Rating: ★★★★★
Lady Gaga has been in constant promotional locomotion for the past few weeks: she released a schedule, revealing that there are plans to release a new song from her upcoming album ARTPOP every week until the album's release on November 11. However, that schedule may be slightly changed after the release of the first of the three songs, "Do What U Want," which features R. Kelly.
The song was originally released early yesterday morning to accompany ARTPOP as a promotional single, but it was now announced that it would be bumped up to a real single after it peaked at number one in multiple countries on iTunes and was met with critical acclaim, while "Venus" will be released next week as a promotional single.
When I first heard the song's title, I was quick to assume that it was entirely about sex and desire. That thought was proved to be somewhat incorrect when Lady Gaga took to Twitter a few hours before the song's iTunes release, posting tweets like "LADY GAGA IS A REDUCTIVE MADONNA COPY! SHE'S OVER NOW! #WriteWhatUWant #SayWhatUWantBoutMe #ImNotSorry" and "APPLAUSE didn't DEBUT AT #1! KATY IS BETTER THAN HER! #UWontUseMyMind I write for the music not the charts."
It became evident that although "Do What U Want" does contain sexual metaphors, the song was meant as a subtle dig towards her critics. This is what makes Gaga so amazing, because she can take a song and derive so many meanings out of it. The lyrics to "Do What U Want" appeal to the masses, yet the meaning behind them all is something on the opposite end of the spectrum; I would like to see Katy Perry do that a song from Prism...
The cover art features a picture of Gaga's long blonde locks and her voluminous backside which many people may deem inappropriate, but it does ride along the theme of the song. And just as the cover to "Applause" was, there is a giant white border placed around the picture, making it seem like a piece of art from a museum. It is even hand-signed at the bottom by the photographer (whose name has yet to be disclosed, although it has been rumored to be the handwriting of Terry Richardson, a photographer Lady Gaga has worked extensively with in the past.)
From afar, "Do What U Wants" holds up a massive façade that it is just another sexual pop song, but when you dig deep into the lyrics, there's so much more that opens up from it. The chilled-out 1980s vibe carries off of a theme started by Daft Punk with "Get Lucky," but obviously Gaga has done it better. I can't wait to see where this song goes on the charts, because it has the potential to be one of her most popular yet, especially now that she has a song that appeals to an R&B audience as well as her typical pop fans.
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