When I first heard about this song's content I admit to buying into some of the "cultural appropriation" bullshit that was being thrown around, i.e. Burqa. I am a feminist and very interested in world religion, I am currently enrolled in Islamic history and this song popped to mind on our unit about women under Islam. Long story short, the veil is not oppressive, it is Middle Eastern culture/fashion.
Lady Gaga has had a lot of flak surrounding her image as of late, and as a woman in show business, of course, her body image as well. I think she did an amazing thing with this song....here's my interpretation.
She mentions killing her former in the first verse and sending the knife to hollywood. I see that as her original image, who she was before she was "GAGA", hollywood destroyed that innocence, misogyny, and that's why the knife belongs there.
The tune of the song is unapologetically Middle Eastern, in large part because of Infected Mushroom who supplied her with the beat. They are from Israel.
She speaks of not being a slave, being a woman of choice, i.e. she chooses to wear the veil, or this aura of protection that is her art. The lines about one man to love, and his size??? She ain't talking about sex, she's talking the Big Guy, God.
The chorus of "do you wanna?" is drawing attention to the fact that she lives behind this mystique, veil, or aura. We cannot necessarily see her true self, but she asks us to understand that she is a real, normal girl behind the veil, just as the women in the West or East.
In the last verse she states unequivocally that she is not making a statement by wearing a burqa, she says that she does it because she sees it as a fashion choice, which it is. After that she says basically that she does not speak from the perspective of a woman in the Middle East, but that she sees the things that are happening there, be they bad or good.
Very interesting song, and much deeper than I expected it to be on the first read of the lyrics. Gaga, I will now listen to the rest of your album. :D
When I first heard about this song's content I admit to buying into some of the "cultural appropriation" bullshit that was being thrown around, i.e. Burqa. I am a feminist and very interested in world religion, I am currently enrolled in Islamic history and this song popped to mind on our unit about women under Islam. Long story short, the veil is not oppressive, it is Middle Eastern culture/fashion.
Lady Gaga has had a lot of flak surrounding her image as of late, and as a woman in show business, of course, her body image as well. I think she did an amazing thing with this song....here's my interpretation.
She mentions killing her former in the first verse and sending the knife to hollywood. I see that as her original image, who she was before she was "GAGA", hollywood destroyed that innocence, misogyny, and that's why the knife belongs there.
The tune of the song is unapologetically Middle Eastern, in large part because of Infected Mushroom who supplied her with the beat. They are from Israel.
She speaks of not being a slave, being a woman of choice, i.e. she chooses to wear the veil, or this aura of protection that is her art. The lines about one man to love, and his size??? She ain't talking about sex, she's talking the Big Guy, God.
The chorus of "do you wanna?" is drawing attention to the fact that she lives behind this mystique, veil, or aura. We cannot necessarily see her true self, but she asks us to understand that she is a real, normal girl behind the veil, just as the women in the West or East.
In the last verse she states unequivocally that she is not making a statement by wearing a burqa, she says that she does it because she sees it as a fashion choice, which it is. After that she says basically that she does not speak from the perspective of a woman in the Middle East, but that she sees the things that are happening there, be they bad or good.
Very interesting song, and much deeper than I expected it to be on the first read of the lyrics. Gaga, I will now listen to the rest of your album. :D