[Genteel Death]

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

[Genteel Death]

The repetition of 'bubble dreams' remind me of Glinda's bubble in Wicked/Wizard of Oz who is another character I can empathise and sympathise with.

The accidentals of Bb and F# the key of C, to me compliment the deep emotional trauma one goes through in severe emotional crisi or situations. The dotted rhythm in the final coda amplifies her final ultimatum and point she is trying to make by saying x,y,z and the rhythm is a musical 'look at me when I am talking to you' and a wake up call which takes you by suprise as this rhythm has not been heard previously in the song. Also the cutting out of the band at the end of her final 'you choose death and company' focuses the listener her final point she is trying to make for the listener or person in question to reflect on her final saying 'why are YOU so speechless'. The quietness of the song here amplifies the actual physical volume of being actually speechless and the song is brought to a close positively on a happy note with a C chord saying 'its up to you'.

Also her perfomance of this song is a public display to her dad that 'look at what I have done' and if you were not here I would not have been here and that you would have missed this once in a lifetime ocassion, (even though in the song she said that she would give up singing,writing songs if he did not go through with the operation). When reviewing her perfomance in front of the Queen, one must think what depths did she have to go to to make this one of the performances of her lifetime. Yet, still so young in her early 20's.

Quote MTV - So what else could Gaga do trapped out on tour, except express her thoughts through music? "My mom called me and I was very depressed. I was on tour and I couldn't leave, so I went into the studio and I wrote this song 'Speechless,' and it's about these phone calls," she said. "My dad used to call me after he'd had a few drinks and I wouldn't know what to say. I was speechless and I just feared that I would lose him and I wouldn't be there."

Sometimes it's best to not research the original meanings of songs but allow your own interpretations to grow in meaning so as not to allow the true meaning of the song to mask/diminish the state of mind/situation/point of view that you as the listener are currently in.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/162...ady_gaga.jhtml

Well at least I won't have to worry about my kids worrying about me dying! Unmarried and no children and all!

[Genteel Death]

Post pictures of lady gaga crying now.

[Glice]

I think he's pretty much on the money there - I'd say there's also a lot to say about the deliberate ambiguity of the narrative. I tend to think it's the art of a good song not to have a direct lyrical narrative, but a polysemous one. But not in the sense of saying absolutely nothing (cf Pavement). Something like Coldplay's yellow is one of the best instances of that - in as far as it seems to say something but says nothing (or says lots of things). I'd note that I can't actually stand the song myself.

But yeah, I've been listening to the Fame monster for a year or so now, and it's one of those albums (and this only happens in really big pop albums) where there seems be more depth to it with each listen. This is probably my favourite, given that it seems to point to about 6 styles of pop all at once. You've got doo-wop, delta blues, Bedtime Stories-era Madonna, showband jazz (etc) all going on in one song, without ever really seeming like it's incongruous or even being particularly melodically dynamic.

Something I'd point out about Speechless that your mate didn't point out - the vocal production is so unbelievably intricate. The envelope filter when she says 'slurred' is probably the most obvious example. Vocal-wise, there's this thing where it seems like they've thought long and hard about what they're doing, but only in the decay of the note. There's a bit of autotune on there, but it's used so discretely that you'd not notice unless you're listening for it. I think the last album I heard with such amazing vocal production was probably Avril's second, but that's far more glaring than Gaga's.

[Adolfo]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

Post pictures of lady gaga crying now.