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Katy Perry also thinks it OK to post that tweet yet in her new video, the gospel-singing catholic's lactating whipped cream. Oh yes, very classy and very catholic.

Well the video is very GaGa, and seeing as casual readers probably won't ever read the Jedward thread, I'm going to post my explanation of the video after this comment on the SONG, in order to get 'But the video has nothing to do with the song'-esque comments out of people's heads and generally explain my interpretation.

'Alejandro', is the perfect summer single. Summery, poppy, sing-along chorus and many deceptively catchy hooks. It should be the highlight of the music of Summer 2010, right?

Well, for me, there is very little competition for summer single this year. A summer single needs to evoke the feeling of good times, sunbathing, heat, and most of all - fun, not just in the lyrics, but in the music and the video too. So here is a list of MY summer singles from 2010:

Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg - 'California Gurls'
Ke$ha - 'Your Love Is My Drug'
Lady GaGa - 'Alejandro'

That's it. There are hany a great, catchy single coming out over the coming months, but none of them evoke the feeling of summer like those three.

This song starts with a beautiful violin sequence, then accomapanied by GaGa's electronic sound bringing in the summery vibe straight away. The song has a hugely cachty chorus, and a hilariously attention-seeking bridge filled with boys that are "hot like Mexico".

However, as many have said before, this song is the only song GaGa has released that feels over-played before you even finish your first listen. Unfortunately, the repetative trill of the name 'Alejandro' works against GaGa's favour and after the first chorus, not even the additional 'rubbery' bass added to 'liven up' the rest of the song fail to tittilate.

Overall, this is the weakest single of GaGa's career and whilst the Ace of Base sound and summery vibe that ridicules other artists' 'summer single' offerings, I feel GaGa should've listened to her record label on this one, - even if 'Alejandro' is her favourite song on 'The Fame Monster' - she should've released 'Dance In The Dark' instead.

But hey, we've just heard her next album, quoted by her as "the anthem for our generation", is now pushed back to mid-to-late 2011, she may just have enough time to squeeze in her prmised fourth singel, plus another which presumably will be 'Dance In The Dark', as 'Speechless' would be the perfect October/November song (well, it's certainly not a summer single now, is it?).

3 stars for 'Alejandro'

The following post I have copied from when I wrote it in the Jedward thread. If you have read it before please do not feel you have to bore yourself and read it again.

Righto, I'm going to explain this video to everyone that's either disgusted by it, indifferent, or simply fails to understand it.

BEWARE: LONG POST.

The soldiers in this video are meant to represent the gay, trans-gendered and bisexual men in this society that are 'expected' to be aggressive and fully masculine men. Them marching around in synchronized form represents the role that they're expected to play in society – Always marching in a tight pattern, never meant to branch off from that gender role. However, as the video progresses, you see GaGa in and out of scenes, wearing these religious outfits. Those outfits are symbols for the intense religious Christian-Catholic backlash that the LGBT community experiences from religious zealots and how they say that "gays are going to hell"; "you need Jesus"; "being gay is a sin", etc.
Righto, I'm going to explain this video to everyone that's either disgusted by this, indifferent, or simply fails to understand it.

BEWARE: LONG POST.

The soldiers in this video are meant to represent the gay, trans-gendered and bisexual men in this society that are 'expected' to be aggressive and fully masculine men. Them marching around in synchronized form represents the role that they're expected to play in society – Always marching in a tight pattern, never meant to branch off from that gender role. However, as the video progresses, you see GaGa in and out of scenes, wearing these religious outfits. Those outfits are symbols for the intense religious Christian-Catholic backlash that the LGBT community experiences from religious zealots and how they say that "gays are going to hell"; "you need Jesus"; "being gay is a sin", etc.

GaGa is not meant to be the focus of this video. GaGa is simply a symbol for how conflicting religion becomes when a gay man has to emotionally deal with accepting that he's gay when his religion tells him that it's a sin. GaGa is a modern symbol of the virgin Mary – a cold, religiously bound woman who cares about serving and satisfying Christ. That's very blatant and evident in what she wears, the crosses in the background, her swallowing rosemary beads, and so on. As the video carries on, you GaGa being molested by many a man in a scene with various beds. These men are gay and this is why when the video ends, GaGa is praying, looking up to Heaven, and holding the rosary - she knows she's going to hell because the bible condemns homosexuality and unfaithfulness - both of which she exercised in the course of the video, then we see her rot at the end of the video (presumably Satan coming to claim her).

Those beds are metaphors for what gay men experience when they're trying to fight their homosexual thoughts from their fantasies when trying to sleep at night. During the day, society pressures them to act a certain way, to truly be the biased aggressive man. But as soon as they’re alone, even if they still 'look' manly and assertive, their feminine aspect of their sexuality comes to the forefront and they express their fantasies in the dead of night. Also stands for the millions of gays, trans-gendered and cross dressers that can only show their *true* selves at night when greater society isn’t watching. These few scenes are increasingly sexual in order to show the massive, heated underlying sexual conflict that gay men experience within themselves. In this scene, we see a complete contrast to the marching scene, where the men are fixated, orderly, and living in unison. However, in this scene with the beds, we see them lapse, becoming less robotic, less fixed and more natural and flowing, as loving men is their true nature and their ’norm’. It's a restless, monstrous and almost unbearable scene because society tells them that they shouldn’t express their feelings towards other men.


Those beds are metaphors for what gay men experience when they're trying to fight their homosexual thoughts from their fantasies when trying to sleep at night. During the day, society pressures them to act a certain way, to truly be the biased aggressive man. But as soon as they’re alone, even if they still 'look' manly and assertive, their feminine aspect of their sexuality comes to the forefront and they express their fantasies in the dead of night. Also stands for the millions of gays, trans-gendered and cross dressers that can only show their 'true' selves at night when greater society isn’t watching. These few scenes are increasingly sexual in order to show the massive, heated underlying sexual conflict that gay men experience within themselves. In this scene, we see a complete contrast to the marching scene, where the men are fixated, orderly, and living in unison. However, in this scene with the beds, we see them lapse, becoming less robotic, less fixed and more natural and flowing, as loving men is their true nature and their 'norm'. It's a restless, monstrous and almost unbearable scene because society tells them that they shouldn’t express their feelings towards other men.

"Alejandro" is a metaphor for society's gender role of the aggressive man that society yearns for.
The Nazi costumes are symbols that we are so bound to fulfil gender roles assigned by society to the point where we are psychologically placed into internment camps. Meaning that we're forced to act a certain way in fear of being shunned, abandoned, alienated or ridiculed for our sexuality, especially because the Bible condemns it. When gay men get mixed up into that, they portray the Nazis in this video or simply 'strong military men' to once again show the roles that they’re expected to play by culture's eyes to avoid discrimintation.

GaGa is a symbol of how mainstream Christianity and Catholicism religions see the LGBT community. The funeral scene represents the Catholics 'killing' men who go against what the Catholic religion teaches, which is why GaGa, as a bisexual woman herself, leads to procession in mourning. She is carrying presumably the nailed heart of (presumably) the man in the coffin to represent the treatment of gays: the Catholics would burn their lovers with in turn would be like nailing the remaining lovers' heart, GaGa depicts here.

The continuous emphasis on showing one man as 'Alejandro' with a scene of a riot playing behind him represents how, despite his throbbing sexuality – he must fulfill his role as a 'man' by staying silent as he listens to riots break because if he were to speak out, a huge number of people would discriminate him.

There's a lot to be learnt from this video, like how many flaws the Catholiuc religion actually has (it's not okay to be gay [Leviticus] yet when it says you can't eat meat on the Sabbath [Genesis], it's okay to ignore that rule), and indeed how hard it must be for gay men to be confident about their sexuality, especially in a society like ours.

But yes one point I can see coming up is "but it has nothing to do with the song..." Well, yes, you're right but also wrong - the song is about Lady GaGa's "Fear of Sex Monster", and so in the song she is proclaiming she wants to love this man but knows she can't - "Don't call my name... I'm not your babe", because he is gay and it's against her religion (as the Virgin Mary).

NOW READ IT QUICK BECAUSE IT WILL BE DELETED
I'll save a copy just in case...

EDIT: Sorry about double- pasting the first paragraph.

OddOne, you will find that I have quoted your little analysis over on my review of the video over on Unreality Shout. There's some formatting issue with the site though so there are no paragraphs. RAGE!

I think there's plans for Speechless to be the next single, I think that would be great! Because for the casual GaGa listener will only know GaGa for making club friendly electropop. With Speechless, we'll get to see the '70s rock side of GaGa as well as Stefani Germanotta when she was just an average student playing in bars across New York.

Katy Perry might use sexual imagery but she hasn't been blasphemous. I'm not defending her but I can see why she would be offended by the blasphemous imagery in Alejandro.

Lady GaGa - Alejandro

So here comes the third single from The Fame Monster , after the number 1 successes of Bad Romance and Telephone.

In less than 2 days , Alejandro has racked up over 5 million views in You Tube , such is the standing and magic of the Lady in the music world , each video now becomes a major event .

The video has the expected quantity of art , subliminal messages , challenging images and controversy that one would expect , and to some the influence of the Queen of Pop , Madonna , looms very large indeed .

The song itself , exudes GaGa's usual skills of a catchy verse , bridge , and chorus , that has almost become a trademark.
Almost every line is a hook , and the chorus shines like a Summer Sun , and will be lapped up by Radio Stations , as they plan their Summer playlists.

Alejandro will enter the top 20 on Sunday , and after that will become an even bigger hit , as momentum builds .

Excellent work , Oddone !

Can I just thank everyone for reading my interpretation because I put heart, soul, love of GaGa AND my utter bewilderment upon first viewing into understanding that video! Remember guys it's only my interpretation but I would seriously like to thanks Randy for posting it elsewhere, everyone can feel free to do so - I want people to understand some of the concept before they slam it 'for not making sense'.

And finally, OMG I will cry till I have no more tears left to cry if 'Speechless' is announced the fourth single from 'The Fame Monster'. These will of course be tears of joy as I think it's such a beautifully crafted song and dare I say it, shows a more.... human side to 'Lady' GaGa.

Thanks again everyone. :)

So Katy Perry can complain about using 'blasphemy for entertainment', yet it's ok for her to act like a lesbian for the same purpose. Silly girl.

Oh, and to add to the list of great 2010 summer singles, by which I mean, they epitomise the summer vibe and sound:

Pixie Lott - 'Turn It Up'

It's really growing on me! Such a summery sound!

OddOne I saw you post the same big post above on Digital Spy too :P you get around!

Anyway, I cannot understand why many people seem to want Gaga to release yet another single from The Fame/Fame Monster era after this. She has already released 7 singles, sold over 10 million albums worldwide, and is due to release a new album at the end of this year. She's overdoing things as much as it is already, surely she should take *some* sort of rest before the end of the year?

@Kutox, Haha! I know, I was trying to reach as many as possible... ;)And by the way, you're forum post over there seem to be the only one's that make sense! Feel free to copy and paste my interpretation and shove it in a thread if you'd like.

But to be honest, with Lady GaGa's album still as popular as it was during it's début weeks, I think she's got at least one more release for us; she did say she was planning to release four singles from 'The Fame Monster', but that waa back when her third album was expected in November 2010, but the release has now been pushed back to 2011, and if she's touring the Monster Ball until April of that year, how's is she going to promote one album and tour the other?

She'd have to wait till after April, then give it a few months rest (here's hoping, the gal's wasting away) THEN release the lead single which she quotes as being "the anthem for our generation" in mid/late 2011, with the album following subsequently.

But I cannot argue she needs to take a rest - irregular heartbeats? Collasping on stage? Boderline positive for lupus? I really hope she gets up one day and just think "Today is going to be all about me, not my fans".

Haha thanks ;) I get into a lot of heated debates on DS forums (probably because people don't want to accept that I speak the truth) but I always stick to what I believe! I've never seen you there though :P

As for Gaga's situation, if she wants to release yet another single then that's up to her of course, but another issue for her that I didn't mention before is the overexposure. She has been releasing singles, promoting them, performing live, and receiving crazy amounts of publicity, pretty much non-stop for a year and a half now, and I think it's already got to a point where people (even some of her fans) are sick of seeing her on the tv, hearing her songs on the radio, and seeing her in the papers almost every single day. Towards the end of last year support for her was at it's peak, but many are just fed up of her now. It will only get worse if she does indeed have a new album out soon.

Also, I get the feeling she thinks that if she takes any sort of rest she is 'letting her fans down', which is so not true. If anything, her fans are more worried about her and would encourage her to chill for a while. I remember recently when asked about her health, one of the things she said was "I would rather not die on vacation, I'd rather die on stage with all my fans." Does she really think her beloved fans want to hear that? What an utterly ridiculous thing to say. It's almost as if she *wants* to become some sort of tragic star, and as much as I'm a fan, that comment really annoyed me.

I also think she will be desperate to get her new album finished and released before the end of this year because she has previously said she will, and again I suspect she thinks she'll be 'letting her fans down' if she doesn't get it done before then, meaning it would be rushed. Of course I don't know if that's the case but knowing what she's like, it probably is.

Yeah, it seems quotes like "Dying on stage may be my destiny", or "I'd rather die on stage rather than vacation" (paraphrased) isn't something you say is it? It's something you keep to yourself right?

I ean, it's like she regard herslef as an icon already, like if she dies right now she'll get the same reception as the death of Michael Jackson (God rest his Soul). But that's not gunna happoen, maybe you could get away with it ten/fifteen albums down the line, but not two... I mean come on GaGa.

And the even more annoying thing is, she actually leaves a really long time between single compared to some artists: October for 'Bad Romance', February for 'Telephone', and June for 'Alejandro'. But you're right, blanket radio play may help sales, but as you said, she's constantly in the public's eye and ear and can sometimes be a tad annoying especially now 'Alejandro' will most likely be one of the most played songs of the summer.

Hmmm. it seems my previous interpreatation of the video wasn't good enough; I felt like it was missing something, like I'd gotten something wrong y'know? So I kept digging, niggling deeper into it's symbolism more than anything else, so here goes:

BEWARE AGAIN: LONGER THAN LAST INTERPRETATION (the first part is just explaining the symbols used. Then it develops into explaning the video again... Sorry... Couldn't help myself).

The soldier holding the gold gun to his groin, tied up with string:

This is to symbolise that despite being a soldier (probably the most masculine occupation in the world) the man who was borne of Adam's loins is still the image of God, as Adam was 2000 years ago. But even so, he is yielding this gun: he has the power to 'be God' by having the ability to take life with the gun, but he is tied up with string. A large nod toward the fact that Catholics can sometimes just end up as God’s 'puppet's.

Lady GaGa swallowing the rosary beads:

Steven Klein has defended this by saying it's her "desire to take in the Holy". GaGa probably does this because she is trying to cleanse herself after being unfaithful and homosexual, which is condemned by the Bible so ultimately, she is seeking forgiveness.

The bowl haircuts:

These haircuts were chosen because of their unisexuality. Both men and women 'work' this style which is why wee see GaGa with very-short bob and the men with bowl/mullet cut - so the gender roles swapping throughout the video are supported with the unisexuality.

The inverted crucifix around GaGa's crotch on her cream habit:

An inverted crucifix is a sign of an atheist, or someone who believes they are not worthy of the Lord's respect (hence why St. John I think, asked to be crucified upside down). By placing it on her crotch, GaGa is implying she is caught between her religious boundaries and her sexual desires. Whilst you could also argue it's to do with her chastity as a nun.

BIG JUICY BIT: The gradual switching of male and female roles within the video:

At the start, we see a soldier in a Cabaret bar in fish-nets and stilettos. This is an indication of what is to come, would you not agree?

But when the 'real' video starts, the men are marching, imitating the marching style of the Nazi Party, - probably a big one-fingered salute to the fact the Nazis condemned homosexuality as well - this shows the men at their most masculine (as I mentioned before, they are soldiers; it is seen as a very masculine occupation which also discriminates homosexuality) and we then see GaGa playing the role of a forlorn woman leading a funeral procession. Female playing female, male playing male.

Later on, we see the roles switch slightly - God would see the men as patrons of himself and woman as a lesser being which is why it is peculiar to see a sexually dominant woman in the scene with the three beds. GaGa is dominating the sex that is depicted by the Bible as the greater sex (which is why at the time of the Lord only men became educated; became priests, scholars, astronomers etc.) this is a seriously mis-understood scene - people just see it as GaGa being a bit promiscuous with three gay men, but as you can see now, it's much more than that, and a hint that nowadays we live in a society where women can be dominant over males: which goes against the Bible's teachings; the Bible also discriminates homosexuality, so why do people in today's society believe a woman can be dominant over a man yet same-sex couples are "going to Hell"?

Continuing with this theme: throughout the video gender becomes erroneous and subsidiary, and sports the theory that we are defined by our soul, not by our body.

Once the video becomes black and white, a sequence where GaGa sports a suit, the men come marching out with dignity in every stride like the beginning, but this time with a feminine flair, as if they were on a cat-walk. Know the scene? Well this is where the gender roles really get mixed up, because GaGa is wearing the suit, and the men are modelling the designer clothes - this is mirroring the swapped gender roles in today's society and how men are no longer bound to do 'manly' things and vice versa. And in that light, it comically exploits the fact that military groups discrimination homosexuals, and were even targeted and killed by Nazis. It's this play on gender and sexuality that makes 'Alejandro' a social message to the masses.

After that scene, a dance sequence follows with the now very feminine 'soldiers' with GaGa centre-stage. Many a GaGa hater will see the gun-bra as a healthy nod towards Madonna's con bra from the 80's. But it's now clear that she is not just dominating these men sexually and religiously, she is now dominating them militarily by closing off her woman-hood with air-rifle shafts.

And now, for something a little different… it seems that all this is good and proper and gets the message across after HOURS and HOURS of observing the symbols but GaGa, being GaGa, has to put her own spin on it, which she does. Very, VERY cleverly.

After watching the video a good 50 times, you can see GaGa and Klein set up multiple characters in the video, each one with an important purpose: the Tyrant, the Widow, the Nun, the Rebel, and finally, and most importantly: the Human Being.

The Tyrant represents government, politics, and modern society. The widow is a tragic, mourning woman, perhaps a simple glance to the realities of war. However, it's through the other four characters does her story and the real meaning of the video come to the foreground.

The Nun is a quintessential figure of maternity, she sacrifices her womb and God-given ability to give birth for a devout religious following of the Lord. She is shown praying and then symbolically swallowing a rosary. While this can be interpreted many ways, I think we can all agree that it's really quite simple: she is swallowing religion; her beliefs, and what she was raised to be in order to liberate herself from the depths of Satan and the temptations he presents to her in the form of lust. By swallowing the rosary it is not blasphemous in any way, she is just accepting her religion back into her body; cleansing it or purifying it if you like.

There is a sequence within the video that I first thought was completely pointless and would probably end up being edited out for TV viewing. You can definitely quote me now that although the musicality leaves a lot to be desires, the clip is actually integral to the video's plot.

She repeats the chorus "Alejandro, Alejandro, Ale-Alejandro, Ale-Alejandro" over and over again in a near hypnotic way and is seen wearing a leather jacket. As you can imagine, this is the Rebel. This repetitive chant of "Alejandro" is quite simply, a call to arms. Showing clips of revolt and terror in the background enforces her message that as a society we must fight for change; we must all fight for equality of cultures, orientation, etc. because even though it may seem as if homosexuals are more accpeted than they were in the days of Jesus, there's still a large majority within the world with relatively archaic points of view.

Which leaves us finally with GaGa as a Human Being. In this look, she is androgynous. She is neither male nor female. Her message of equality has changed and developed into simply existing harmoniously and indifferently, as a message that we should all do the same.

Deep stuff.

*applauds* Fantastic post, OddOne. You've really put a lot of time into video and taken a lot of imagery and symbolism from it. I completely agree with you and I believe Alejandro to be Lady GaGa's best video. I think it is the first time she's succeeded in making a truly multi-layered music video.

The one thing I tgruly commend as also the multi-layering, Randy.

Especially the 'Rebel' character GaGa creates; realising what that black and white part of the video if for makes it so much easier to watch.

I must admit first time I watched the video I thought "Instant mis-fire", but now everything is so much clearer after putting the hours in.

:)

Spirit, following OddOne's post, maybe I shouldn't have had Anders christened after all??? This religion business seems like a minefield...

In March last year, Fraser McAlpine wrote a piece called "Cheese Source" about Lady GaGa in which he pointed out that she raids hits from the past for material.

/blogs/chartblog/2009/03/lady_gaga_poker_face.shtml

I took issue with Fraser at the time on the grounds that all musicians in history have pinched ideas from other composer's work, but Fraser came back with the point that the bits GaGa pinched were often the "cheesy" bits, hence the title of his piece.

I like "Alejandro" but I think of all GaGa's hits, this one comes nearest to Fraser's "cheese source." It's more derivative than a ballad entered in the Eurovision Song Contest and makes me thing particularly of Abba.

As to the 9-minute video ("Telephone" was a similar length) it's packed with faux religiosity, homo-eroticism, sado-masochism and more, but it's all done in the best possible taste. Lady GaGa is such a talented musician, I do wish she would concentrate on the music and not bother with all this OTT nonsense.

Same, Portly.

If she goes ahead with the release of final single from 'The Fame Monster', 'Speechless' (a brilliant choice) I really want her to do something relating more to the song, rather than have a ten-minute 'art'-fest allowing her to get her political-socio-religious views across.

It need to be something moving, even something akin to Miss. Ellis-Bextor's 'Today The Sun's On Us' video would do. GaGa's got a grain in that haed boviously, I just wish she'd use it properly...

I agree "Speechless" is a fabulous song and it went down very well with the audience at GaGa's concert in Liverpool this year. I hope it comes out as a single, as you suggest, with a less pretentious video to go with it.

Yes, seeing as Speechless is about her father's health problems. Maybe we could see a warmer, more human GaGa.

The video is not as good as "Telephone", but the song is great. 4.5 stars!!!!!

Lady Gaga what a popular to the top around the world in latest years. because the top 10 of single chart in worldwide every pop songs, there is still, whatever the MV, music awards, remix version, TV show, concert and any performance..... forever is the top of the pop singer!

I hate this song, but I like the way she sings it. The lyrics are crap but GAGA manages to make them sound meaning ful (only on the verses). As for the video... THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!

So you like it, then? Good. ;)