MeFi Civil War, Part 2

May 10, 2011 5:05 PM

Lady Gaga will debut songs from her new album 'Born This Way' on Farmville. The promotion will include a rebranding of Farmville to 'Gagaville', which will feature magical unicorns, sheep on motorcycles and other Gaga-inspired items. The promotion runs until May 26th.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn (169 comments total)

This is it. Western civilization is over. We had a nice run, but it's time to hang it up.
posted by jcreigh at 5:06 PM on May 10, 2011 [44 favorites]

Some artists sell out. Lady Gaga sells her fans into slavery.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:06 PM on May 10, 2011 [12 favorites]

I have to give her credit, I don't think Madonna did this first.
posted by 2bucksplus at 5:06 PM on May 10, 2011 [53 favorites]

Lady Gaga will debut songs from her new album 'Born This Way' on Farmville.

After which she will be slaughtered and made in to burgers.
posted by jonmc at 5:06 PM on May 10, 2011 [4 favorites]

People still play Farmville?
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:07 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

It has been said it wasn't over Gaga that we went to war. I myself would blame Farmville. But you know, sifting through the correspondence from the front, it seems likely the bacon dress had something to do with it.


awesome post, hilarious frame! Yay Gaga, boo Farmville!
posted by mwhybark at 5:09 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I've blocked Farmville from my feeds and dislike Gaga but somehow this appeals to me. It sounds like Robot Unicorn Attack in social media form.

Come to think of it Gaga's persona wouldn't even raise an eyebrow in most videogames (at least the old school ones).
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:09 PM on May 10, 2011

Motorcycles are edgy.
posted by I Foody at 5:09 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

After which she will be slaughtered and made in to burgers.

First we take a quarter pound of pure, grade A Lady Gaga. Then we smother it in delicious creamery butter. And we top it all off with strips of 100% pure beef from her famous "meat dress". We call it "the Goodbye Western Civilization" burger. You're lovin' it, cause you were born this way.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:12 PM on May 10, 2011 [14 favorites]

She's also rumored to be filming an ad for Google's new "stream your music to you" thing.
posted by Trurl at 5:12 PM on May 10, 2011

This... this is a joke, right? Like a cartoonish combination of annoying things?
posted by brundlefly at 5:12 PM on May 10, 2011 [7 favorites]

Coming soon: Justin Bieber takes over both the Triads AND the Yakuza in a limited-time-only Mafia Wars promotion.
posted by Gator at 5:13 PM on May 10, 2011 [10 favorites]

I don't fault anyone for selling out. Shit needs to get paid for. I'm cool with that.

But selling out to Farmville is about as lame as selling out to TJ MAXX or Arbys. Sell yourself out to something good.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 5:13 PM on May 10, 2011 [17 favorites]

This reminds me of that one time in middle school when somebody threw up in the hallway. Except instead of covering the puke with that weird smelly sand shit, everyone's eating it up.
posted by phaedon at 5:13 PM on May 10, 2011 [10 favorites]

Thanks! By myself, I've had no luck getting my wife off Farmville.
posted by hal9k at 5:14 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

I might have to play this just to annoy my facebook friends.
posted by cj_ at 5:14 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

As long as no one goes into "Lady Baabaa" territory, I expect we are safe. Reasonably safe.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:14 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

I picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue.
posted by tommasz at 5:14 PM on May 10, 2011 [12 favorites]

* sigh *
posted by everichon at 5:15 PM on May 10, 2011

I heard they going to be modding Farmville into a virtual Chelsea for te event.
posted by Ad hominem at 5:15 PM on May 10, 2011

First we take a quarter pound of pure, grade A Lady Gaga. Then we smother it in delicious creamery butter. And we top it all off with strips of 100% pure beef from her famous "meat dress". We call it "the Goodbye Western Civilization" burger. You're lovin' it, cause you were born this way.

No cheese?
posted by jonmc at 5:16 PM on May 10, 2011

Stay away from Mass Effect 3, Lady Gaga.
posted by MegoSteve at 5:17 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Farmville was kind of fun in the very beginning but it quickly got ridiculous, not to mention obvious that the only way to really advance was to hand your credit card information over to Zygna. I took my block off it by accident a few weeks ago and the onslaught of emails and notices was frightening.
posted by Ber at 5:17 PM on May 10, 2011

i'm officially over lady gaga.
posted by empath at 5:18 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

I thought that we'd gotten past this 'no sparrow shall fall' coverage of LG...
posted by Confess, Fletch at 5:19 PM on May 10, 2011

I would have gone for Gaia Online.
posted by LogicalDash at 5:19 PM on May 10, 2011

Sheep on motorcycles is more Wallace & Gromit really.
posted by i_cola at 5:20 PM on May 10, 2011 [9 favorites]

I'm not sure what it says that I don't even feel like this could be a joke.
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:20 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I might have to play this just to annoy my facebook friends.
posted by cj_ at 17:14 on May 10 [+] [!]

/unfriends cj_
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:20 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Sheep on motorcycles is more Wallace & Gromit really.

"getcherselves ORGANIZED down there!"
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:21 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

IN YOUR FACE, STUCK-UP NERDS! WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:21 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

2010 you really must be going now. You've lingered a bit and your meat dress has started to smell. Also didn't Wham! try this with the Rubik's cube in the 1980s?
posted by humanfont at 5:22 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

You Facebook friend has sent you a meat-dress in Gagaville!
posted by tumid dahlia at 5:24 PM on May 10, 2011 [6 favorites]

IN YOUR FACE, STUCK-UP NERDS! WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?

I am, since she still sucks. But then again so does Farmville, since it's part of Facebook.
posted by jonmc at 5:25 PM on May 10, 2011

Nope, I'm still not going to play.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 5:26 PM on May 10, 2011

I am, since she still sucks. But then again so does Farmville, since it's part of Facebook.

Do people realize how easy it is to block applications from your Facebook feed? I haven't seen a Farmville post in a year.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:28 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

Stay away from Mass Effect 3, Lady Gaga.

I would personally love a Gaga appearance in some Mass Effect 3 nightclub. Yes, I do realize this may make the most unpopular Mass Effect 3 player in the world.
posted by treepour at 5:29 PM on May 10, 2011

"But then again so does Farmville, since it's part of Facebook."

I daresay Zynga managed to write a whole new playbook of suck that Facebook only wishes it had managed to dream up.
posted by flaterik at 5:30 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oooooo! She had me at "magical unicorns."
posted by HotPatatta at 5:33 PM on May 10, 2011

How can someone who has always been little more than a precisely targeted marketing exercise sell out? The fact that she was aimed with laser like precision at a metafilter friendly demographic, rather than the usual 14 year old suburban girls, doesn't make her Sappho or Emily Bronte with a eurotrash beat. Given that, I think the Madonna gibes have been really unfair, in terms of artistic merit she's really competing with the likes of Tiffany.
posted by joannemullen at 5:33 PM on May 10, 2011 [8 favorites]

/unfriends cj_

But I was playing ironically.
posted by cj_ at 5:33 PM on May 10, 2011 [4 favorites]

Does Lady Gaga know about this?
posted by bstreep at 5:33 PM on May 10, 2011 [11 favorites]

Do people realize how easy it is to block applications from your Facebook feed?

Lovecraft In Brooklyn, there's something you don't understand here. jonmc would rather have a red hot sike driven through his ear awhile adding the letter y"" to the end of every single word in the universe than join Facebook.

you know I love ya, jon
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:33 PM on May 10, 2011

Does Lady Gaga know about this?

Her manager just now told her. But she loves the idea!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:34 PM on May 10, 2011 [6 favorites]

Would this be something that I would need to......um...ahh.. hmmm

I really don't know what comes next in that sentence
posted by tomswift at 5:35 PM on May 10, 2011

red hot sike

And a red hot spike, too!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:35 PM on May 10, 2011

I would personally love a Gaga appearance in some Mass Effect 3 nightclub. Yes, I do realize this may make the most unpopular Mass Effect 3 player in the world.

Anyone else remember Courtney Gears from Ratchet & Clank?
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:35 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I would personally love a Gaga appearance in some Mass Effect 3 nightclub.

I'd rather see her in something more appropriate, like Katamari Damacy. A Gaga-branded Space Channel 5 would sell like gangbusters.
posted by MegoSteve at 5:38 PM on May 10, 2011 [7 favorites]

I'd rather see her in something more appropriate, like Katamari Damacy. A Gaga-branded Space Channel 5 would sell like gangbusters.

With all her bizarre transformations she could be a Square/Enix boss.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:39 PM on May 10, 2011 [11 favorites]

Lamest shit I've heard in a long time.
posted by airing nerdy laundry at 5:39 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

If she doesn't show up in Men in Black III, I will be extremely surprised.
posted by Gator at 5:40 PM on May 10, 2011

I'd like to see Bob Dylan in a special Bejeweled Blitz.
posted by Meatbomb at 5:40 PM on May 10, 2011 [14 favorites]

But I was playing ironically.

/ironically unfriends cj_
posted by speicus at 5:41 PM on May 10, 2011

But this is surely a test! She means to gauge the purity of the faithful! Only the righteous shall be redeemed!
posted by dephlogisticated at 5:41 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I heard Morrissey is going to be in Duke Nukem.
posted by MegoSteve at 5:42 PM on May 10, 2011 [5 favorites]

I'd like to see Bob Dylan in a special Bejeweled Blitz.

As much as I'm laughing at the Little Monsters I realized that I would have to buy that if it was endorsed by the Bobhead.

'Course, I own a copy of Masked & Anonymous.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:43 PM on May 10, 2011

Masked & Anonymous isn't actually that bad...ok, it's awful.
posted by joannemullen at 5:48 PM on May 10, 2011

Well, this is obnoxious. I'm not even going to try pulling off my usual Gagapologist routine.
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:49 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Magical unicorns: always taking jobs away from honest, hard-working non-magical unicorns...
posted by combinatorial explosion at 5:49 PM on May 10, 2011 [6 favorites]

Masked & Anonymous isn't actually that bad...ok, it's awful.

It's not awful. It obviously makes sense on a level that mere mortals cannot understand.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:50 PM on May 10, 2011

OMG! Is this for real?
posted by allure at 5:50 PM on May 10, 2011

I am holding out for cortex's album debut in nethack.
posted by fings at 5:53 PM on May 10, 2011 [7 favorites]

Is this something I'd need a computer and an internet connection to understand?
posted by ob at 5:55 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

A week after May 19th, the final judgement of mankind? Surely not a coincidence. Gaga's farmville appearance will usher us in to our new, post-apocalypse hellscape.
posted by Rinku at 5:56 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I thought it was the 21st. Darn it, my last minute conversion is scheduled on the 20th.

Is there something I don't know Rinku? THE BIBLE GUARANTEED THE 21ST!
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:58 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

My grandfather is either going to be very, very confused, or begin making a bubble dress to wear at her next concert.
posted by jnaps at 5:58 PM on May 10, 2011 [4 favorites]

Radiohead are going to get their own SingStar. It comes with a webcam which judges your ennui.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:59 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

Players will have to complete tasks to hear one exclusive new track per day streamed online from May 17 to 19.

In my day, the only task we had to complete to hear an act's new music was hand money to the cashier. /oldfart
posted by Trurl at 6:00 PM on May 10, 2011

I am holding out for cortex's album debut in nethack.

Minecraft, surely?
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:02 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Hey, wait a minute! I just realized y'all are talking about that chick on the mobile phone ad! Wow, I didn't realize she had done anything besides that! I guess she's kinda well known in America, then? Huh.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:02 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

TradeWars 2020!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:02 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

When I saw Jamie Lidell at a festival I was a bit embarrassed that I knew him only as 'that guy who wrote the pretty song in Red Dead Redemption'.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:04 PM on May 10, 2011

How would you even begin to explain what this means to a more primitive (?) society?
posted by gagglezoomer at 6:04 PM on May 10, 2011

First we take a quarter pound of pure, grade A Lady Gaga.

There is no grade A lady gaga. Lady Gaga in itself is just shy of the meat they use at taco bell.
posted by hal_c_on at 6:05 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

There will be an exclusive Neutral Milk Hotel reunion show inside of Half Life 2: Episode 3.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 6:05 PM on May 10, 2011 [10 favorites]

There will be an exclusive Neutral Milk Hotel reunion show inside of Half Life 2: Episode 3.

All joking aside, The National just did this with Portal 2, right? I need to track that down.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:07 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

There was a song from The Nationals written for Portal 2.

Found in a semi-hidden Easter-egg room, rather than triumphantly played in the opening, credits or during required gameplay like a normal developer would do.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:07 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Lady Gaga is just a little girl with talent who has managed to get herself in front of audiences, and now the persona is running her instead of the other way around.


And I think she is actually smart enough to be frightened by this.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:09 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

How would you even begin to explain what this means to a more primitive (?) society?

The shaman has come up with some new chants and wants to make sure the whole tribe knows about it.
posted by Trurl at 6:09 PM on May 10, 2011 [6 favorites]

Found in a semi-hidden Easter-egg room, rather than triumphantly played in the opening, credits or during required gameplay like a normal developer would do.

It doesn't have any spoilers, does it?

In a world where Axl Rose and Iggy Pop are DJing in Grand Theft Auto this almost, almost, ALMOST makes sense. Though Rockstar and Valve have a BIT more credibility than Zygna.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:10 PM on May 10, 2011

“Lady Gaga is as passionate about her fans as we are about our players,” said Zynga’s Raquel DiSabatino ...

The lame. It burns.
posted by airing nerdy laundry at 6:10 PM on May 10, 2011 [9 favorites]

Grr, The National.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:10 PM on May 10, 2011

No spoilers. It's just a song that could exist on a regular, non-concept. It's not like Still Alive.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:11 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh, but don't read the youtube comments. They have spoilers. And they are kinda crappy.

Actually: Just don't read youtube comments ever.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:12 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

It doesn't have any spoilers, does it?

It is played right after Snape kills Chell.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 6:13 PM on May 10, 2011 [5 favorites]

Considering how uninspired and mediocre all her new songs have been, this appears to be an apt distraction.
posted by Houyhnhnm at 6:15 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

That cracks me up. It's like Betty Crocker hawking her Better Homes & Gardens cookbook in a war game.

"Lay down your sword just long enough to prepare this savory Company Casserole for your comrades. Mix together canned tuna, canned mushroom soup, canned black olives and potato chips. Spoon into a large thing and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden brown."
posted by Short Attention Sp at 6:15 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Lady Gaga is just a little girl with talent who has managed to get herself in front of audiences

I was with you until the "talent" part.

God, how debased has that term become.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:15 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

The thing I'll be interested to see is if the promotion can get off the ground successfully. For all its popularity, Farmville is incredibly buggy and prone to slowdowns. Whenever they release something new, it never works right the first time, if it ever works right at all. Can they handle something this big?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:17 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Houyhnhnm: Considering how uninspired and mediocre all her new songs have been, this appears to be an apt distraction.

Or an app distraction on the iPhone.
posted by gman at 6:19 PM on May 10, 2011

You left out the best part.

Lady Gaga is as passionate about her fans as we are about our players,” said Zynga’s Raquel DiSabatino, director of entertainment and media, who described the relationship with the pop star as a partnership.

At least the Del Fuegos didn't say they were in a partnership with Miller High Life.
posted by Trurl at 6:23 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

What y'all are missing is Lady Gaga went to Zynga, not the other way around. They turned down her request for a Cityville promo. Gaga didn't have the edginess required for Cityville, but she's just right for the Farmville demographic.
posted by 26.2 at 6:30 PM on May 10, 2011

> Is this something I'd need a computer and an internet connection to understand?

After everyone else has left for FB a shrivelled handful of us *nix-loving CHUDs without social-media ambitions (or social skills) will have the internet to ourselves again, just the way we did before AOL and green cards. I thought all those new accounts were just a 5-day foot fungus. It was a longish, itchy 5 days but, right again.
posted by jfuller at 6:34 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

I was with you until the "talent" part.

I didn't say she was using it.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:39 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

There will be an exclusive Neutral Milk Hotel reunion show inside of Half Life 2: Episode 3.

A Flock Of Seagulls are playing RIGHT NOW in Montezuma's Revenge, but you have to jump a bunch of giant rolling skulls to find them. Also: there are a whole lot of bad sectors on that 5 1/4" Verbatim disk, so watch out.
posted by mintcake! at 6:45 PM on May 10, 2011 [4 favorites]

...doesn't make her Sappho or Emily Bronte with a eurotrash beat.

DAMN IT.

Just the other day I was trying to work "Emily Bronte" and "eurotrash" into the same sentence. Once again, Metafilter delivers.
posted by marxchivist at 6:49 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

"Diverse Entertainments," as performed by HRH Lady Gaga, Herself an actual Moo-Cow of the Realm, and Protectress of the Cud upon which all subjects chew, shall forthwith commence at quaint but loyal agrarian village.
posted by moonbird at 6:55 PM on May 10, 2011

My dad plays Farmville. Let me tell you, he is going to *love* this.

No, wait, the other thing. Hate. He is going to hate this. He is a 67 year old retired Republican vet. I do not think he wants a sheep on a motorcycle. He does know all the words to "Leader of the Pack" though, so I could be wrong.
posted by maryr at 6:55 PM on May 10, 2011 [6 favorites]

No, wait, the other thing. Hate. He is going to hate this. He is a 67 year old retired Republican vet. I do not think he wants a sheep on a motorcycle. He does know all the words to "Leader of the Pack" though, so I could be wrong.

When I hear the world 'pop' part of my still thinks of girl-group, Motown, and The Beach Boys. For a long time I convinced myself that when people were talking about Rihanna's 'Umbrella' they were really talking about The Hollies 'Bus Stop'.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:57 PM on May 10, 2011

It says something about the world when this is slightly less believable than the Old Gray Lady closing up shop.
posted by stoneweaver at 7:02 PM on May 10, 2011 [4 favorites]

as a full on fan of lady gaga, i have to say that i find this absolutely hilarious. i can't wait to peek in on the fan/hater boards to see the wars.
posted by nadawi at 7:09 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Following the Lady Gaga media circus has been more entertaining than her music since Day One. It gets so boring this way.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:09 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

God, how debased has that term become.

I know. I remember when it just meant "hot chick" at the clubs.
posted by hal_c_on at 7:14 PM on May 10, 2011 [4 favorites]

Lovecraft - Dad's favorite band (or one of them) is the Shirelles. When I was a teenager, he'd sing "Soldier Boy" along with the radio in the car. With the windows down. In the middle of the busiest intersection in town. It was horrifying. And off-tune.
posted by maryr at 7:14 PM on May 10, 2011

what's Farmville?
posted by philip-random at 7:18 PM on May 10, 2011

My first thought: Vomit.

My second thought: I'll probably play GagaVille out of morbid curiosity.

Shoot me. Now.
posted by UnoriginalUser at 7:20 PM on May 10, 2011

This is like when they released that iPhone pinball game with Slayer branding.

Or maybe it's more like Journey Escape.
posted by box at 7:34 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's more like LameVille.
posted by airing nerdy laundry at 7:41 PM on May 10, 2011

It's more like LameVille.

Don't you mean LaméVille?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:43 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

I'll see your Journey Escape and raise you a Give My Regards To Broad Street.
posted by mintcake! at 8:01 PM on May 10, 2011

Lovecraft In Brooklyn: "
I'd rather see her in something more appropriate, like Katamari Damacy. A Gaga-branded Space Channel 5 would sell like gangbusters.

With all her bizarre transformations she could be a Square/Enix boss"

I was thinking something from Metal Gear, myself.
posted by symbioid at 8:15 PM on May 10, 2011

..."Metal Gear"?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:29 PM on May 10, 2011

...
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:29 PM on May 10, 2011 [5 favorites]

Gaga/Farmville one-liner.
posted by davey_darling at 8:36 PM on May 10, 2011

Next on MetaFilter Implosions: Muppets exhume Carl Sagan.
posted by A dead Quaker at 8:36 PM on May 10, 2011 [4 favorites]

"I thought that we'd gotten past this 'no sparrow shall fall' coverage of LG..."

I think now might be that moment
posted by Blasdelb at 8:51 PM on May 10, 2011

Son of a bitch, I might have to load up farmville again for this. For curiosity's sake, even though I half expect my farm to be run by bipedal pigs in clothes when I look back on it, my avatar long since run out.
posted by Betty_effn_White at 8:58 PM on May 10, 2011 [4 favorites]

Zeno Clash.
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:58 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Do they even have sharks in Farmville?
posted by merelyglib at 9:06 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

By Gabthar's hammer, what a savings!
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:12 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

I thought that we'd gotten past this 'no sparrow shall fall' coverage of LG

I was amazed nobody posted the bootleg of her latest video.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 9:13 PM on May 10, 2011

What next? Shaq makes a movie where he plays a genie that lives in a boombox?!
posted by Brocktoon at 9:17 PM on May 10, 2011

It's been interesting to track the rise and fall of Gaga on Mefi. The initial (cautious) enthusiasm is what made me listen to her music in the first place.

It tracks pretty closely to the non-mainstream queer reaction (at least among my friends). "Oh, she's kind of nerdy and geeky like us, and she writes her own songs, I guess that's kind of cool, maybe I'll give her a listen" turned pretty quickly to "she's just like all the rest of the crap out there, if the mainstream gays like to dance to her at the trendy clubs, fine, but i have better things to do than subject myself to that garbage."

The turning point seemed to be signaled by Born This Way, but I think the wave of interest in Gaga had already crested by then.

I'm not sure what to make of it. I suppose I'm puzzled because my enthusiasm simply hasn't subsided -- I seem to have jumped onto a different wave without even realizing it until about now.

As for her weird marketing ploys (like this one and like the polaroid placement in Telephone, or her triangular headphones in Bad Romance), I think she really loves and excels at marketing. This is nothing new, but it seems like people are just noticing it, and are feeling like she's somehow not been up-front about it -- which puzzles me a bit, because I feel like it's been an integral part of her persona at least ever since I've been aware of her.
posted by treepour at 9:19 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

It's been interesting to track the rise and fall of Gaga on Mefi. The initial (cautious) enthusiasm is what made me listen to her music in the first place.

Actually people hated her at first.
posted by delmoi at 9:29 PM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

It's been interesting to track the rise and fall of Gaga on Mefi. The initial (cautious) enthusiasm is what made me listen to her music in the first place.

I STILL don't understand why people on MeFi like her. The closest I come is that David Brooks quote:

She still thought it was a sign of social bravery to be a crude-talking, hard-partying, cotton candy lipstick-wearing, thong-snapping, balls-to-the-wall disciple in the church of Lady GaGa.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 9:47 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Actually people hated her at first.

You may have been watching more closely than me, but I do recall enough "hey, she's actually surprisingly good -- at least give her a listen" type of comments to pique my interest.
posted by treepour at 9:59 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

oh, and her latest single ("the edge of glory") is, imo, one of the best pop anthems i've heard in a very long time -- i've been dancing around the apartment all evening to it -- just thought you should know -- and it does get pretty interesting, i think, when you start paying attention to weird and sudden shifts in synth timbres -- there's a lot more there than meets the ear on first listen, but i'll shut up now
posted by treepour at 10:05 PM on May 10, 2011

I love her for the Paparazzi and Bad Romance video clips. I have no idea why someone who can come up with a fun critique of fame and the pop industry like that keeps making generic-sounding songs like Alejandro and Born this Way. I'd love for her to do short films instead.

To me, the meat/puppet/bloody dresses at awards shows are a different way of saying what Paul Kelly (respected Aussie singer/songwriter) said once: "Pop always eats it's young". When she's at these public appearances where awards are given for sales and popularity, she and all the other starlets are treated like meat, like puppets, and no-one cares if they're hurting.

And as much as she seems to think that pants are too restricting compared to her leather and rubber gear, she's almost always got enormous glasses on that obscure her face. If eyes are the window to the soul, I think she's trying to protect them.

But I'm willing to admit that I might be putting more thought into it than she does.
posted by harriet vane at 10:10 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I had a long conversation with a music buddy about LG while we didn't actually pay attention to her HBO concert over the weekend. With all the Madonna comparisons over the past while (and he made some of his own watching the show), we looked at the Material Girl's career.

LG's released what is probably best looked at as 1.5 albums at this point. So... Born This Way = Like A Virgin, if we're drawing parallels between their careers.

I really didn't even pay much attention to Madonna personally (other than being glued to MTV during high school, where she was unavoidable) until Like A Prayer was released. That album's a pretty strong artistic statement all around... I'd even go to far as to say it is a brilliant pop album.

It also came out 6-7 years after Madonna made her entrance.

I've said all along that I'm waiting to see whether LG has staying power. So, I'm guessing... sometime around 2014-2015 I'll be looking for the album from her which makes me sit up and have to pay attention beyond the sort of online equivalent of heavy MTV rotation which she has right now.
posted by hippybear at 10:11 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

To me, the meat/puppet/bloody dresses at awards shows are a different way of saying what Paul Kelly (respected Aussie singer/songwriter) said once: "Pop always eats it's young".

I'd actually think that pushing her fanbase into Farmville is pretty much pushing her fans into a giant sausage grinder.
posted by hippybear at 10:13 PM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

To me, the meat/puppet/bloody dresses at awards shows are a different way of saying what Paul Kelly (respected Aussie singer/songwriter) said once: "Pop always eats it's young".

I've only been here 7 years, and have only seen Paul Kelly 4 times. Am I allowed to get offended at you comparing Gaga to Paul Kelly? Because I am.

If she's any Aussie, she's Sia. Or Kylie.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:16 PM on May 10, 2011

Yeah, I'm not real keen on this Farmville thing. But not everyone thinks Farmville is a soul-destroying scam like I do. Plenty of people like it almost defiantly, as a game which anyone can play because it doesn't require skill, expensive consoles/PC-setups, and can be shared with friends. I tend to think that's because they're not aware of similar cool games that don't require you to set up a MLM-style ring or hand over credit card details.

But I wonder if Gaga or her management see this as being similar to the Wonderbread stuff in the Telephone filmclip, a sort-of 'hooray for low-brow things' attitude.

And I'm not comparing Gaga to Paul Kelly at all. I'm saying they seem to have noticed the same thing about the industry they work in.
posted by harriet vane at 10:19 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Actually, that's a good point about Kylie (I've got no idea who Sia is, seems like I should leave it that way). Kylie should have been chewed up and spat out by Stock, Aitken and Waterman right after the duet with Jason whatsisface from Neighbours, same as Tiffany, Britney, etc. But she took a leaf from Madonna's book, and decided to forge a path for herself in a cutthroat industry. I've never spent a cent on her music, turn it off if I hear it on the radio, etc - but I do respect her for creating a career for herself after the moguls moved on to fresh meat.
posted by harriet vane at 10:24 PM on May 10, 2011

Craig Finn once recorded an interview about how much he loves Words With Friends.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:24 PM on May 10, 2011

"I'm perfect in my own way, 'cause Zynga makes no mistakes..."
posted by autoclavicle at 11:29 PM on May 10, 2011

Actually, that's a good point about Kylie (I've got no idea who Sia is, seems like I should leave it that way). Kylie should have been chewed up and spat out by Stock, Aitken and Waterman right after the duet with Jason whatsisface from Neighbours, same as Tiffany, Britney, etc.

She also showed up in Doctor Who and the Street Fighter movie. However, she NEVER duetted with Nick Cave in a stab for cred. It NEVER HAPPENED.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 11:44 PM on May 10, 2011

Ah, testing the limits of ironic appreciation! This is the first thing she's ever done that I like.
posted by dickasso at 12:01 AM on May 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wait, wait. Does this mean, like, Farmville's, like, selling out?!
posted by elwoodwiles at 12:07 AM on May 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Kylie doesn't really need to do anything for cred. She's not that well known here in the US, but she ranks eighth on the all-time best selling female music artist list on Wikipedia.
posted by hippybear at 12:15 AM on May 11, 2011

Sia is terrific.
posted by panaceanot at 3:34 AM on May 11, 2011

Lovecraft In Brooklyn: If she's any Aussie, she's Sia. Or Kylie.

Actually, Gaga's voice is considerably less annoying than Sia's. Which is, I guess, some kind of perverse achievement on Sia's part.

harriet vane: I've got no idea who Sia is, seems like I should leave it that way.

Imagine Amy Winehouse in a stand-up screaming fight with a room full of hungry cats while a Stock Aitken and Waterman compilation plays incessantly in the background. That wouldn't sound exactly like Sia, but it is something that her fans would find hauntingly familiar.
posted by Sonny Jim at 3:45 AM on May 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

The thing is that the product placement before was kind of winking and ironic. For example, the expensive vodka she was shilling in Bad Romance was being used like a mind-control drug.

Rebranding Farmville seems to lack the winking self-awareness. Or maybe she'll pull it off. I don't know. But I can never stick with Zynga games long enough to get into them. I mean, I have to remember to come back in 6-24 hours, or else my corn is dead?
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:17 AM on May 11, 2011

Sia - Breathe Me

I like it, but it sounds a lot like Hometown Glory.
posted by empath at 5:18 AM on May 11, 2011

Gauge how accurate Sonny Jim's description of Sia is here.
posted by panaceanot at 5:18 AM on May 11, 2011

Also - Drink to Get Drunk was a massive club record.
posted by empath at 5:19 AM on May 11, 2011

dammit empath :]

Well my link is to Vimeo instead of YouTube at least.
posted by panaceanot at 5:19 AM on May 11, 2011

The shit thing about Lady Gaga is that I failed miserably at that Spicks'n'Specks song-with-different-lyrics game tonight because I obviously don't listen to enough FM radio.

Farmville? Sure, whatever.
posted by pompomtom at 5:46 AM on May 11, 2011

Farmville has a soundtrack?
posted by yeti at 7:26 AM on May 11, 2011

Goddamnit.

The moment I saw this story flash by on one of those "news" banners they run on the bottom of your TV, I thought, "Hmm. There's going to be a Metafilter post on that within the hour."

I really, really wanted to be wrong.
posted by misha at 8:16 AM on May 11, 2011

It's very sad because MetaFilter is strictly limited in the number of posts made per day, due to hypertext rationing.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:30 AM on May 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

i'm officially over lady gaga.

I've never really had an opinion of her other than, "here's somebody who's clearly putting in a lot of effort to get noticed", which for me is neither a good thing or a bad thing, merely a POP thing with antecedents like Marilyn Manson, Kiss, David Bowie, any number of forgotten entities. So why are some remembered and some forgotten? For me, it's down to the music. Is there something of substance beyond the visual NOISE that's worth remembering?

With Lady Gaga, I've never really been offended by anything I've heard, but neither have I been turned on. Her sounds just haven't really demanded my passion, one way or another. That Paparazzi song -- I never even consciously heard it until that little kid did his version at his school's concert and ended up on the afternoon talk shows. That "edge of glory" song that treepour mentioned earlier? I just checked it out at Youtube. No video up yet -- just a still pic of weird looking young woman with way too much makeup. But the song's definitely okay in an overtly commercial ROCK-polished-beyond-smoothness sort of way ... reminding me of everything from Abba to Loverboy to yeah, Madonna. So I can see it winning the pop wars for a little while.

But if I'm supposed to actually get passionate about it like, for instance, I could get passionate about Prince back in his 80s hey-day (or even a handful of Madonna's singles in the same period) -- nah, it's just not there for me. Ms. Gaga is sadly far more Kiss than Bowie. That is, take off the makeup and there's just not enough there.
posted by philip-random at 8:49 AM on May 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Ke$ha will have to one-up her on Dragon Age with unlockable chain-mail underwear sets or something.
posted by gorgor_balabala at 9:01 AM on May 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I prefer Das Racist's reskin of C64 "Ghostbusters" but maybe that's just me
posted by jtron at 10:11 AM on May 11, 2011

For me, it's down to the music. Is there something of substance beyond the visual NOISE that's worth remembering?

I think what's happened is that the producers (Red:One, etc) on her first album had more control over how the music sounded, and Lady Gaga has really bland, middle of the road taste in music and now she's putting out mediocre bubble gum crap like Born This Way instead of cutting edge dance music like she had been making.
posted by empath at 10:14 AM on May 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Honestly? With Gaga's 80s-heavy musical style and her general complete alienation of anyone older than 25, getting older people to hear her music in a place they can't help but visit is a really damn good idea.
posted by flatluigi at 10:44 AM on May 11, 2011

It's very sad because MetaFilter is strictly limited in the number of posts made per day, due to hypertext rationing.

Would that it were so, EMRJKC94. But then how would we get that Lady GaGa fix every week?

Perhaps we could clean up some of the link dumps in the bin Laden thread to make room!
posted by misha at 11:48 AM on May 11, 2011

There's this idea around places like MetaFilter that having a mind, or 'life,' broad enough to include ephemera like Lady Gaga is a great virtue. Y'know, we can tell stupid jokes about Obama/Osama and then tell stupid jokes about Lady Gaga, so obviously we're 'media literate' or something like that.

But this isn't a matter of your mind being broad or your life being big/generous/expansive/welcoming. It's precisely a matter of your (our) smallness. For Barack Obama to care about this would be a little bit pathetic, because he has very important matters to attend to, and he takes his calling very seriously. Same with, say, Norman Rush, or David Milch, or Steve Jobs, or Christopher Hitchens, or Eric Lander, or Craig Venter, or Paul Krugman.

But you...you and me, I mean...well, our lives are exactly the right size and shape and frivolity-level that it makes sense for us to be commenting in this MetaFilter thread instead of, really, anything else (right now). This is an appropriate use of our time. Lady Gaga is ultimately a nothing-much, but we give a fuck (for whatever reasons), and I'm a lot more worried about us than about her.
posted by waxbanks at 4:57 PM on May 11, 2011

I asked my wife to read my comment, and now must make this embarrassed and telling addendum to its second paragraph:

...Venter, or Paul Krugman, or Angie Belcher, or Hillary Clinton, or Madeline Albright, or Queen Noor, or Sonia Sotomayor, or Angela Merkel, or Drew Gilpin Faust, or Ani DiFranco, or even (arguably) Stefani Germanotta herself.
posted by waxbanks at 5:07 PM on May 11, 2011

Sia is horrendous.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:12 PM on May 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

No, I'll bet that Barack Obama makes jokes about Lady Gaga. I mean, he bothered to make jokes about Donald Trump and he doesn't have daughters of an age to listen to Donald Trump.
posted by maryr at 11:50 AM on May 12, 2011

Words With Friends has been telling me that if I play the 'Gaga word of the day' I can win Lady Gaga tickets.

Really.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 3:01 AM on May 22, 2011

What's the word, though?
posted by maryr at 6:01 PM on May 22, 2011

Thunderbird.
posted by box at 8:13 PM on May 22, 2011

No, no. It's "word up". It's the code word. No matter where you say it, you'll know that you'll be heard.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:47 PM on May 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

How is that video not a Chapelle Show sketch?
posted by maryr at 8:50 PM on May 22, 2011

I guess I'd have to know what the Chapelle Show is to answer that question.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:35 PM on May 22, 2011

I saw Cameo play live a few years ago, kinda by accident. They were great
posted by jtron at 11:39 PM on May 22, 2011

Amazon seems to have Born This Way available for 99 cents today. Not sure if it's a student only deal, since they pitched it like it was one to me in an email since I have a student account.

I think it's to promote their cloud drive music player (it comes with a free upgrade to 20 GB), but I'm also tempted to go HURR IT'S ALREADY IN TEH BARGAIN BINZ.
posted by mccarty.tim at 4:48 AM on May 23, 2011

More than students - it was pitched in their twitter account.
posted by maryr at 7:18 PM on May 23, 2011