Song Paparazzi Lady Gaga. I Originally Submitted

¶ … song paparazzi Lady Gaga. I originally submitted instructor file I uploading. He replied back: You made a small, important mistake. Your essay song. What song? What meaning song? What song?

Lady Gaga's song "Paparazzi"

Lady Gaga's song "Paparazzi" is written in the voice of an obsessed lover. The female speaker literally and figuratively compares herself to a dedicated paparazzo, stalking her victim: "I'm your biggest fan/I'll follow you until you love me/Papa-paparazzi." On one hand, the voice of the speaker is completely submissive. She is entirely enthralled with her subject and his 'biggest fan.' However, the determination to follow him until he loves her suggests a strong, possessive quality to her love.

Paparazzi are parasites, living off celebrities rather than creating their own fame. Celebrities do not really love paparazzi but try to avoid them, even though Gaga compares her determination to be absorbed in the orbit of her lover to these dedicated 'fans.' The song takes the form of a dramatic monologue, in which the words of the speaker and not really analogous to the words of the songwriter. "Dramatic monologue in poetry, also known as a persona poem, shares many characteristics with a theatrical monologue: an audience is implied; there is no dialogue; and the poet speaks through an assumed voice -- a character, a fictional identity, or a persona" ("Poetic technique," Poets.org, 2013). Gaga takes on the persona of a paparazzo (despite being famous herself), a woman obsessed with a man. She is so abject that even the refrain stressing the 'papa' of 'paparazzi' makes her seem childlike and vulnerable.

However, another strange, ambiguous refrain of the song also suggests a blurring with Gaga's celebrity and that of the unnamed 'victim' of her desires: "Baby, you'll be famous/Chase you down until you love me / Papa-paparazzi." Gaga suggests that her beloved superstar will reach ultimate fame because of her attentions, subtly threatening her subject with the violence that obsessed fans have exhibited in the past towards the famous objects of their desire. Violence is one way to gain notoriety for a star and for a fan: it is a dark way to get the star's attention but worth it in the eyes of some obsessed people.

However, beyond the immediate implications of the song regarding the celebrity culture of the United States, there is a deeper meaning about the love women often feel for men. Women may make themselves economically dependent upon men as well as emotionally dependent upon men for their identities. This parallels the relationship of a paparazzo with a star. The paparazzo may make the star feel hunted and unhappy, but without the star the paparazzo is nothing given that the star is the source of his or her income and career. Gaga insists that unlike a real paparazzo, her love is not financially motivated: "But this photo of us / It don't have a price." Yet the entire song relies upon a metaphor about a relationship which is a kind of financial transaction: the star gains exposure through the photographs of the paparazzi (however unwanted) and the paparazzi makes money from the photos. This suggests that male-female relationships are often similarly transactional and empty. And just like even very 'difficult' women who are very demanding of the men in their lives may feel as if life is meaningless unless they are in an obsessive relationship because they lack the ability to form a separate life of their own, this is also true of the paparazzi in pursuit of their celebrities.