FEATURE 72 - Don't be a drag, Just be a queen

Well, she's trying very very very hard to write an anthem here, and there is no doubt that this will be a real dance floor filler in the gay clubs. It's disco sound is rather old hat, but it is a very polished and superior gay stomp all the same. Lady Gaga is never going to be ground breaking musically, if anything she's rather predictable, being both on trend and retro at the same time. You could be kind and say this is an homage to that 'Material Woman', but really, no. Gaga's strategy for pop stardom is starting to look like it's been entirely modeled on Madonna's. She should be had up for career plagiarism.

God knows she can write an addictive tune though, and seeds them with plenty of lyrical catch phrases to hook onto, and chant them loudly as you dance - 'Don't be a drag, Just be a queen'. This invocation to be yourself usually ends up as - don't be a drudge, just copy me - because most of us don't have a clue who we really want to be, so we begin by borrowing or imitating. That said, Born this way's tone of defiance seems dated, as if she's picking an easy fight, one that's already been won - by someone else (the Big M). There is heaps of Lady Gaga self-mythologising going on here, where being yourself is equated with an extravagant dress sense, how long will it be before it all becomes self-parody, we wonder.

Still, this stomps along rather nicely with its glitter ball and platform boots in tow - 'Just put your paws up' she urges. I can already see the cat clawing at the curtains dance routine. Lets just hope the video is an improvement on the dire one she did for Alejandro, which was another Madonna retread. Gaga has to visually be a feast of style innovation, because the music rarely is.