LoveGame
"LoveGame" is a song released by American singer Lady Gaga from her debut studio album, The Fame. A synth-pop and electro-R&B record, the track was released as the album's third single in North America and Europe and the fourth single in Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden after "Eh, Eh ". "LoveGame" was also released as the fourth single in the United Kingdom, after "Paparazzi". It was written by Gaga herself, alongside the song's producer, RedOne.
Critics appreciated the song's rhythm and the "I wanna take a ride on your disco stick" hook. Gaga had explained that the term "disco stick" is a euphemism for a penis and was inspired by her sexual attraction to a stranger at a night club. Musically carrying the vibe of underground New York discos, "LoveGame" talks about love, fame, and sexuality which was the central theme of the album. The song received a number of remixes, one of them featuring rock musician Marilyn Manson. "LoveGame" was a commercial success, charting within the top ten in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany, and other European countries. It became Gaga's third consecutive number-one song on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart and achieved triple platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.
The New York underground-inspired music video for the song was directed by Joseph Kahn, and portrayed Gaga dancing at an underground subway station and in a parking lot. The music video was a tribute from the singer to the New York lifestyle including its glamour, fans and fashion. It was influenced by the music video for Michael Jackson's "Bad", which also took place in a subway station, and features Gaga wearing Nazi chic clothes. The music video was banned from broadcast at the PG-rated time slots in Australian television channels because of its sexual content. "LoveGame" has been performed live a number of times by Gaga, including television appearances, such as Dancing with the Stars and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards, and many of the singer's concert tours. She usually performs the song while holding her characteristic "disco stick" in one hand.
Background and release
Towards the end of 2007, Lady Gaga's management company introduced her to songwriter and producer RedOne, whom they also managed. By 2008, Gaga relocated to Los Angeles in order to work extensively with her record label to complete her debut album, The Fame, and set up her own creative team called the Haus of Gaga. "LoveGame" was one of the songs written by Gaga and RedOne who also produced the track. With Rolling Stone, Gaga explained that she was at a nightclub and had a "sexual crush" on somebody. She went up to the person and uttered the line, "I wanna ride on your disco stick". Thinking it to be a thoughtful metaphor for penis, Gaga went to the recording studio the next day and wrote the song in roughly four minutes. Gaga also had ideas for the live performance of the song where she used "an actual stick—it looks like a giant rock-candy pleasuring tool—that lights up".While commenting in regards to the lyrical content of the song on Australian talk show, Rove, Gaga said that she was unrepentant about her "disco stick" metaphor, though it led to a banning of the music video on Network Ten in Australia. She added that the metaphor was not meant to be subtle and was clear what the lyrics constituted off. "If anything, I happen to think people are frivolously hard on me", Gaga generalized. She went on to relegate "lot of youth-oriented pop music" as much racier than hers with their sexually provocative lyrics, but Gaga felt that the whole context of her visuals alongside the music was what made people react. "It's the music in relation to the visual, in relation to the way I move and the way I articulate the lyrics. But if I wanted to make music to make people sing 'la di da' that would be very boring," she concluded.
"LoveGame" was released as the album's third single in North America and Europe and the fourth single in Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden after "Eh, Eh ". In the US it was sent to Contemporary hit radio formats for airplay from May 12, 2009. The track initially had been planned as the third single release in the United Kingdom, but deeming its lyrics and music video potentially controversial, it was decided that "Paparazzi" would be released instead. "LoveGame" has received a number of remix treatments, one of which featured vocals from rocker Marilyn Manson. Daniel Kreps from Rolling Stone reported that the remix was conceived during Gaga's photoshoot with the magazine in May 2009, when Manson arrived on the set. The rocker was impressed by the shoot and wanted to collaborate with Gaga on "LoveGame".
Recording and composition
"LoveGame" was recorded at Record Plant Studios and Chalice Recording Studios, both in Hollywood, California. Along with the production work of the track, RedOne also contributed to its background vocals, instrumentation, programming, audio engineering and recording. Other personnel involved in creating the final version of the song included Robert Orton who did the audio mixing, and Gene Grimaldi who mastered the song at Oasis Mastering in Burbank, California.Musically, "LoveGame" is an uptempo synth-pop and electro-R&B song. According to Kerri Mason of Billboard, the composition has a vibe of the New York downtown musical scene, but has a more mainstream appeal to it, making it perfect for radio, "without losing its smut and sass". The song does not have a massive sound like previous single "Poker Face", nor has a big melody like subsequent single, "Paparazzi". Instead the composition of the song is electro-R&B, consisting of big beats and a number of hooks, with Gaga repeating the word "huh!" from time to time.
Gaga explained that the lyrics of "LoveGame" were clear about what the song is all about. She thought that the lyrics portrayed a powerful message about love, fame, and sexuality which was the central theme of The Fame. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "LoveGame" is set in the time signature of common time and is composed in the key of B minor with a moderate tempo of 104 beats per minute. Gaga's vocal range spans from B3 to G5. It follows in the chord progression of Bm–Em–D–Bm–Em–D in the first two verse and chorus while progressing as Bm–Em–Bm–Em in the intermediate verse before the final chorus.
Critical reception
The song received mostly positive reviews from critics. The Phoenix music editor Daniel Brockman said that "Gaga ups the ante in terms of catchy song writing and sheer high-in-the-club-banging-to-the-beat abandon." He also commented on the lyrics saying that "'Let's have some fun, this beat is sick / I wanna take a ride on your disco stick' might be the trashiest-yet-awesomest refrain I've heard on a major-label record this year." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine criticized the song for "cheap" lyrics and "painfully enunciat without any resemblance of actual sex appeal". While reviewing The Fame, BBC said that the song sounded robotic in the line "I wanna take a ride on your disco stick", though deemed it a brilliant track which "leaves us awarding Gaga the yearbook title of 'pop star most likely to kill'."Nick Levine from Digital Spy believed that lines like "I wanna take a ride on your disco stick" was a direct reason of Gaga's commercial success. Although he felt that the song was "attention-seeking", he knew that it would provoke reaction from the masses, be it good or bad. Genevieve Koski from The A.V. Club called the song as a "propulsive club anthem" and complimented its synths and drum programming. She described it aurally as "a dizzying sonic trip that approximates the high point of a chemically enhanced night of club-hopping." Evan Sawdey from PopMatters complimented RedOne's production on the song, listing it as one of the best tracks on The Fame.
Ben Hogwood from MusicOMH declared the song as "top notch, diamond-encrusted pop" along with other tracks like "Starstruck" and "Paparazzi". He found the lyrics to be sometimes odd, especially the statement, "I'm on a mission, and it involves some heavy touchin'." Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe said that the song "has a gutter level quippage with sinuous moves". Priya Elan from The Times was not impressed with the song and called it calculated. Billboard music editor Chris Williams gave the song a positive review, commenting that "It has all the winning ingredients of its predecessors: a radio-friendly, club/electropop feel; a provocative, yet silly enough catchphrase and hook; and a dash of '80s synth magic, so the adults can play along. On 'LoveGame' Gaga is in it to win it."
While reviewing The Fame on its fifth anniversary, Bradley Stern from Idolator noted that "LoveGame" could "easily be erased from Gaga's back catalog with little consequence" since he felt it to be nothing more than an "electro-dance" track. But Stern believed that "LoveGame" was an important component of Gaga's career trajectory, since it was the last testament of her image as "that of the disco-stick wielding pop star from out of space"—the image was later deconstructed as the doomed starlet in the music video of "Paparazzi". He concluded by saying that the song "is a wonderful moment of pop frivolity which served to keep the upstart Lady Gaga machine chugging along at the beginning of her career."
Chart performance
Following its release, "LoveGame" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 96 for the week ending March 21, 2009, but fell off the chart the following week. After seven weeks it reached number ten on the Hot 100 by selling 107,000 digital downloads and becoming the week's greatest digital gainer. Two weeks later, "LoveGame" peaked at number five on the chart. It reached number-one on the Hot Dance Club Songs, and also became Gaga's third number-one on the Mainstream Top 40 chart. The Recording Industry Association of America certified "LoveGame" triple platinum for shipment of three million copies across United States. It has sold 2.67 million digital downloads in the United States as of February 2019, according to Nielsen Soundscan.In Canada, the song debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 68 before its official release as a single. Its second appearance was on the chart of January 10, 2009, at number 87. After a few weeks, "LoveGame" entered the top ten of the Canadian Hot 100 and climbed to number five. After fluctuating down the chart for a few weeks "LoveGame" reached a new peak of two on the chart. The song was certified double platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association in June 2009, for sales of 160,000 paid digital downloads.
In Australia, the song debuted at number 92 on the ARIA Charts, and then moved up the charts to number 41 the next week. On the issue dated May 11, 2009, the song peaked at number four, becoming Gaga's third top five single there. "LoveGame" was certified quadruple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association for sales of 280,000 equivalent units. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number 36 and moved up to a peak of number 12. Recorded Music NZ certified it platinum for sales of 30,000 equivalent units. On the issue dated March 6, 2009, the song entered the Irish Singles Chart at number 49 and peaked at number 30, after eight weeks on the chart. It also debuted at number 19 in Finland and has since moved to a peak of number 12.
In early 2009, the song charted on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 89 based on downloads only. It re-entered the chart at number 64 after the release of the single was announced, and peaked at 19, becoming her lowest-charting single in the UK at that time. The British Phonographic Industry certified it platinum, for sales and streams of 600,000 units. In the Netherlands the song debuted at number 28 and has peaked at number five. The song debuted at number six in France and moved to its peak of number five the next week, becoming Gaga's second top five after Poker Face, who peaked atop two months earlier. It debuted at numbers 19 and 38 on the Belgian Ultratop Flanders and Wallonia charts respectively. In Flanders it has reached a peak of six, while in Wallonia it moved to a peak of five. "LoveGame" also reached a peak of number seven on the Billboard European Hot 100 Singles chart.