Gaga can't get a break. Every song she releases a new song it's labeled a copy of something else. Whether it be "Don't Turn Around" for "Alejandro", or "Resepct Yourself" for "Born This Way", it's inevitable. Now with her newest single "Judas", released on April 15th, 2011, people are starting to say Gaga's copied someone else... herself. Calling "Judas" a sequel to "Bad Romance", however, is pretty much spot on. The songs are similar in a lot of ways, but does that make "Judas" a failure? Probably not. To show the similarities, both songs have chants that consist of name dropping herself, both are lyrically about falling in love with the wrong guy. And both show Gaga at her finest.
I've got to be honest: I wasn't a huge fan of "Born This Way." The song was fine, but after all the hype build up around it, I was just a bit disappointed when it actually released. When I listened to it the first time, I thought it was just okay.The whole thing just felt rushed, like the producers had spent as much time making the song as Gaga did writing it (about 10 minutes). After listening to it a few times, I, like any psycho fan does, convinced myself that the song was amazing, and that I was just crazy. But deep down in my pop-hungry soul, I was burned.
Now though, Gaga has sent down her own version of an angel in the form of the four minute "Judas." The song is, like I said earlier, about loving someone you know you should just leave. The kind that "even after three time, he betrays me." But like most Gaga songs, this is wrapped up in a extended metaphor (hope I didn't bring back any horrible memories of high school English for anyone) of the biblical figure Judas. For the non-initiated, Judas was the man who betrayed Jesus in the New Testament, leading to his crucifixion, and later down the line, Easter Eggs. Fun Fact: Judas was later run over by a chariot. This is Gaga's version of the bible.
 |
| Basically, this. |
The only major problem I have to the song is, ironically, the main chorus ("I'm just a holy fool, but baby he's so cruel/But I'm still in love with Judas baby"). Every time the chorus starts, it feels slightly out of place, like my iPod suddenly shuffled to "Eh, Eh". It's just a little bit too happy sounding, and clashes with the chaotic tone of rest of the song.
However, that small part doesn't stop the song from being insanely catchy, dark, and wonderful. After hearing "You and I", "Living on the Radio", and "Born This Way", it's relieving to see Gaga back in her "Fame" form. While there's still a lot of Born This Way (the album) to be revealed, Judas in my opinion is her best song on it so far, and ranks right up there with "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" in terms of pure, pop goodness. While time will tell if this has the staying power of Gaga's biggest hits, for now this hymn is a blessing for the pop-god herself.
Okay, maybe I should lay off the religious metaphors.
9/10
