Stuck In My Head: Poker Face

I never, ever listen to the radio. The Bay Area has few good stations, and really, why would I bother with the amount of portable CDs and CDRs floating around the house? But last week I found myself running errands with only an AM/FM radio at my disposal, and tuning into the local “Contemporary Urban” station (KMEL for those of you scoring) I was suddenly confronted with Lady Gaga. Most of us have seen the photos, the crazy outfits, the 22nd century fashion sense, but I hadn’t heard the music. The experience went something like this: …okay, this isn’t bad…[bobbing head]…hey, this is pretty good…[bobbing]…wow, I actually like this…[bobbing]…MAH MAH MAH POKER FACE!…[pumping fist out car window]…

Not pretty, I know, but therein lies my essential quandry with Lady Gaga – I’m either an old curmudgeon who doesn’t get it, or a hopeless dork slumming two musical generations below where I ought to be. Lady Gaga is clearly a flashy offshoot of the disco that I know and love, so I’m going with hopeless dork plus a splash of curmudgeon. ‘Poker Face’ has some great hooks and is worth repeat listens, but the fashion stuff makes me very suspicious. It’s not even the superficial nature of the gloss and glitz, but the sense that music is just one small part of Gaga Inc.

By all accounts, the woman born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is sharp and saavy. She took her stage name from the Queen song ‘Radio Gaga’ and has spent the last several years seeking to outdo Freddie Mercury as a shockingly flamboyant rock star diva. Clearly comfortable with her own nudity, Gaga has worn plenty of outfits that make me feel like a mommy-what-are-those 5 year-old kid. And like Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga’s music seems secondary to her function as a publicity machine.

She has claimed that her favorite philospher is Rilke – a weird declaration that is yet another red flag for my inner curmudgeon. Rilke was a German poet who wrote mainly on two topics: the quest for success and the meaning of true love. With her camera-friendly outfits and catchy hooks, Lady Gaga would appear to have mastered the former, while the lyrics of ‘Poker Face’ indicate that she’s taking the scenic route to the latter. “No great art has ever been made without the artist having known danger,” wrote Rilke. I don’t know if Lady Gaga is making great art, but those lobster shoes look pretty dangerous…

Listen: Poker Face

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Tags: Amy Winehouse, Freddie Mercury, KMEL, Lady Gaga, Poker Face, Queen, Radio Gaga, Ranier Maria Rilke