Born This Way (song)

"Born This Way"
Song

"Born This Way" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album Born This Way. Written and produced by Gaga, Fernando Garibay, Jeppe Laursen and DJ White Shadow, "Born This Way" was developed while Gaga was on the road with The Monster Ball Tour. It was inspired by the 1990s empowering music for women and the gay community, with Gaga explaining that "Born This Way" was her freedom song. Previously, she had sung part of the chorus at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards in 2010. The song was announced as the lead single from the album, and was scheduled to be released on February 13, 2011. However, it was instead released two days earlier, along side the full set of lyrics and the single artwork.

"Born This Way" is an electropop song, backed by rumbling synth sounds and a humming bass, with a percussion added in the chorus. It also includes Gaga singing a capella near the end with an organ added. The lyrics of the song talk about empowerment with the chorus lyrics talking about making no apologies and being who you are. It features the names of communities like the gay, lesbian as well as transgender. After the early release of the lyrics, it garnered criticism from some Asian and Hispanic communities, claiming that the lyrics' use of the terms "chola" and "orient" to describe Latino and Asian communities is offensive and derogatory. The song has been remixed by different remixers, including a Country Road version recorded by Gaga herself, and another by Indian music producer duo Salim and Sulaiman Merchant.

"Born This Way" received mixed to positive reception from critics, being described as a "club-ready anthem", although it faced criticism for having similarities with Madonna's 1989 single, "Express Yourself". While some reviewers surmised that the similarities would damage the song's appeal, others felt that "Born This Way" was nonetheless a completely separate piece of work. The song reached number one in 19 countries, including Austria, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and Sweden. In the United States, it became her third single to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally, "Born This Way" became the 1000th number-one song on the Hot 100, spending a total of six weeks atop the Hot 100. It became the fastest-selling song in iTunes history, selling one million copies in five days.

The music video for the song was directed by Nick Knight and by Gaga herself. It premiered on Monday, February 28, 2011 and was inspired by painters like Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon, and their surrealistic images. The main idea behind the video is Gaga giving birth to a new race. The video commences with a prologue, in which Gaga talks about the new race who are born without prejudices and concludes with the view of a city populated by this race. The video has been noted for its cultural references and artistic similarities, not only to other recording artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna, but to Greek mythology, surrealism and the work of the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen. "Born This Way" was first performed at the 53rd Grammy Awards, where Gaga sang it after coming out of an incubating vessel. The song was also performed during the last leg of her The Monster Ball Tour. Singer Katy Perry and internet sensation Maria Aragon have also covered the song.

Background

"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.

—Gaga talking about the meaning of 'Born This Way'.

Throughout 2010, Lady Gaga was touring for her Monster Ball tour. It was then that she started developing ideas for her second studio album, Born This Way. The first song written for the album was the title track itself, which she wrote in ten minutes. She explained: "I wrote it in ten fucking minutes... and it is a completely magical message song. And after I wrote it, the gates just opened, and the songs kept coming. It was like an immaculate conception." Along with the seventeen songs on the album, "Born This Way" was recorded while she was on tour in 2010. One of the first people to listen to the track was Gaga's friend Perez Hilton, who commented that "Born This Way" is "a very gay song—unapologetically, gay-in-your-face gay—but it's also a universal song that can relate to everyone, [t]o all of us outsiders, to all of us freaks, to all of us who feel different. And the music is undeniable." White Shadow, one of the producers of the track, credited Gaga with coming up the idea and the theme behind the song. "We recorded it around the world, on the road, in whatever was available. It sounds like it reads, but not like you think until you hear it," he added. Gaga wanted to record her own freedom song, and explained with Billboard her inspiration behind the song:

"I want to write my this-is-who-the-fuck-I-am anthem, but I don't want it to be hidden in poetic wizardry and metaphors. I want it to be an attack, an assault on the issue because I think, especially in today's music, everything gets kind of washy sometimes and the message gets hidden in the lyrical play. Harkening back to the early '90s, when Madonna, En Vogue, Whitney Houston and TLC were making very empowering music for women and the gay community and all kind of disenfranchised communities, the lyrics and the melodies were very poignant and very gospel and very spiritual and I said, 'That's the kind of record I need to make. That's the record that's going to shake up the industry.' It's not about the track. It's not about the production. It's about the song. Anyone could sing 'Born This Way'. It could've been anyone."

On the 43rd episode of her web video series, Transmission Gagavision, Gaga was asked regarding the most personal thing she has ever told her fans, to which she replied that "The greatest challenge in writing 'Born This Way' is I had to become confident and secure in myself. I had to leave my insecurity behind me... Whatever residual scars behind. I spent two years delving deep into my wounds... the blood transfusion. 'Born This Way' is who I am. An artist in a constant state of half-fantasy/half-reality at all times."

Artwork and release

On February 8, 2011, Gaga tweeted the words "Trois Jours" ("Three Days") along with a picture of the official single artwork, via TwitPic. Described by Charlie Amter from The Hollywood Reporter as harkening back to the "classic record covers from the 1980s (think Missing Persons, Roxy Music or Duran Duran) or even the 1970s", Gaga is naked in the black-and-white cover art and displays the tattoos on her back. Her hair is air-blown and she wears heavy make-up while sharp edges protrude from her face and shoulder. Tanner Stransky from Entertainment Weekly gave a positive review of the cover art, saying that "it’s quite the doozy of a photo: Doesn’t Gaga look almost animalistic in this shot? It’s—dare I say the word, especially after Perez used it to describe the art, too—totally and completely fierce. And really, would you expect anything less? Gaga’s hair flows mane-like, and it almost seems like you might find the creature she’s channeling somewhere in the African jungle." However, Archana Ram from the same publication felt that the cover art was too similar with that of Kylie Minogue's cover art for her 2007 single "2 Hearts". Nicole Eggenberger from OK! felt that "In true Gaga fashion, the singer styles some pointy shoulders, horns and lovely hairdo. If though it’s still on the wild side, it looks like Gaga also kept it glam with the makeup!" Leah Collins from Dose believed that the extreme make-up and tattoos are an ironic play on the title of the song. Bill Lamb from About.com opined that the "emphasis of cheekbones and angular lines in the makeup gives the image an androgynous feel somewhere between male and female. In that way it brings to mind the classic David Bowie Young Americans album cover." He added that a sense of vulnerability was added with the lack of clothes in the image.

Gaga had sang a few lines from the song while accepting the 2010 MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year for "Bad Romance": "I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes; I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way." Given as a Christmas "gift" to her fans, Gaga announced, via Twitter, the release dates of the album and its lead single at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day, 2011. The single was dated to be released on February 13, 2011, while the album on May 23, 2011. Supplementing this announcement came a black-and-white photograph in which Gaga, according to Jocelyn Vena from MTV, is "nude from the waist down, with her hair blowing about, and sporting a jacket with 'Born This Way' emblazoned in what looks like bedazzled jewels." In late January 2011, Gaga released the full set of lyrics of the song before Gaga wrote "Can't wait any longer, single coming Friday" weeks later on Twitter, and thus, "Born This Way" was released two days early on February 11, 2011. The song was premiered on radio stations worldwide at 6 a.m. EST on February 11, 2011 and was released for online purchase at 9 a.m. EST the same day.

Composition

"Born This Way" is written by Gaga, Jeppe Laursen, Paul Blair, Fernando Garibay, with Gaga, Garibay and DJ White Shadow producing it. It was mixed at Abbey Road Studios in London and Germano Studios in New York. The club-beat influenced song begins with Gaga's voice uttering the line "It doesn't matter if you love him or capital H-I-M" on a loop, backed by a rumbling synth sound and a humming bass. As the synths change into a beat, Gaga belts out the song's first verse, "My mama told me when I was young/ We are all born superstars." The bass drops off and she then quickly moves into the chorus, "I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes; I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way", which Jocelyn Vena from MTV likened as being "meant to be heard in a big space. It's fast and hard-hitting." The chorus is backed by the sound from a percussion. After the chorus she chants the line "Don't be a drag, Just be a queen" a number of times on top of handclaps, before moving to the second verse. An interlude follows, where Gaga chants the names of various communities. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that the interlude is a mixture of the music from Glee and the song "There But For the Grace of God Go I" by Machine. The music fades out for a moment, as Gaga sings a capella, before the addition of an organ and Gaga closes the song with her vocals remaining clear. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Born This Way" is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderate dance beat tempo of 120 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of B major with Gaga's voice spanning the tonal nodes of F♯₃ to C♯₅. "Born This Way" follows a basic sequence of C♯₅–F♯₅–E₅–B₅ in the verses and F♯₅–F♯–E–B–Bm₇–C♯ in the chorus.

The lyrics of the song talk about empowerment with the chorus lyrics talking about making no apologies and being who you are. It features the names of communities like the gay, lesbian as well as transgender, which Gaga said was her decision to "put my money exactly where my mouth is. The Little Monsters all over the world as well as the gay community have been tremendously supportive over the years and I have in turn been supportive. Let's call a spade a spade. It's not like The Fame and The Fame Monster address those communities, not directly. This is my chance to create something that is not only supportive of my political and social beliefs—not just for the gay community, but for everyone... This is also my chance to artistically say, 'I'm not being safe with this record.' I'm not trying to gain new fans. I love the fans I already have, and this is for them."

After the early release of the lyrics, it garnered criticism from some Asian and Hispanic communities, including Latino groups MECha and Chicanos Unidos Arizona, claiming that the lyrics' use of the terms "chola" and "orient" to describe Latino and Asian communities is offensive and derogatory. In response to the lyrics, Robert Paul Reyes of Newsblaze.com stated that while he agreed with the lyrics' pro-gay stance, he questioned the use of the term "chola", asking, "Are Latinos supposed to be grateful that a white superstar, born of privilege, included a racist shout out to our community? Not all Latino ladies are 'cholas' in the barrio, some of them are teachers, writers, engineers and nurses and doctors." Radio stations in Malaysia chose to garble the lyrics dealing with the acceptance of the LGBT community, due to concerns over government bans on content deemed offensive. In response, Gaga urged Malaysian youth wanting the uncensored version to be played to take action, stating: "It is your job and it is your duty as young people to have your voices heard. You must do everything that you can if you want to be liberated by your society. You must call, you must not stop, you must protest peaceably."

Remixes

A number of remixes were commissioned by Interscope Records, to accompany the song. The first set of remixes were done by LA Riots, Chew Fu and DJ White Shadow. Titled Born This Way – The Remixes Part 1, the remixes were released as CD single and digital download on March 15, 2011. Another set of remixes were done by Michael Woods, Grum, Dada Life, Zedd, Bimbo Jones, and Twin Shadow. It was released on March 29, 2011. Gaga also released a "Country Road Version" of the song on March 15, 2011, via her Twitter account. The version opens with swirling guitars and then introduces a fuzzed-out slide guitar and harmonica wheeze, with the original disco beats replaced by restrained brush drumming and a more laid-back vibe. Once the first chorus starts, the song chugs along on live-sounding, laconic drumming and soulful harmonica. Just before the three-minute mark, Gaga mixes in some new lyrics, "If I wanna make it country, baby, then it's OK, cuz I was born, I was born, I was born this way," over picked mandolin. "From London, Paris, Japan back to USA/ I was born on the road, I was born to be brave," she adds, as the song breaks into full-on country-rock mode reminiscent of late-period Bon Jovi in the final minute, according to Gil Kaufman of MTV. A portion of the money earned from sales of "Country Road Version" went to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

A Bollywood version of the song was done by Indian music producer duo Salim and Sulaiman Merchant. The remix features Salim's voice and was released on DesiHits.com, a website for South Asian music and entertainment news. The producers had been in talks with Anjula (Acharia-Bath) of DesiHits.com for a while on some music projects and Gaga, who does not have much reach within the Indian diaspora, was very keen on a Bollywood remix for "Born This Way". Since Desi Hits! is a part of Interscope Records, which is again a part of Universal Music—Gaga’s label—the Merchants had interacted with her manager Troy Carter earlier. So, when Gaga’s management decided to do an Indian version of the track, they got in touch with the Merchants. Sulaiman explained: "We were sent her raw vocals and using that, we designed an entirely new track. There was no brief. We sent her a rough cut of our composition for initial feedback on whether we were giving it the right groove. She loved it and that’s how we went about it." The Merchants used a number of Indian musical instruments like the dugi, sitar by Sunil Das, and also the dhol and dholak in the chorus. Sulaiman told MTV News' Jocelyn Vena:

"It's been such a big track, it's been very popular, and when you consider the style, it's very aggressive. It's got all the stuff that's required to make it a nice clubby track, so for us, the most important thing was: How do you get it into a zone where it's palpable to the Indian flavor? And the first thing we did was bring in a sitar, and that changed the flavor a little bit. We kept the aggression but changed the style and made it a little more four on the floor, a little more house."

Salim added, "I've also sung a little bit of alaap to give it a new avatar. The alaap gives it a Sufi touch, as that's the kind of music we do and it was also about adding our signature. Her management team emailed saying that she’d liked it and was very happy. [...] We’ve got emails and text messages and tweets telling us how much people love the song. In fact, we’re already in talks to remix another one of Gaga’s songs." The remix will be a part of the tracklist of Born This Way.

Critical response

After its release, "Born This Way" received mixed to positive response from music critics. Michael Cragg from The Guardian wrote that the song "is a thumping, almost disco anthem that stomps along until the chorus crashes in with the weight of a discarded meat dress. Within the ridiculously camp musical context, the lyrics sound a lot less heavy-handed than it would suggest." Rick Florino of Artistdirect gave the song five out of five stars and labeled the song as "an immediate pop classic", commenting that "no one can carry a hook like Lady Gaga, and the chorus on 'Born This Way' is nothing short of a monster." Alison Schwartz from People added that "the club-ready anthem, complete with a few A Capella chants and Italian lyrics, shows off Gaga's powerhouse vocal chords—and knack for powerful songwriting." Jem Aswad from Billboard was also positive, commenting that " if fans were looking for something big, anthemic, positive and global, they weren't the least bit disappointed. 'Born This Way' is massive in every way: It's a huge-sounding single with a pulsating beat and a love-yourself message that's bound to pack dancefloors and blast from cars, computers and radios for weeks to come." Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the song five out of five stars, describing it as a "life-affirming equality anthem, a straight-up club pumper and a flat-out fantastic pop song." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine said: "There's a sense [that] Gaga has tapped into something truly special, maybe even important. The song's message is certainly one that the world's youth needs to hear now more than ever. And I can't think of a better messenger." Meghan Casserly of Forbes commented that "'Born This Way' had better be the biggest, best anthem ever written—it follows the recipe precisely. An anthem that speaks to every person on the planet." Popjustice website pointed out the influence of Madonna's songs like "Deeper and Deeper" (1993), "Express Yourself" (1989) and "Vogue" (1990). Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone acknowledged the influences of Madonna but pointed out that they were not that prominent to overshadow the song, and commenting that "[It] sums up all the complex Gaga mythos, all her politics and Catholic angst and smeared lipstick, in one brilliant pop blast.

"Born This Way" was compared by some critics to Madonna's 1989 single "Express Yourself", which Gaga said was completely unintentional.

Many critics noted similarities between "Born This Way" and Madonna's "Express Yourself". Caryn Ganz, while writing for Yahoo! Music, criticized "Born This Way", stating that the song was "overworked, overwrought, noisy, cheesy, and very, very derivative," specifically noting the similarities to songs like "When Love Takes Over" (2010), "Waterfalls" (1993), and three of Madonna's songs: "Express Yourself", "Ray of Light" (1998), and "Vogue". Annie Yuan of The Hollywood Reporter labeled the song "a hodge-podge of other pop tunes." Kevin O'Donnell of Spin gave a mixed review, pointing out lyrical similarities to Michael Jackson's "Black or White" (1991) but going on to say that "based on all the hype surrounding the single, you'd think Gaga was releasing a song as epic and instantly classic as the Beatles' 'A Day in the Life' or Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Imagine what she'd come up with if she'd spent more than ten minutes writing [the song]." Megan Friedman from Time and Marissa Moss from The Huffington Post summarized the reaction as "mixed" due to the similarities with "Express Yourself". Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph noted that the imitative nature of the song would affect perceptions of Gaga's artistry, commenting that song was "[basically] a reworking of Madonna's 'Express Yourself' with a touch of 'Vogue', which is a bit too much Madonna for someone who is trying to establish her own identity as the, er, new Madonna."

Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times, however, concluded that "Born This Way" had an entirely different message from the Madonna songs it was being compared to and further defended the song by saying, "Whether its sound comes too close to one or another Madonna song seems beside the point; what current pop hit doesn't go green by recycling something familiar?" Sheffield also defended Gaga by saying, "You can complain all you want about the tip of the leather cap to 'Express Yourself', which was just Madonna’s knock-off of the Staple Singers' 'Respect Yourself'." Gaga herself addressed the comparisons on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, explaining that she "got an e-mail from [Madonna's] people and her sending me their love and complete support on behalf of the single. [...] If the Queen says it shall be, then it shall be." CNN later reported that Madonna's representative was "not aware that Madonna sent Gaga an e-mail." Two months later, while getting interviewed by NME magazine, Gaga further addressed the comparisons to "Express Yourself":

"Why would I try to put out a song and think I'm getting one over everybody? That's retarded. I will look in your eyes and tell you that I'm not dumb enough or moronic enough to think that you are dumb or moronic enough not to see that I would have stolen a melody. If you put the songs next to each other, side by side, the only similarities are the chord progression. It's the same one that has been in disco music for the last 50 years. Just because I'm the first fucking artist in 25 years to think of putting it on Top 40 radio, it doesn't mean I'm a plagiarist, it means I'm fucking smart. Sorry."

Chart performance

"I can't believe it. I'm humbled, honored and overwhelmed at the reception to 'Born This Way'. This has been so life-changing for me. Between Billboard and the international No. 1s, and the radio numbers... I couldn't be more blessed to have the fans I have. I knew when I wrote the song it was special, but I also knew that perhaps my fans or my label were hoping for me to deliver 'Bad Romance the Third' or 'Poker Face the Third'. I wanted to do exactly the opposite."

—Gaga talking to Billboard about "Born This Way" being the the 1,000th number one song on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the United States, "Born This Way" debuted at the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100, on the issue dated February 26, 2011. The song became the 1000th number one single in the chart's history, and the nineteenth song to debut at number one. It was also Gaga's third number one single. The song sold 448,000 digital downloads in three days, the most downloads in a first week by a female artist. The record was previously held by Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me". The single remained at number-one the following week, selling 509,000 copies in its first full week of release, becoming the first song to enter the Hot 100 at number one and hold that position for a second week since Clay Aiken's "This Is The Night" in 2003. Subsequently, the song held the number one spot for six weeks making it the only song to debut at number one and stay there for over a month since Elton John’s "Candle in the Wind 1997" in 1997. "Born This Way" went onto break the record for the fastest selling song in iTunes history, selling a million copies worldwide in five days. The song has sold over 2.6 million paid digital downloads in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan, becoming her eighth consecutive single to top the two million mark. The song's CD single sold 24,000 copies in its first week of release and 40,000 copies to date.

The song debuted at number 14 on Billboard's Pop Songs chart with 4,602 plays after three days of availability, the highest detections total by a debuting song in the chart's history. It was the second-highest debut on that chart, behind Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover" (1993) which debuted at number twelve. The following week the song broke into the top-ten at number six. In its seventh week on the chart, "Born This Way" reached the top, becoming Gaga's seventh number-one on Pop Songs chart, thus tying her with Pink and Rihanna. In addition, the song broke the overall airplay debut record with a first week audience of 78.5 million, debuting at number six on the Radio Songs chart; this feat surpassed Janet Jackson's "All for You" (2001) which debuted at number nine with 70 million spins. It has since peaked at number one, becoming her second number-one radio song after "Paparazzi". "Born This Way" also reached number 11 on Billboard's Adult Top 40, number 11 on Adult Contemporary chart, number one on Hot Dance Club Songs, number ten on Latin Pop Airplay, and number one on Japan Hot 100. "Born This Way" took the number one position in its debut week also in Canada, by topping the Canadian Hot 100. Since then, "Born This Way" have been atop of the chart for seven weeks, to date.

On February 20, 2011, the single debuted number one in Australia on the official ARIA Singles Chart, becoming Gaga's third number-one single there. It became the highest selling number one single there. "Born This Way" was certified two-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 140,000 copies of the single. The single also debuted at number one on the New Zealand RIANZ charts, becoming Gaga's second number-one single there after "Poker Face" (2008). It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for shipment of 15,000 copies of the single. In the United Kingdom, "Born This Way" logged first week sales of 60,000 digital copies, landing it at number three on the UK Singles Chart, which became its peak position. Elsewhere, the song debuted atop the charts in Spain, Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands. "Born This Way" debuted at number two in Italy, France, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Germany and Belgium (Flanders). In addition, it debuted at number-four in Denmark and then moved to the second spot. It entered the top five of the charts in Czech Republic and Hungary and reachied the top of the charts in South Korea.

Music video

Development

The video was shot the weekend of January 22–24, 2011, and was described to be a "profound, so inspiring and so incredibly beautiful" music video. The video was directed by Nick Knight. Make up artist Billy Brasfield, who works with Gaga on all of her videos, described the clip as “the most amazing thing ever." Gaga described the video saying, "It . . . looks completely different than everything I've ever done [...] it is the birth of the new race. Really deep stuff." Choreographer Laurieann Gibson initially told MTV News that the video is "a life-changing experience, You can expect the highest level of execution in vocal music art and dance ... but you will be shocked." Hollywoodlife.com reported that Gaga spent the first week of February editing the video in a New York City hotel. "The team took over two suites in the Greenwich Hotel for editing, and the singer only works at night, from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m., because she spends all day rehearsing for the Grammys," they added. The music video took more than four days to shoot in New York, and there were reports about Gaga approaching herself as Jo Calderone, the male model [character] she portrayed in the September issue of Vogue Hommes Japan. Garibay explained that the video "is of cultural relevance, and hopefully helps people that are an outcast, bullied. Hopefully makes people aware that it's OK to be yourself." According to Gaga, she was inspired by the paintings of Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon, and their surrealistic images. Gibson explained the inspiration behind the video to MTV News:

"When she played it for me, it took me a while to find out the visual interpretation that I could give back to her. And so I woke up one night and I got it, and I said, 'I got it: We have to birth a new race.' [...] From the gate, Gaga was like, 'I want Nick Knight for this video. I want a visual.' She was always birthing something visual in her head, and Nick Knight is just, well, he's prolific but he's so genius. It was about pushing the bar of what a music video should be and can be. [...] It's a different time; it's a different era; there are no limits. It is a viral message. I think that there's something in there for everyone, and that's what's so amazing about the video and so specific about the message."

Gibson recalls having to work with Gaga on the dancing in the video. "It took two days, and when Gaga was making the album, she wanted it to be in New York." She added that to make Gaga a better dancer, "it's just a process of getting it out of her and getting her confident. So I just told the story of the record. There's lots of pushing and birthing. There's lots of punching the adversity. It's very symbolic." Gibsonsaid that Gaga chose New York to shoot the video because "This was the place that we started. This was the place that birthed her. This was the place that birthed my dance. New York just has something so real about birthing something specific." Before shooting started, Gibson and Gaga decided there was only one place to work on the avant-garde, modern dance routine for the video, Alvin Alley, where Gibson had studied dance. "We rehearsed there because the choreography is really modern-based. It's, like, more technical than anything she's ever done," she recalled. "That was a great moment to engulf her in a real dance world and push her ability choreographically. And we shot the video in Brooklyn over two days and it was freezing cold. And we had to hide the location and we were quite successful except at the last day there was one paparazzi sneaking around. We had to build these boards and move because she was so passionate about it [not] getting out to her fans before it was ready."

The costumes for the video were designed by Nicola Formichetti, who blogged about the various designer pieces shown in it. In the opening sequence of the video, Gaga wears a head accessory by Alexis Bittar, a diamond neckpiece by Erickson Beamon with earrings by Pamela Love, and a stained-glass dress by Petra Storrs. Gaga also wears finger rings by Erickson Beamon and the technical chiffon was designed by Thierry Mugler. For the "Born This Way" skeleton scene, both she and Rico wore tuxedos by Mugler. For the orgy, the slime is courtesy of Bart Hess. For her Michael Jackson impression in the alley, Gaga wears a shirt and pants by Haus of Gaga, shoes by Natacha Marro, a Billykirk belt and LaCrasia gloves. As the video closes out, the unicorn horn is courtesy of Jennifer Behr. The video featured full-bodied tattooed model Rick Genest (Rico), better known by his stage name Zombie Boy. Gaga painted her face in a similar way to Genest, in one of the sequences. She said that the scene displayed the fact that she would not allow society or critics to dictate her beauty. "I tell you what I think is beauty, and hence the scene was of me and Rico defining ourselves in artistic way and not relying on society to dictate it," she added.

Synopsis

Gaga (left) with Rick Genest (Zombie Boy) in a shot from the music video. She said that it took her over an hour of make-up to look like Genest.

The music video was released on Monday, February 28, 2011. The video begins with a brief shot of a unicorn's silhouette in a steamy alley, inside a pink triangle frame. The triangle transitions to a shot of Lady Gaga sitting in an ornate glass throne amidst a star-filled space. Bernard Herrmann’s prelude to the movie Vertigo plays while Gaga declares, "This is the manifesto of Mother Monster," and she begins telling the prologue of the video—a story of the creation of an extraterrestrial race which "bears no prejudice, no judgment, but boundless freedom." Gaga is shown sitting in the throne above a planet, with her legs spread apart, giving birth to a "new race within the race of humanity." But as she continues, Gaga explains that on the same day the new race was born, evil was also born. As a result of the birth of evil, Gaga is split in half while being pulled between the two opposing forces of good and evil. Her new half gives birth to an assault rifle and begins to fire it. The prologue concludes with Gaga questioning, "How can I protect something so perfect, without evil?"

As the song begins, numerous people are shown on their hands and knees in a motionless, organized pattern in a seemingly endless black space. Gaga appears in a black bra and underwear with shoulder and facial protrusions. She begins walking in an eccentric manner amongst them with raised "paw", before contently nodding her head and crouching on her hands and knees to join them. When the first verse begins, everyone raises their heads and begins dancing to elaborate choreography. The scenes alternate between Gaga and her dancers and Gaga singing on her throne in space. As the second verse begins, Gaga and model Rick Genest are both shown wearing tuxedos, with her face painted to mirror his full-body zombie tattoos. Alternating clips show Gaga caressing and attempting to dance with Genest while he stays expressionless and motionless for the most part. When the chorus plays for the second time, Gaga sings in a room of mirrors, while her head is displayed in a glass box among several oddly distorted mannequin heads. In the succeeding shots, she is once again shown on her throne giving birth to more members of the new race. Several more choreographed routines are performed by Gaga and her dancers, and when the song ends, they all gather in a circle and embrace in a hug.

In the video's conclusion, a person's silhouette dances and struts in an alley, a tribute to Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" video. The silhouette is revealed to be Gaga, though her face is drastically misconstrued, with sharp horns protruding from her face, glowing eyes, uneven hair, and a distinct Madonna-esque gap between her front teeth. She sheds a single tear while still looking blissful nonetheless. The pink triangle frame appears again, and inside it, a silhouette of Gaga sitting atop the sparkling unicorn seen at the beginning of the video is shown. A city is seen in the background and a rainbow appears above her and the unicorn. The final shot is a closeup of Gaga in her zombie makeup, chewing bubble gum and blowing a bubble, and the pink triangle zooms away.

Reception

The music video of "Born This Way" featured several references to Greek mythology, notably Janus (pictured), which was seen at the beginning of the video.

The music video for "Born This Way" was met with mostly positive reception among music critics. James Montgomery of MTV praised the overall concept of the music video. In a review, he went on to write, "'Born This Way' [...] is quite the spectacle. Part space odyssey, part creationist yarn, it involves the formation of not just an entirely new universe, but an entirely new race of humanity, too. It sort of makes sense, it sort of doesn't, but that 100 percent doesn't really matter much. This is Gaga at her most fabulous, her most out-there, her most, well, Gaga." In conclusion of his review, he wrote, "It's part fantasy, part hopeful reality. It's about the future and the past [...], but really, all of that pales in comparison to the sheer spectacle of the thing. And that sort of makes sense, because after thoroughly dominating this world, with 'Born This Way,' Lady Gaga seems content to create brand-new worlds to tower over. Welcome your new overlord." Myrddin Gwynedd of The New Zealand Herald said that Gaga "takes her penchant for eccentric and provocative imagery to the extreme in the video for her new single". Raphael Chestang from Entertainment Tonight also praised the video: "From sexy in lingerie to morbid in tuxedos, Gaga and her dancers give a dazzling performance in this new video". Monica Herrera from Billboard said that the video bears similarities to the music video of Madonna's "Vogue" and "Borderline" (1984), while saying that the video "is more of a high-fashion short film than a conventional music video". Jim Farber from New York Daily News felt that "It would help if Gaga added more humor to her piece. Most of what exists in it is of the unintentional kind. More, the clip's dancing and choreography isn't going to keep Madonna up at night. Luckily, none of these drawbacks need to dominate. The clip's wild images of creation have a joyous shock value, as well as the key element the song itself lacks: creativity."

Oscar Moralde from Slant Magazine noted that in the video, " Gaga fully embraces the monstrous as a part of her. She has acknowledged her role as Mother Monster before, but never to the visceral, fully embodied extent that she does here. The things that are monstrous, the things that are different—for Gaga, those are the things that are beautiful." Gina Serpe from E! Online criticized it for being a "Madonna rip-off", while Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone noted similarities to some of Madonna's work and the imagery used in the 1927 German expressionist film, Metropolis. Ann Powers from Los Angeles Times noted that the video paid tribute to the Goddess movement and feminism. She added that "In a move typical of today’s vehemently anti-separatist, often apolitical 'post-feminism', Gaga makes goddess culture accessible by pairing its touchstones with images borrowed from fine art, cinema and cool subcultures (her partner in the vid’s Black Madonna sequences, for example, isn’t a boy god or a female consort but the ever-so-hip tattoo extremist Zombie Boy). [...] Gaga has found a way to place female empowerment at the center of her vision without sacrificing the gains she makes by being a daddy’s girl or a 'boy toy'." Megan Powers from Time criticized the video saying, "It was just this past weekend that NewsFeed wondered if Lady Gaga had lost her knack for shocking us. Then, showing us just how wrong we were to doubt her, she debuts her video for her newest single "Born This Way" and we must admit that Gaga is still so very, very strange. The video has been noted for its cultural references and artistic similarities, not only to other recording artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna, but to Greek mythology, surrealism and the work of the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

Live performances

On the February 9, 2011, episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, DeGeneres, alongside singers Justin Bieber and James Blunt, performed their own rendition of the song, improvising the music, while singing the chorus from the song. During the show, Gaga confirmed via telephone with Ellen DeGeneres, that she will perform "Born This Way" on February 13, 2011, at the 53rd Grammy Awards. Gaga arrived at the Grammy Awards ceremony in a giant incubating vessel that was carried onto the red carpet by numerous fashion models. Before her arrival on the red carpet, Gaga's Twitter followers got this message: "This is Nicola, Haus of Gaga: Gaga is in incubation. Tonight's performance is in collaboration with Hussein Chalayan and House of Mugler. X". She later emerged from another bigger egg on stage, dressed in a high ponytail, gold bra top and long skirt, her makeup all black and gold, and with pointed shoulders and horns protruding from her face. Her dancers wore similar yolk-colored tunics. The "Born This Way" performance was introduced by Ricky Martin. In the first few seconds, Gaga broke the "egg" after performing the intro of the song ("It doesn't matter if you love Him, or capital H-I-M"), her emergence from the incubator symbolizing her 'rebirth'. After the first chorus, Gaga whipped her hair in a manner similar to Willow Smith. Before the "No matter gay, straight or bi" line of the song, an organ emerged from the stage floor and Gaga played the music on the organ, which was surrounded by mannequin heads submerged in some type of gel, before belting out the rest of the bridge as her dancers surrounded her. The disco vibe of the tune started again as her dancers ripped off their tunics and danced around her. Before leaving the stage, Gaga put on her trench and hat as the song faded out and Gaga and her dancers ended the performance with their paws up.

Gaga performing "Born This Way" on The Monster Ball Tour

According to Gaga "[the] Grammy performance was about many things but ultimately the song 'Born This Way'... is visually and thematically and lyrically about birthing a new race, birthing a race within the race of already existing cultures of humanity—that bears no prejudice and no judgment. The whole performance was a Gregorian Alvin Ailey, had Martha Graham energy to it, and that was a statement in itself." On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno she said that the Thierry Mugler-designed the black breast plate she wore at the Grammys, was "inspired by alien sex humanoid hybrid woman." She added that Willow Smith inspired her to "whip my hair back and forth on stage." Gaga also explained that the egg "vessel" was meant to signify an artistic statement of birthing a new race with no prejudice. With Billboard she explained that she was in Amsterdam on her tour bus and was thinking about birth and embryos. Even my hair color was a washed-out rose color . . . It was meant to be a hair expression, an afterbirth. She thought to herself, "Gosh, the thing I hate most about doing award shows is, it can be distracting... I want to exist only for my fans and for the stage. I don't want to exist in this machine or this circus that is the industry. I wish I could be encapsulated for three days and just think only about my performance, think only about the album, think only about the future of my fans. So that's what I did." Her rose colored hair was meant to be a hair expression, an after birth.

Jocelyn Vena from MTV felt that the "performance was surprisingly sparse for the typically over-the-top performer, allowing her brand-new single, 'Born This Way', to shine." Soraya Roberts from New York Daily News was disappointed with the performance, feeling that it copied Madonna. She said: "Despite her buzzy arrival in a giant egg, the 24-year-old singer's much-anticipated performance of 'Born This Way' appeared to be—much like her recently released single—a cheap Madonna knock-off. With shades of the Queen of Pop's Blonde Ambition tour, Gaga's highly choreographed act even attempted to shock with some—wait for it—skin-colored underwear." Jason Lipscultz from Billboard described the performance as "spirited" but felt that "the pop star made a more memorable appearance on the red carpet that evening, when she showed up in a giant egg." Jennifer Armstrong from Entertainment Weekly praised the performance saying that "Was it also kind-of a mash-up between 'Express Yourself' and 'Vogue', especially with that rap part in the middle? Sure. But there are worse things in the world. Did we also get a very Gaga interlude on a crazy glass pipe organ with a mirror? Yes, and there are worse things in the world than that, too. All in all, a fine use of giant egg/pod and a good start to the night." Matthew Perpetua from Rolling Stone concurred that "It should come as no surprise that Lady Gaga's performance of her new single 'Born This Way' was the evening's most visually stunning and bizarre spectacle."

At the February 19, 2011, date of The Monster Ball Tour, after hinting to the crowd during "Bad Romance" ("You better not leave when this song is done, there may be a surprise") Gaga performed the song as a second encore using the same general attire and choreography as the Grammy performance, however the incubation vessel was not present and slight alterations were made in the outfits of her dancers. The track was then added to the set-list of the concert tour. Tris McCall from The Star-Ledger was most impressed with the performance, calling it one of the highlights of the concert. He added that "reinterpretation of the single, which was far more Laura Nyro than Madonna, was such an improvement over the mechanized, tricked-out hit version that it was hard not to wish she could get back to the studio and re-cut it before the album comes out." Gaga also performed an acoustic version on The Oprah Winfrey Show, on May 5, 2011, along with another song, "Yoü and I". Sitting atop a high stool, Gaga—in a red leather blazer, a floppy mask-like hat and see-through leopard bodysuit—played a piano made out of a wire high-heel structure. She began with an acoustic, piano-driven version of "Born This Way", and then removed the hat as a synth kicked in for "Yoü and I". The high-heel structure was designed by Gaga's sister Natalie. At The Graham Norton Show in May 2011, Gaga performed "Born This Way" as the closing song of the show, while on Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle, Cumbria it was the opening song of the setlist. Gaga started the show by emerging from a coffin, with a pregnant belly and dressed in leather. She then started singing the song, and her biker-punk theme dressed dancers removed her pregnant belly to display her spiky shoulder outfit. On May 21, 2011, Gaga performed "Born This Way" at the season finale of Saturday Night Live, wearing a metallic dress and a side ponytail. Midway through her performance, she displayed a pregnant belly as she emerged from within her dancers.

On May 27th 2011, Gaga also performed the song on Good Morning America as a part of their 'Summer Concert Series'.

Other versions

See also: Perform This Way

Gaga and Maria Aragon on stage in Toronto on March 3, 2011.

On March 3, 2011, during her concert in Toronto, Canada, Gaga performed a capella version of the song along with ten year old Maria Aragon. Gaga had first noticed Aragon singing "Born This Way" on YouTube, and was impressed. Hence she called her to join her on stage. During the concert, Aragon came on the stage wearing a fedora hat and carrying a stuffed monkey. Gaga sat at the piano, pulled Aragon onto her lap, and then did a soul inspired rendition of "Born This Way" together, trading off verses. Aragon played the piano, while Gaga played a bit with her right hand as well. "Maria represents what this song is all about," Gaga told the Canadian crowd after the performance. "It's all about the next generation and the future." Later, she was invited at Radio Hot 103, where she sang the chorus of "Born This Way" through the phone. Aragon has also performed the song on Ellen with Ellen DeGeneres, on February 23, 2011. The song was also covered by fellow singer Katy Perry, on the March 7, 2011, date of her California Dreams Tour, in Paris. Perry performed a stripped down version of the song, accompanied by two guitarists playing acoustic guitars. The Glee cast announced that they will cover the song during a thematic episode of their second season. The episode is also named "Born This Way", and is the eighteenth episode, from the second season of Glee, and aired in the United States in April 2011, on Fox. Their version of the song was released for download, and sold 73,000 copies to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at number 44, and on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 31.

American singer-songwriter and parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic had sought permission from Gaga to parody "Born This Way", providing a brief description of the concept for his song. Her management responded that she must hear the song before providing approval. Yankovic obliged with the lyrics of "Perform This Way", planned to be the first single on his new album. Her management continued to insist that she must hear the song. After what Yankovic described as "considerable expense" in writing, recording, and mastering the song in the studio, he contacted them again with a completed recording of the song. He was subsequently refused permission by Lady Gaga's management, but Yankovic was given the impression that the refusal came from Gaga herself. Left with a completed song and abandoned plans for an outlandish music video to promote the song and album, Yankovic released it on YouTube. However, not long after the song had been uploaded to YouTube, sources close to Gaga told the media that she had not yet heard the song and that "she's a huge Weird Al fan." Gaga was pleased with the song and personally contacted Yankovic, giving him green light to include the song on his upcoming album, and after Gaga's manager admitted making the decision without forwarding the parody to her for approval.

Track listing and formats

• Digital download

1. "Born This Way" – 4:20

• Born This Way – The Remixes Part 1

1. "Born This Way" (LA Riots Remix) – 6:32
2. "Born This Way" (Chew Fu Born to Fix Remix) – 5:52
3. "Born This Way" (DJ White Shadow Remix) – 4:24

• Born This Way – The Remixes Part 2

1. "Born This Way" (Michael Woods Remix) – 6:24
2. "Born This Way" (Dada Life Remix) – 5:16
3. "Born This Way" (Zedd Remix) – 6:30
4. "Born This Way" (Grum Remix) – 5:48
5. "Born This Way" (Bimbo Jones Club Remix) – 6:46
6. "Born This Way" (Twin Shadow Remix) – 4:06

• Limited Edition CD Single

1. "Born This Way" – 4:21
2. "Born This Way" (LA Riots Remix) – 6:33
3. "Born This Way" (Chew Fu Born to Fix Remix) – 5:53
4. "Born This Way" (DJ White Shadow Remix) – 4:24

• Limited 12" picture disc.

1. "Born This Way" – 4:21
2. "Born This Way" (LA Riots Remix) – 6:33
3. "Born This Way" (Chew Fu Born to Fix Remix) – 5:53
4. "Born This Way" (DJ White Shadow Remix) – 4:24

• Born This Way (The Country Road Version) – Single

1. "Born This Way (The Country Road Version)" – 4:21

Credits and personnel

• Lady Gaga – songwriter, producer, instrumentation and arrangement
• Jeppe Laursen – songwriting and producer
• Fernando Garibay – producer, programming, instrumentation and arrangement
• DJ White Shadow – producer, programming
• David Russell – recording, mixing at Germano Studios, New York
• Gene Grimaldi – mastering at Oasis Mastering, Burbank, California
• Pete Hutchings – assistant
• Kenta Yonesaka – assistant
• Kevin Porter – assistant
• Al Carlson – assistant

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the album.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2011)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	1
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)	1
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)	3
Brazil Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	23
Canadian Hot 100	1
Czech Airplay Chart	8
Danish Singles Chart	2
Dutch Top 40	1
Finnish Singles Chart	1
French Singles Chart	2
German Singles Chart	1
Hungarian Singles Chart	2
Irish Singles Chart	1
Italian Singles Chart	2
Japan Hot 100	1
Mexican Top 100	7
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	2
Polish Airplay Chart	1
Scottish Singles Chart	1
Slovak Airplay Chart	1
Spanish Singles Chart	1
South Korean Gaon Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	3
US Billboard Hot 100	1
US Hot Dance Club Songs	1
US Pop Songs	1

Certifications

Country	Certifications
Australia	2× Platinum
Denmark	Gold
Germany	Gold
Italy	Platinum
Japan	Gold (cell)
	Gold (PC)
New Zealand	Platinum
Spain	Gold
Sweden	Gold
Switzerland	Platinum

Radio and release history

Country	Date	Format
Worldwide	February 11, 2011	Digital download
Australia		Mainstream airplay
United States	February 15, 2011	Mainstream, rhythmic airplay
Japan	March 4, 2011	Cellphone digital download
Australia		CD single
Germany	March 11, 2011
United Kingdom	March 14, 2011
Greece
United States	March 15, 2011
New Zealand
Japan	March 16, 2011	CD single, PC digital download
Poland	March 18, 2011	CD single

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 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 2011 (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 Hot 100 number-one singles of 2011 (U.S.)
• List of Mainstream Top 40 number-one hits of 2011 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance singles of 2011 (U.S.)

External links

• Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' Video: Pop-Culture Cheat SheetMTV