Paparazzi

I doubt I will ever be a Lady GaGa stan, but she has grown on me. I’m not so hot on the rest of the album because the songs do sound the same after awhile. However, I give her props for filling a void that we are missing in music for over the top, theatrical pop stars. Panic at the Disco 1.0 could have been, but with Pretty.Odd, most definitely not.

A lot of pop stars today downplay their pop sound by mixing it with hip-hop. Do they think they’re being relevant? Because I am completely over that sound, being a self-confessed connoisseur of music. GaGa’s electro vibe isn’t something that plays well on mainstream American radio either, just alternative rock lite and rap. But she’s carved herself a nice little niche. This may have been brought up by more pretentious music reviewers, but maybe the labels are playing it safe with the music they’re releasing, what with the economy and the wars overseas. Perfectly justifiable. But at the same time, we need a drum major to raise our spirits. Lady GaGa is one of them. I wouldn’t grant her the distinction of being the only one though. I don’t think she’s that good.

Compared to the other singles released from “The Fame,” “Paparazzi” is the first one that strips down the production. The lyrics have a double meaning, starting with the hook: “I’m your biggest fan/I’ll follow you until you love me/Papa-paparazzi/Baby there’s no other superstar/You know that I’ll be your/Papa-paparazzi/Promise I’ll be kind/But I won’t stop until that boy is mine/Baby you’ll be famous/Chase you down until you love me/Papa-paparazzi.” You can pretty much interpret it the way you want, which is the mark of a great song.

I’ve seen YouTube videos of GaGa singing with just a piano, so I know she can sing. But sometimes the overproduction of her tracks downplay her talent. An all-around strong follow up to “Poker Face” and “Just Dance.”

And it goes without saying that the video for the song matches the spirit of the song perfectly.