Ass Backwards

As usual, though I resist bandwagons, I have been known to arrive at the same place as the mass audience, having taken the long way 'round.

I've decided I like Lady Gaga.

Hear me out.

Considering I come from the corner of the world that encourages originality, and considering that I am actually formally educated in the field of Art, on a down-to-the-core-of-it-all level, I'm a wallflower and thank others to be just as inconspicuous. I resist spotlight people. I know that. I think I'm uncomfortable for them. I think I tend to appropriate the embarrassment that I think they should be feeling.

As it turns out, it's that same non-conformity that I end up respecting. I admire people who are braver than me, who can come up with a new reality and not bat an eyelash at living it.

That she actually has talent just sealed the deal.

Here's the ass-backwards part: I'd been pretty much avoiding her since for the most part I'd concluded she was just another passing rage, working with shock value, etc. But then I saw that video of that kid on YouTube who sings Paparazzi and I liked the song. To be honest, I like his acoustic version better than her ultra-produced one, but I can see the composition at its core and like it. The fact that her techno-like genre is of no interest to me has kept her music out of my radar, but I can see its appeal now that I've been exposed to it.

And then there was the Glee episode. I mentioned a while ago that I don't get the pull about that show. It looks like it's targeted for a teen audience but the music is largely from the 80s and 90s, so in a strange way it's appealing to a larger audience. I'll be honest and admit to seeing a couple of episodes now, but I'll also add that I never really "watch" the episode. I'm usually on another task and only tune in at the songs. I like the nostalgia (again, I wonder what the draw is for the newer generation who largely thinks our music was silly) of it, so I get to hear songs I haven't heard in a long time. But if you asked me who the characters are or what the plot lines are, I'd be hard-pressed to identify any of it. The Lady Gaga episode, however, shone another spotlight on her music, and so I've come to gradually form a better opinion of her, though it's ironic that mostly I like other people's - more acoustic - versions of her songs.

Poker Face, in particular,pulled me in because the chorus is almost identical to a song in one of the Cirque du Soleil productions. I think it was Quidam, but I'm not sure. Either that or Saltimbanco. Anyway, I had the CDs back in the 90s and have since lost them, but if you're familiar with that music, it's very international, often in other languages and I even suspected some languages were completely fabricated. Anyway, Poker Face always reminds me of that song, specifically because I liked that part of the song in the Cirque CD.

Yep. Yet another painfully dissected look into my noggin.