Does Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' Rip Off Madonna's 'Express Yourself'?

By John Mitchell Posted Feb 11th 2011 12:45PM

People are already going crazy for Lady Gaga's anthemic new single, 'Born This Way.' But we couldn't help but notice that in just about every article or review of the song (not to mention your comments, beloved PopEater readers), people are calling out its similarity to Madonna's 'Express Yourself,' with some even claiming it's a blatant rip-off.

While we wouldn't go that far -- we love Madonna (you have no idea), but people give her so much credit as a pop innovator you'd think she built the first synthesizer with her bare hands -- it's impossible to not see the thematic and melodic parallels between Her Madgesty's pop classic and Gaga's latest club jam.

If imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, Madonna should be feeling pretty good this morning. People are loving Gaga's new tune, but the big story that has emerged since its debut this morning is its rather obvious similarity to the Material Girl's 'Express Yourself' (there's also a little 'Deeper and Deeper' in there, too, if you ask us).

Compare for yourself:

The buzz has sent the Internet aflutter, with "Madonna," "Born This Way" and "Express Yourself" all trending on Twitter, and headlines from The Atlantic ("Is Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' a Rip-Off of Madonna's 'Express Yourself'?") to the Washington Post ("Lady Gaga's New Song, 'Born This Way,' Premieres Online. We think Madonna Will Like It") drawing the comparison.

But as Vulture notes, "['Born This Way'] has Gaga, an artist constantly compared to Madonna, cheerfully swiping some melodies from Madonna's 'Express Yourself' -- because this is not the kind of song where that feels like a big deal, or anything much at all seems like a big deal."

Exactly. To us, Gaga's new tune feels like more of an homage than a rip-off. The 'Bad Romance' singer has made no secret of her respect for Madonna, and with that in mind, there's no way the thematic and musical similarities between 'Born This Way' and 'Express Yourself' were not purposeful. With its full-on disco swagger and lyrics about self-acceptance, Gaga is taking a page straight out of the Madonna handbook and not apologizing for it.

And why should she? Just about every female pop star -- from Britney Spears and Rihanna to Katy Perry and Christina Aguilera, whose 'Not Myself Tonight' video got raked over the coals last spring for borrowing imagery from the 'Express Yourself' video -- has been accused of aping Madonna at some point. At least when Gaga does it she has the class and pop sensibility to do it right. 'Born This Way' isn't a poor-man's retread of 'Express Yourself'; it takes the feel and concept of that empowerment anthem and ups the ante. Gaga cranks the bass and opens the door to everybody -- and it's something we should be celebrating her for.

'Express Yourself' -- song and video -- remains a high point in Madonna's particular brand of pop culture feminism, and in a lot of ways, it's probably her most successful "message" song. And sure, 'Born This Way' is cut from the same cloth, but who cares? Twenty-two years after 'Express Yourself' topped the charts, it's about time someone dropped a self-acceptance tune that holds a candle to the Queen of Pop's showstopper.

Let's just hope Gaga's likely-to-be-awesome video for 'Born This Way' -- she reportedly already filmed the clip with her 'Telephone' and 'Paparazzi' director Jonas Akerlund, himself a longtime collaborator of Madonna's (he directed her videos for 'Ray of Light,' 'Music' and, most recently, 'Celebration') -- is half as good as Madge's legendary David Fincher-directed clip for 'Express Yourself.'

What do you think, PopEater readers? Do you think 'Born This Way' hews too closely to 'Express Yourself,' or is Gaga simply paying her respects (in the best way she knows how) to the Queen of Pop?

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Tags: Lady Gaga, madonna

Comments

(292)

Friday 11 February

By Gregg

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You could take out all of Gaga's vocals & insert Madonna's & it would be the exact same song. It is a HUGE RIP-OFF!!!

By Mike

Who cares!!! Sounds good to me...I'm sure Madonna likes it too...

By planerguy

Lady Gaga has very LITTLE TALENT! The only talent she truly has, is intelligence. She's smart, and keeps herself interesting by being bizarre. Her single best piece of work was "poker face" and nothing since then has been original. By and large it's all been rewording and slight beat changes to the work of past artists. She even stole the ideas for her getups from her own friend! While I have nothing against her as a person at all, I still have to say
she's had her 10 minutes of fame. It's time for US to move on.

By Adrianna

it does sound similar. the song sounds like a broken record (gaga's). Honestly, it just keeps on repeating the same thing, exept for the begining. it feels like the chorus is the whole song!

By Nick Mendoros

There are many parts of the song that resembles Madonna's track. Anyone can sing the Express Yourself lyrics to Born This Way. It goes quite well. I cant for the Mashup Dance Remix.

By Nick Mayor

I am no Madonna fan but I heard Gaga's song today for the first time and from the first few notes, I knew it was a rip off. Born This Way sounds like lawyers advised just the right number of notes for it not to be plagiarism and then they tack on that dumb ending so you might get the idea that you are hearing something different. This is no homage, it's theft.

By LIZ

I never liked Madonna because she can't sing and (I think) is gross as hell to look at. While most people agree the same about Gaga, I like Gaga more because she has an awesome voice with a lot of variety, and her move onto the music scene was refreshing. She may imitate Madonna to an extent, but I can see the differences too. Just let her do her thing..nothing we can do about it. Now Kesha...someone please put her back in the gutter she came from.

By Angie Merskin

Etone Calibe Lady GaGa "Born This Way" "Incredible DJ" "Move Somn" Very Good Radio Cuts!!

By Shawn

For all those saying that Madonna ripped off songs too, I agree. But Gaga should at least have enough respect, to give credit to the person that "inspired" her. She's playing this off like she made the song from scratch, and that it's the best thing since slice bread. Please, I never really like the song "Express Yourself", and I certainly don't think "Born This Way" is any better. But the fact remains, she ripped music and melody and added her lyrics. That's called a "rip-off". Admit to it.

By Huge Madonna Fan

For thoses of us who are truly Madge fans and have been following her for over 25 years, I speak for many...As for Gaga's "Born this Way" in NO way sounds like Madonna's "Express Yourself" The only similarity is the beat. THAT'S ALL! Hail to the Queen of Pop! Love you Madonna! Gaga...your ok, but your NO MADONNA!

By L

She always does, u shocked?
She is Madonna of the 20th century. It's that obvious.
Maybe they should team up.

Saturday 12 February

By angela

You do realize that this is the 21st century, and Madonna came out in the 20th? I hope that was a typo...

By Mr X

WHO CARE'S

By Caitlin

Anyone else hear TLC's "Waterfalls" in there too?

By Madge Fan

Your an IDIOT!

By andy

I want some of the drugs you folks who think they sound alike are using. Must be some powerful sh*t.

By Mechie_Luv

Every musician rips off from one another. Hell look at Elvis he stole songs from black artists and went on to be rich. So get over it.

By shauntavious

AS A STRONG PROUD NUBIAN KING I HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH YOU GIRL, WHICH SONGS EXACTLY DID ELVIS RIP OFF FROM BLACK ARTISTS?

By thinkfirst

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Lady Gaga os O.K. - but just O.K. Madonna is, was and will always be a superstar who posesses true talent and originality. So many of Madonna's songs still sound fresh and current after years. Madonna's music still makes me want to dance - Lady Gaga's is enjoyable to listen to and I tap my foot to it but it does not make me want to dance. That says a lot to me about the difference between the two artists. Lady Gaga is all about image and creating a startling or striking (often controversional) statement through her image. Unfortunately Lady Gaga doesn't really pull from the depths regarding her talent - she seems to have a shallow resevoir - unlike Madonna, who's talent is much more profound and her use of image is secondary to her talent.

By Really?

My question is: who cares?

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