Lady Gaga has been at the top of the charts since the summer of 2005 and is still wowing and confusing the masses. From her unique style to her thirteen minute videos, junior Ella Montgomery put it best, “Her videos are great, I just don’t know what’s going on.”
On the other hand, a handful of EHS students understand Gaga, students like junior Samson St. James. He expressed, “
Gaga’s music and videos are always so fascinating and real. They are her way of communicating to her fans about her life.”
If you have ever felt like Montgomery and long to feel like St. James, then look no further, we are your Guru’s of Gaga, and are here to explain to you the meaning of the Lady Gaga video “You and I.”
“You and I” is one of Gaga’s most personal music videos.To someone unfamiliar with her past and personal life, it may be difficult to understand. The video revolves around her ex fiancé, Lüc Carl and their relationship which began over six years ago. They met at his bar in New York called Saint Jerome’s, when Gaga was working as a burlesque dancer. They have been together on and off ever since.
Their romance was never perfect; Lüc was womanizing and emotionally abusive. Almost every song Gaga has ever written, from “Bad Romance,” to “Judas,” has been about him.
The video starts out on a lonely, country road, and we see Gaga, tired and bloody. She has run all the way from New York to Nebraska to get Lüc back. She passes an ice cream truck and on the side is an arrow pointing forward and underneath the arrow it says, “Follow the crowd.” The truck represents her childhood and the struggles she faced trying to fit in. Gaga was bullied throughout school and suffered several traumatic events that had a permanent impact on her.
When asked about the ice cream truck in an interview, she replied that she lost her innocence very early. While she won’t expound on what this exactly, these events have scarred her and still pain her, which is why she drops to the ground crying when she sees the truck.
We shift away from it, and the screen starts flashing, past and future. Gaga, dark haired, represents the past and all of the science/Frankenstein experiments represent how Lüc tried to change her; trying to make her into his ideal girl. He tried to make her into someone “normal,” robbing her of her personality. He could not though. All of his attempts to change her just made her stronger and into the person she is today. Each time he tried she became more magical and transformed into Yuyi, the beautiful, fantastical mermaid. She is in a permanent state of Gaga, halfway between reality and fantasy.
Over time, he falls in love with this creature he has created. He sees beauty where he once saw outlandishness. Flash forward, it is the present and Gaga has gone back to Nebraska for Lüc. Notice there is now metal and wires where once there was skin. Though she still bears the scars, her wounds (the trauma of her childhood, the heartbreak Lüc inflicted upon her etc.) have healed and she has become the bionic woman, stronger than ever before. He sees that she is the same girl he fell in love with years ago, and despite the time apart, she loves him more than ever.
We believe the cornfield + piano + beer scene represents going “back to the bar.” By going back to Saint Jerome’s and their old apartment and realizing they can still be together just like old times.This theme is carried throughout the entire album.
This article was written in conjunction with junior, Aliya Nesser. Contact [email protected] for more information.
