# Lady Gaga kicked some serious arse



## Nick Batzdorf (Jan 21, 2021)

Great arrangement too, especially the shifting 3/4 and 4/4 bars.

Not an easy song to sell, to be honest - meaning only that it's a lousy song.

But the best performance of it I ever heard is still Beth Hart's à capella version before a Lakers game a few years ago.


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## Stringtree (Jan 22, 2021)

I barely know what a Lady Gaga is, but that was a transcendental appearance and performance. The Whitney Houston version almost makes me want to watch a football game.

Adam Neely does fantastic analysis on a lot of things, and this was no different:


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## NYC Composer (Feb 1, 2021)

Think it was as transformational as Ray Charles “America the Beautiful”?


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## kgdrum (Feb 1, 2021)

IMO they were all good but I’d vote for a 1st place tie between Ray & Whitney 🥰🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶


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## patrick76 (Feb 1, 2021)

NYC Composer said:


> Think it was as transformational as Ray Charles “America the Beautiful”?


Definitely not in my opinion, but I do think Lady Gaga is a good performer and did a nice job.


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## Technostica (Feb 1, 2021)




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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 1, 2021)

NYC Composer said:


> Think it was as transformational as Ray Charles “America the Beautiful”?


The occasion made it more transformational than pretty much anything in our lifetimes! I've never been moved by that song like I was on the 20th.

As to the performances, well, chalk and cheese. America the Beautiful is a much better song to start with, so Ray Charles cheated. 

Also, he was Ray Charles, which is also cheating.


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## chimuelo (Feb 1, 2021)

GaGa is a great person, great singer, great performer and always 100%.
First time we saw her was accidental.
CES 2009.
Heard her singing scales and the usual voice warm ups in the dressing room area, walked by and said Hello with a robe and curlers.
Figured it was the showroom crew rehearsing.

Then she tore the roof off and nobody cared about Intel or drones, etc.

Been a long time before I saw a performer, solo too, that made me watch every move instead of looking at my watch.

She sang so good she made watching the boring inauguration easy.
I’ve enjoyed all of her shows ever since.

FWIW, she doesn’t lip sync unless she’s in an involved mating ritual where you can’t sing and breath simultaneously.
‘You can always tell because she’ll jump to a Piano or just sing with a spotlight on her, and you can hear her catching her breath, she doesn’t try, she catches it.


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## Stephen Limbaugh (Feb 1, 2021)

To flex a bit on the Star-Spangled Banner with a contrarian point of view and an example of the piece with considerable alterations...



My issue with her's is that committing to a 4/4 march necessitates odd pauses and forces the lyrics into serving the meter instead of the other way around. There's no uplifting modulation, the orchestration is in a box like it cannot decide if this is a military march or an American cinema Williams-y piece, or an exploration of "cool chords" rendered by a session keyboardist. The percussion-only opening is even potentially exciting musically, but then the trumpet with piano unison figure is completely idiotic and of course rushed (what did the arranger expect with that figure lol). That opening is what you would hear from a high school band arrangement meant to be performed on Flag Day.

Adam Neely's video is an odd apologetic that excuses ill-considered choices as "being on purpose." At least though he recognizes that Whitney's version is the superior, and doesn't improperly borrow from multiple genres.

It is probably the case, though this is conjecture, that Gaga, her M.D., and Neely do not have a clear understanding of Key's poem, nor Smith's melody, and the historical context of each. A better appreciation could have informed better musical choices. Or, if the decision is to make something completely new to reflect changing values, then use a different melody, as the melody itself has no inherent patriotic value.

Lady Gaga sings her ass off, and did an excellent job. No doubt she and her M.D. made the National Anthem "hers."


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## Stephen Limbaugh (Feb 1, 2021)

Addendum: in demarcating the difference of _doing what sounds good_ verses _taste_, see John Williams' version from years ago along side Houston's.






Edit: for clarity, both these are tastefully done arrangements with clear musical ideas, excellent orchestration, and with a form that takes the us on a journey.


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## ryans (Feb 1, 2021)

That Whitney Houston version, wow. Just... chills.... And I'm a Canadian.


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## NYC Composer (Feb 2, 2021)

Ray Charles: “Now WAIT a minute...l said....!”

Gaga is good. Whitney was great, brought up in the great tradition of gospel singers who made songs theirs, but Ray Charles?

Everything I’ve ever learned about taking pain, feeling emotion and dealing with impossible odds in America has been taught to me, not from the European tradition of music, but by great American artists of African descent who brought blues, r&b, gospel, country and jazz together to form a music that resonates with me to this day. A music of hope, of change, of possibility past the immediate.

All of that coalesced in Charles’ rendering. Fuck 3/4 or 4/4.


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## Stephen Limbaugh (Feb 2, 2021)

ryans said:


> That Whitney Houston version, wow. Just... chills.... And I'm a Canadian.


So much positive to say about the form as well -- the large ending doesn't sound large without a quiet, harmonically different middle or "B" section.

...these discrepancies even apply to the vocal performance, where Gaga is basically full voice the entire time and Houston makes it a point to utilize different colors of her voice. ....but then, Gaga is a child of the loudness wars 🤣.


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## Stephen Limbaugh (Feb 2, 2021)

Sorry @Nick Batzdorf I disagree with everything you say and you're wrong about everything. 😜😜😜


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## cloudbuster (Feb 2, 2021)

NYC Composer said:


> Everything I’ve ever learned about taking pain, feeling emotion and dealing with impossible odds in America has been taught to me, not from the European tradition of music, but by great American artists of African descent who brought blues, r&b, gospel, country and jazz together to form a music that resonates with me to this day. A music of hope, of change, of possibility past the immediate.


I was born and raised in Cologne, but all I ever tuned into on the radio from early on was 'black' American, Brazilian and classical Indian music and more jazz than anything else. Most 'white' and surprisingly African music simply doesn't touch me, can't help it ... so good job Lady Gaga but I won't buy any of your records anytime soon.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 2, 2021)

Stephen Limbaugh said:


> Sorry @Nick Batzdorf I disagree with everything you say and you're wrong about everything. 😜😜😜



You're the only one with that opinion. Everyone else agrees with me.


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## Stringtree (Feb 2, 2021)

Taekwondo with soft gloves. I love watching musical minds beat it out over whose rendition of a musical piece was better. It's like a pillow fight on a Saturday night. Sippin' beer by the console light. It don't matter who turn out right, 'cause we're all brothers and sisters in the early mornin' we're tight.

Finish him!


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 2, 2021)

Changing the subject (this is the off-topic section, after all):

On a scale of 10 to 10, 10 being best, how much is everyone loving "Dickinson" on Apple TV?

(What reminded me is that I PM-ed Stephen about it a while ago, since it has a lot in common with his sensibility. And anyone who's visited his site knows what I mean. He is NUTS - and by that I mean hysterically funny.)


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## Stephen Limbaugh (Feb 2, 2021)

Oh snap... I forgot to watch that!

I had to revamp the site though... cat gifs gone, sad to say... Potential clients were completely confused and as a rank opportunist, had to make the change 😆


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## MartinH. (Feb 2, 2021)

Stephen Limbaugh said:


> I had to revamp the site though... cat gifs gone, sad to say... Potential clients were completely confused


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## Stephen Limbaugh (Feb 3, 2021)

The homepage... so it can live on in infamy:


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