.jpg)
Despite its Latin theme and title, Lady Gaga's latest single "Alejandro" has its roots more in Central and Eastern Europe than South America. The song's subtext is closely connected to the vampires of Romania and Hungary. The Gothic Romanticism of "Alejandro" is present everywhere in Gaga's performance of "Alejandro" on last night's episode of American Idol. The moment Gaga starts playing those minor chords of "Bad Romance" on her raven-black grand piano covered with roses and thorns coated in black, it's clear that death is in the air. It's as if the roses and thorns are flowers on a grave or a coffin. Fog mists around transforming the American Idol stage into a mock cemetary with a statue of an angel in the center of the stage. Gaga turns her beautiful techno hit "Bad Romance" into a gothic piano ballad, given added intensity by the surges of an electric guitar. She's wearing a black veil, with her face barely visible. Her powerful, melancholic vocals sound as if they're emanating from darkness.
As the piano stops and a mournful violin plays the opening melody of Gaga's song "Alejandro," (which is also the opening violin melody on Vittorio Monti's 1904 composition "Czardas," which "Alejandro" interpolates) the camera pans revealing the black-coated vinery hanging from a vine-covered tree. This scene is definitely supposed to be of a cemetary. The towering angel statue is in closer view and it's propped up by a fountain, possibly the Fountain of Youth. The male dancers rise from the cemetary's fog dressed in nothing but black spandex hot pants (short-shorts) and black tuxedo cummerbunds (around their waists).
Gaga rises from her piano and one of her main dancers Jeremy Hudson holds her floor-length cape and guides it as she walks out towards the foggy cemetary revealing herself to be wearing a silk mesh bodysuit with embroidered Chantilly lace and crystal and jet beading with organza cape, designed by Giorgio Armani. She looks like a gothic version of Poison Ivy from the Batman comics. Even when one of her dancers removes her veil, her face is still covered in a black lace matching the black lace design on the rest of her body. The removal of her veil reveals Gaga to be wearing a shoulder-length blond wig on her head reminiscent of '60s actress Brigitte Bardot's blond hairstyle.
The Vittorio Monti-composed Romantic Period song "Czardas" that Gaga samples for "Alejandro" is based on the Hungarian dance that is called Czardas. The dance of Czardas has been called "the tango of the East." That statement points to the romantic nature of the Czardas dance because the tango of South America is quite romantic and quite sexual. So is the vampire. Hungary is associated with vampires, as is Romania where its region of Transylvania is forever attached to vampires. Gaga plays on these connections between sampled song and vampires and all things romantic, like South America and its Latin lovers. What better way to keep with the horror/monster motif on her album The Fame Monster.
Gaga's second album The Fame Monster, which "Alejandro" comes from, is driven by Gaga's overwhelming need to be liberated. As a woman dealing with the strange, complicated thing that is human existence, Gaga fashions herself as someone undead who's on a search to find the answers that will bring her back to life.
On the surface, "Alejandro" is a song about a woman who's reminiscing about a passionate love affair she had with a man in the exotic land of Mexico that had to come to an end. The song sounds like a romance novel set to music, but the subtext of "Alejandro" is far darker than a standard romance. Gaga's deeper meaning involves the taste and consumption of blood and the connections blood as a life force or to eternal life. She uses the mythical figures of vampires as metaphors for her unrest, her unfinished business.
The names of men that she sings during 'Alejandro's' chorus, Alejandro, Fernando and Roberto, are Gaga's past lovers. Fernando and Roberto died and Gaga grieves them deeply. It's not until Alejandro comes along that she finally finds enlightment. Alejandro is a vampire and transforms Gaga into a vampire. Together as the undead, they share a sort of "bad romance." The underlying message to take from that is that Gaga had to become something else in order to realize her destiny.
The male dancers represent Gaga's past loves come back to life in zombie forms, but her main loves Alejandro, Fernando and Roberto are undeniably vampires connected to her sexually and spiritually. Gaga is constantly dancing with the dead. She did it on "Bad Romance" and on "Telephone." She mock-killed herself at the 2009 Video Music Awards. Gaga's simulated hanging was symbolic of the death of the old Lady Gaga and the rebirth of the new Lady Gaga premiered on "Bad Romance" and its music video. Gaga is constantly trying to proceed with her new life as a new person, but she still struggles to make peace with the past and her old self.
Gaga's second album The Fame Monster, which "Alejandro" comes from, is driven by Gaga's overwhelming need to be liberated. As a woman dealing with the strange, complicated thing that is human existence, Gaga fashions herself as someone undead who's on a search to find the answers that will bring her back to life.
On the surface, "Alejandro" is a song about a woman who's reminiscing about a passionate love affair she had with a man in the exotic land of Mexico that had to come to an end. The song sounds like a romance novel set to music, but the subtext of "Alejandro" is far darker than a standard romance. Gaga's deeper meaning involves the taste and consumption of blood and the connections blood as a life force or to eternal life. She uses the mythical figures of vampires as metaphors for her unrest, her unfinished business.
The names of men that she sings during 'Alejandro's' chorus, Alejandro, Fernando and Roberto, are Gaga's past lovers. Fernando and Roberto died and Gaga grieves them deeply. It's not until Alejandro comes along that she finally finds enlightment. Alejandro is a vampire and transforms Gaga into a vampire. Together as the undead, they share a sort of "bad romance." The underlying message to take from that is that Gaga had to become something else in order to realize her destiny.
The male dancers represent Gaga's past loves come back to life in zombie forms, but her main loves Alejandro, Fernando and Roberto are undeniably vampires connected to her sexually and spiritually. Gaga is constantly dancing with the dead. She did it on "Bad Romance" and on "Telephone." She mock-killed herself at the 2009 Video Music Awards. Gaga's simulated hanging was symbolic of the death of the old Lady Gaga and the rebirth of the new Lady Gaga premiered on "Bad Romance" and its music video. Gaga is constantly trying to proceed with her new life as a new person, but she still struggles to make peace with the past and her old self.
One of the beautiful things that Gaga includes in this American Idol performance is the tango-like dancing. I doubt it's Czardas. It doesn't really look anything like the Hungarian dance, but one never knows. I think Gaga built more upon the Latin theme. All of the dancers on stage are male and she dances with Mark Kanemura (one of her other main dancers), but you know what that means. The other male dancers simply dance with each other and it's beautiful. There's something about the mirrored image of one male moving in space with another male. The symmetry of their bodies in space is sublime. At one point during the chorus, each dancer drives an imaginary stake through the heart of his partner. The vampire subtext never seemed more apparent.
Once again, Lady Gaga has worked her performance art magic. Her art seems strangely out of place on American Idol since none of the singers on Idol (even the professional guest artists who perform) come close to her artistry. Gaga's classical background in piano and knowledge of art history shows in this performance. Never have I seen the undead look so lovely.
Once again, Lady Gaga has worked her performance art magic. Her art seems strangely out of place on American Idol since none of the singers on Idol (even the professional guest artists who perform) come close to her artistry. Gaga's classical background in piano and knowledge of art history shows in this performance. Never have I seen the undead look so lovely.
No comments:
Post a Comment