Finland)
- List of number-one hits of 2011 (Germany)
- List of number-one singles of the 2010s (Hungary)
- List of number-one singles of 2011 (Ireland)
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2011 (Japan)
- List of number-one singles from the 2010s (New Zealand)
- List of number-one singles of 2011 (Poland)
- List of number-one singles in Scotland in 2011
- List of number-one singles of 2011 (Spain)
- List of number-one singles of 2011 (Sweden)
- List of number-one hits of 2011 (Switzerland)
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 2011
- List of Mainstream Top 40 number-one hits of 2011 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance singles of 2011 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance airplay hits of 2011 (U.S.)
