Lady Gaga announced yesterday on Twitter that her next single is “coming in a bit,” but failed to reveal what song from her hit album Born This Way would be getting the full-on single treatment.
Gaga is a master at stoking anticipation when it comes to her singles. Remember when she sang that little blurb of “Born This Way” a cappella at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards and her Little Monsters went bananas, some going so far as to loop the 15-second audio into their own mixes of her songs (among other things). She teases and flirts and generally does a better job than almost anyone else in making sure we know her new tune is dropping.
So with a new single on the horizon, it’s time to think out loud about which BTW songs we think could really connect with listeners outside of her loyal fanbase.
“Marry The Night”
“Marry The Night” is a favorite of just about everyone involved in making Born This Way, from producer Fernando Garibay to creative director Laurieann Gibson to Gaga herself. Gaga has said the song is her and Garibay’s “baby” and that she cried when he explained the massive production to her: “He said, 'What's wrong?' And I said, 'I can't believe that you hear me so big.'" Garibay told MTV he was inspired to outdo his previous work with Gaga on the Grammy-winning song “Dance In The Dark.”
“I remember being backstage and hearing the concert start, so I go out there and hear 'Dance in the Dark' open up the whole concert, and I wanted to outdo that feeling,” Garibay told MTV News. “I wanted to outdo that moment that opens up the show. I'm just that way.”
The song was inspired by Gaga’s hometown of New York City and was originally intended as the first single from BTW before it was scrapped in favor of the title track. It’s clearly close to the singer's heart, and while it’s always smart to expect the unexpected from Gaga, “Marry The Night” is an anthemic fan favorite that also happens to be one of the more radio-friendly songs on the album. Given the positive reception the similar “The Edge of Glory” has received at radio, she’d be silly not to get this thing out ASAP. Plus, you know she’s dying to do a massive video homage to NYC and this is her chance.
“You and I”
There are a few reasons this probably won’t happen, but it would be cool because it’s one of the best songs on the album. A major reason this won’t likely be made a single is because she has been performing it live for over two years. Sure, in an effort to change up the piano ballad, she brought in Def Leppard and AC/DC producer Mutt Lang to lay a beat and massive claps all over it and Queen’s Brian May for a killer guitar solo, but that doesn’t mean she intends to push it as a single … it means she wanted to give fans something a little different while making the song huge like everything else on BTW.
(Another reason is that it is a highly personal song, said to be about on-off boyfriend Luc Carl, and putting her private life on display in such a grand fashion just isn’t Gaga’s style.)
“Scheiße”
This has grown into one of our favorite songs on Born This Way. It’s a thumping meditation on how powerful women are treated by society and lyrically it’s probably the most fully-realized song on the entire record. “Love is objectified by what men say is right,” Gaga sings, “Blonde high-heeled feminist enlisting femmes for this.” It also has one of the most roaring choruses – “I, I wish I got to dance on a single prayer / I, I wish I could be strong without somebody there” – on an album built on roaring choruses.
There is a problem, however: large portions of the song are in German. Yes, Gaga lapses into foreign languages for a line or two on a number of her biggest tracks, from “Born This Way” to “Bad Romance,” and that’s always fun. But when it comes to scoring a hit on American radio, there’s a big difference between a line or two and several repeated refrains.
This is a great song, and if radio programmers weren’t so universally known for avoiding risky material, we bet it could grow into a hit. Sadly, we don’t think that’s gonna happen.
“Heavy Metal Lover”
Hey, it’s your favorite song of the year (so far), so why the heck not? Also it contains the line, “I want your whiskey mouth all over my blonde south,” which as far as we’re concerned is the new “bluffin’ with my muffin.”
What song do you think should be Gaga’s next single from 'Born This Way'? Vote now through Monday, July 11 in our poll below.