The other thought running through my head all morning: ‘I’m hungry’
Because Chicago-area bars, restaurants, house parties hosted by cute 20-something girls and radio stations played the song non-stop this weekend, Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” has completely invaded my skull. I can’t shake it. And as I have it in my head, and find myself humming it on a near-constant basis, I’ve become curious about the lyrics of the song. Frankly, they’re incoherent. The question is whether this is an inspired artistic choice or a happy accident, and what that says about the merit of the song.
To avoid dissecting the entire song and wasting time I should be using to write about the stuff I actually get paid for, let’s let the following lyric stand in for the majority of the song:
I love this record baby/but I can’t see straight anymore
That sentence does not follow logically. Typically, extreme drunkenness doesn’t prohibit one from enjoying music; the effect of alcohol on musical interpretation is usually one of amplification and expansion. If you already like a song, you’ll like it much more when you’re drunk; if you don’t like a song, you’ll probably be OK with it — perhaps even excited by it — when you’re under the influence. (Case in point: Journey.)
Still, let’s put aside the questions of logic and just read that thing: “I love this record baby/but I can’t see straight anymore.” If Lady Gaga is lamenting her condition and its preventative nature in re: dance, I suppose it makes a modicum of sense, but really, if we’re being honest with ourselves, that is the sentence of a drunk person. Drunk people say stuff like that all the time. “I have to go, but my Cheez-Its are all gone.” “My face hurts, but I think my jeans are blue.” “I’m a big fan of the Bulls, but did you see where my cell phone is?” Context or no, the two clauses are not related. They don’t make sense.
So here’s my question: Did Lady Gaga, in writing “Just Dance,” attempt to write a coherent set of lyrics that ended up being totally incoherent? Or did she intentionally write the song as though she were drunk? Artistically, did she decide to mimic the way people act when they’re incoherently drunk — when their head is spinning, when they’re lost, excited, nervous, fearful, and overjoyed? Is “Just Dance” entirely self-aware? Or not at all?
If so, it’s a brilliant artistic choice, and it worked perfectly. If not, Lada Gaga’s lucky that most people listen to the song when they, too, can’t see straight anymore.
