Music Monday: Gaga Over Madonna
Original photo found over on Full Issue.
I’m a bit late to this party, but I just barely listened to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” song over the weekend [I’m not much into all the latest pop songs]. It’s a very catchy song and I caught myself humming it several times. A hit pop song, for sure. But it sounded very much like a song I had heard back in 1989 from another female pop star who was all the rage: Madonna’s “Express Yourself” from the album “Like A Prayer”
I had to listen to both songs several times to make sure I wasn’t just being crazy. Nope, I wasn’t. Here’s a comparison I found that goes back and forth between the two songs
And both songs mashed together, playing side by side
Homage or Rip Off?
I know lots of Gaga fans out there that were just babies when Madonna expressed herself, but for those that know Madge’s music well, what say you? Is the Lady just paying homage or is there some unoriginal chorus swiping going on here?
For me, I think it’s about half. Some homage, some “let’s see how close yet not too close we can get” going on here. Guess we’ll see what happens in the coming months once the new Lady Gaga album drops.
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Personally, I really like Gaga’s music. I don’t know a lot about Madonna but I do get what everyone’s saying about how she ripped off her music.
But really? I’d rather listen to something that is similar to good music even if it’s a little bit of a rip off versus half the crap that is churned out nowadays.
Good point about the crap that’s out there and Gaga’s music being at least something good and familiar sounding.
Pretty much what Sarah said, except I don’t listen to Lady Gaga. I just don’t put her in my top 100.
I’m neither a fan or a hater.
They definitely sound alike. Homage or not, I’d say Madonna has a case here. All that said, neither song does it for me.
I guess being more familiar with Madonna’s music than Gaga’s, it’s a case for me, too.
I saw an interview where Gaga said that “The queen gave her blessing” to the song so it sounded like she’d talked to Madonna about the song. So I’d say it’s more of an homage than blatant ripoff. I kinda the song personally.
Ahh.. that’s good to hear that Madge gave her approval. The song is very catchy, that’s for sure.
I think it’s fair to say that Madonna laid the groundwork for an artist like Lady Gaga to be able to do a lot of the outrageous things she does in her videos. I wouldn’t be surprised if this song was an homage. But yeah, sometimes when “Born This Way” gets stuck in my head it will morph into “Express Yourself.”
Glad I’m not the only one that experiences the morphing. That groundwork set by Madonna is true with a lot of artists, the Beatles coming to mind for many others.
I kind of like the sped up version of “Express Yourself” in that mash-up. That is, I kind of like the effect of it being sped up — I like the original version fine.
The original version of “Express Yourself” was the one I heard a ton.
I really like Gaga’s song, and am choosing to think of it as an homage rather than a rip-off. Still every time I hear it I think of Express Yourself, but that’s not necessarily bad. While Madge was definitely a pioneer for larger than life female artists, I like Gaga’s music better than I ever did Madonna’s.
Not a bad thing, IMO either. The more I hear it, the more I lean to the homage side of the debate.
I like the Gaga song, and am one of the younglings that isn’t familiar with Madonna. I can kind of hear the resemblence though!
A resemblance… that’s the word I was trying to think of when I did this post.