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Posting this mainly for the benefit (?) of Glice. A friend of mine wrote it.
A musical appreciation of 'Speechless' written by Steffani Germanotta aka Lady Gaga.
By Glen Allen Never before have I been moved by an artists musical quality and sheer brilliance of melodic and harmonic development. It has been less than 24hours of me explaining to a GCSE Student if you want to write a good song listen to this by Lady Gaga. Having listened to the lyrics, then heard the chord sequence, then downloading the music to learn how to play - I was struck by the sheer volume and vast quantities of thematic and textural development throughout the entire song. The subtle and not so subtle developments reflect the lyrics and Steffani's state of mind when writing this song.
My original perception and reading of the song was about being dumped by a lover. A second reading I believed the song to be about a marriage proposal. After researching this song further from a lyrical point of view rather than a musical one, the song is actually written for her father who at the time was refusing to go for surgery. Obviously the song can be read in a number of ways. My own take on the song is renouncing any other lover and refusing to carry on and give up on men in general. To stay celibate. The lyrics explore brokeness, death, love and a clear element of choice and consequence. The reference to James Dean is a clear visual image of someone who died before their time. There is a subtle element of ultimation in the final coda both musically and lyrically. The title speechless undergoes wordplay throughout the song. Speechless at hearing the worst, speechless at coping, speechless with cause, speechless with consequence and speechless in any other form that the listener interprets the song. Some may read the giving it all up as drink, drugs, chocolate, any other bad habit, but in the context of marriage giving up what one does when one gets married. Also my original interpretation of 'give it all up' led me to think giving up on all men, give it all up for religion, become a sort of social 'monk'. The lines throughout of 'how' questioning a, how did this occur? and b, how can one give it all up? This also leads up to the conclusion of 'how come YOUR so speechless' adding to the stronger dominance of the word play of the title.
Musically the verse is in minor denoting the anger emotion and state of play and situation. This is also reflected in the alternating octave bass and the harsh chordal playing. The chorus in a major more melodically calmer and phrased denoting the consequence of the choices the other must make. The verse 2 bridge is developed further than most of the repeated lines which leads into the second chorus for dramatic effect.
Her live versions begining the song with a 7th arpeggio and a repeated note may reflect or be read as listen to me, I have a point to make, tapping to get the attention of the person in question. As this is a serious matter of literal life and death. I personally like to read it as a metaphorical I have had enough, end of this it is.
The point of 'won't write another song' is a clear indication that it will be impossible due to the fact of there not being another man to write about. How can one write a song without inspiration. I myself am refusing to write another love song and will probably never be able to due to my current situation and personal choices in life. I also personally love the line 'raise a glass to mend the broken hearts of all my wrecked up friends'. I can personally resonate on many levels with this line. I can think of the countless times I have spent time with friends trying to put a little sunshine into their lives. This is another selfless act within the song of not only looking out for the health and happiness of others but ensuring that your own is not tarnished by the actions of another person, said person being the one sung to in the song. The song is about taking a stand and saying if things carry on as they are they will simply get much
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