Lady Gaga Debuts 'Born This Way' Video

By John Mitchell Posted Feb 28th 2011 01:15PM

The video for Lady Gaga's latest smash, 'Born This Way,' has arrived, and it is every bit as creative and visually arresting as anything Mother Monster has ever unleashed on her adoring fans.

The clip, directed by fashion photographer Nick Knight in collaboration with the Haus of Gaga creative team and choreographer Laurieann Gibson, continues the rebirth theme the enigmatic pop star has been pushing since emerging from an egg-like vessel to perform the track at this year's Grammys.

"This is the manifesto of Mother Monster," Gaga says, setting up the effects-heavy video. "Thus began the beginning of the new race. A race within the race of humanity, a race which bears no prejudice, no judgment, but boundless freedom."

Check out the 'Born This Way' video after the jump.

'Born This Way' debuted on Feb. 11, and after just three days of release the track shattered iTunes sales records and became the 1,000th song to top the Billboard singles chart. At radio, 'Born This Way' was picked up more than any debuting title in the chart's 18-year history, according to Nielsen BDS, and has gone on to sell over a million digital downloads.

Despite its success, the song has not been without controversy. Reviews for the single have been mostly positive, but both critics and fans have noted that 'Born This Way' bears a strong resemblance to Madonna's 1989 empowerment anthem 'Express Yourself.'

Gaga appeared on 'The Tonight Show' the day after her high energy performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards, where she won three prizes including Best Pop Vocal Album, and told Jay Leno that Madonna and her team e-mailed her to voice their support for the single; however, Her Madgesty's publicist said she was unaware of any such e-mail. While Madonna herself has not spoken publicly about the controversy, she was reportedly in the audience at Gaga's sold-out Monster Ball show at New York's Madison Square Garden on Feb. 21.

Gaga recently announced on 'The Gayle King Show' that she will release a second video to accompany a stripped-down version of 'Born This Way,' with proceeds from the release going to an anti-bullying charity.

vertigo

► Those Strings Sound Awfully Familiar Does the intro to 'Born This Way' sound familar to you film buffs? That's not a surprise. Gaga's new video uses the title theme from Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 classic 'Vertigo,' composed by Hollywood legend Bernard Herrmann. Herrmann was also the man behind the scores for 'Cape Fear,' 'Psycho' and 'Taxi Driver.'

More:
► See Five 'Born This Way' YouTube Covers That Stun Us
► Paul McCartney and Michelle Pfeiffer Put Their Paws Up For Lady Gaga at Monster Ball
► Akon Praises Gaga's 'Born This Way' Writing: 'She's Not Just Making Dance Records'

Tags: Lady Gaga

Comments

(65)

Monday 28 February

By Drayke

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Very cool video! It was bizarre of course, but in all the right ways. I like the strong 80s vibe that the skull scenes and street scenes have. Love it!

By eyes wide shut

@ Drayke: Very well put. I agree 110% with you. I remember my parents telling me how bazzzzzzzar the Beatles were. Then the Rolling Stones came along. My fathers hair turned gray at the sight of Black Sabbath. My mother was afraid to go to sleep after seeing Alice Cooper. Then my son was scared to death of Matalica's "Enter the Sandman". But the bottom line is::::: It's Still Rock & Roll and I like it, like it, yes i do....Your other option is, there is always Carrie Underwood....

By cathnki9

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

It is impossible to fall out of love. Love is such a powerful emotion, that once it envelops you it does not depart. True love is eternal. If you think that you were once in love, but fell out of it, then it wasn't love you were in. There are no 'exit' signs in love, there is only an 'on' ramp. (( B_l_a_c_k_w_h_i_t_e_C_u_p_i_d. c_0_m )) Lots of my friends found their lovers through the se'rvice. You may have a try... ;)

By Non Blonde Monster

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I don't recall this installment of the " Lord of the Rings " movies . Does Gaga get eaten by a troll ? That would be cool .

By Chaotica

Few people know this, but she is the love child of Madonna & Marylin Manson.

By fxleal

It's an amalgamation of Thierry Mugler visuals with David Lynch, of course her fans think it's genius. It's a rip off with no originality.

By rude

Her career is a rip-off of several others. Not gonna bother with the video after hearing the Madonna 'homage'.

By JD

I was thinking more along the lines of the work of H.R. Giger.

By MJ

...not one of my favorite Gaga videos, but can appreciate her creativity. Song still rocks!

By geldonski

Absolute garbage.

By Loveeet

I am not a fan of the song, but the video is great. And those of you who are bashing it, why did you even bother clicking on the link? When I don't like something or someone, I don't even bother looking at relevant articles/videos/photos. Just a thought. Have a great day!

By Trisha

But when you DO like someone or something it's only natural that you'd want to check out their new work. It IS ok to dislike someone or something you generally do like, ding-dong!

By maria1963

We clicked on it to see if we liked it or not, that's why, get a clue!

Yawn. I'm growing quite bored with this Lady Gaga. She is trying too hard to be bizarre.

By grimmy

Icky birth images, way too much narrating, the whole vid seems too busy, too choppy, trying to say too much...the visual equivalent of talking with your mouth full.

By draykevader

I like the video a lot personally, but this is the type of criticism I can respect and appreciate. It's refreshing to see someone critique Lady Gaga's work itself rather than throw slurs and insults her way and mock everyone who likes her. So thank you for being an example of constructive criticism and not just spewing hate. =)

By Gabriel Haze

The only reason I am not upset by all the negative remarks from those who have the right to their opinions is because they only help in aiding her climb to fame. Madonna went through this everyday of her life and it wasn't until after she ruled the world that those who hated her began to realize that by going out of their way to hate her, they made her famous.

More than likely the same people who hated the fact she mentions equality in the song are probably the same ones who hate the video and everything she does. They are usually too scared to ruin their reputation to throw out bigotry so they generally attack her.

Ladies and gentlemen, she is an artist - as we all are! And beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However to those who say she has no talent, dare I ask you to look at your own life and ever wonder why you have not achieved as great of heights?

In closing, I would tell those negative, snotty individuals leaving hate everywhere to shove it, but alas we need them to keep talking so she's always on the top of every search engine, on the cover of every magazine and on every second of television.

Dear Gaga, you rock.

When your talent is grossly over rated like Gag Gag, you have to resort to smoke and mirrors to suck in people like you to buy her garbage.
She is a prime example of how far Pop Music has fallen. Pop is nothing but a waste land of s**t music.

By Muse

Bland song. Madonna rip-off. Drenched in occult and Illuminati symbols/conditioning. When will people wake up?

By Every1isbLind

i'm with you and that one! when will people realize that they're getting brainwashed. Every second of that video had to do with the illuminati and the new world order. Why are people so oblivious!?!?

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