Lady Gaga has always distinguished herself as a unique character in the pop world. She is fierce in her pursuit of making uncompromised music. Part of what makes her such an enigmatic and interesting pop music icon is the element of unpredictability she brings to the table, and this is something that is baked into the compositional structure of her most famous songs as well.
Lady Gaga compositions often stray from the diatonic chords commonly associated with a major or minor key. Some of her earliest hit songs such as 'Bad Romance' and 'Poker Face' make good use of chords that do not necessarily seem to belong in a certain key. These borrowed chords, much like the artist herself, add a certain color, inflection, and keep the song from sounding too predictable or repetitive.
In the chorus for 'Bad Romance' Lady Gaga uses a VI chord, rather than a tonic i – this is a deviation from many of her other hit songs. The song is in A minor so one would expect the chorus to start with the tonic chord as it is somewhat of a sonic "home base" and allows the listener to feel "at home". It is typical in pop music to start a chorus off with the tonic i chord. In 'Bad Romance,' the key is A minor, so the tonic i chord would be A minor, but Gaga uses an F major chord (the VI chord) instead, which adds a very different mood to the song's already intriguing chorus.
'Bad Romance' also features a tritone interval in the chorus, going from a G# to a D. This interval, the tritone (with an augmented fourth or diminished fifth), is known as the Devil's Interval. It has long been associated with instability, tension, and evil in Western music. Gaga's use of it in the chorus of a song about a bad romance is a clever compositional choice.
The song 'Bad Romance' also has a clever usage of a melisma which is a fairly common occurrence in pop music. It is an often wordless foreshadowing of the chorus to come, it makes the chorus feel more familiar once it comes around. Gaga herself does not use this too often in her music, but it was a feature in 'Bad Romance.'
Lady Gaga has a knack for blending traditional pop sensibilities with elements of darker electronica, opera, and metal. There is always a noticeable undercurrent beneath her music that sets it apart from the straightforward pop hits of her era. The expansion into these genres often creates interesting clashes of compositional choices. In the song, 'You and I,' she was able to merge compositional elements of country and blues-inspired rock (with slide guitar and stomping rhythm) with stadium-scale pop balladry. To be fair, a lot of pop stars do this, but Lady Gaga has her own special flair.
Lady Gaga's compositions are littered with surprises, not only chord changes but also playing with rhythms to great effect. Take the song 'Poker Face' for example, the iconic stuttering chorus features some really interesting work rhythmically blending regular meter with syncopation. For example, during the verses of the song, her vocals are doubled, but intentionally left out of sync, which creates a somewhat disorienting sound rather than a clean, seamless pop sound.
Gaga makes great use of layering different rhythmic elements within the song as well. This interplay and use of cross-rhythm helps create ambiguity, building the tension and excitement within the song. Ambiguity is something that has always been attached to Lady Gaga's persona. It only makes sense that it would also be a crucial structural element in her art – a function, not a bug.
Among the many ways Lady Gaga sets herself apart from other pop stars, is that she has consistently written hit songs in minor keys. Of course, there are some exceptions such as 'The Edge of Glory', but the songs 'Bad Romance', 'Applause', 'Paparazzi', 'Perfect Illusion' and 'Diamond Heart,' 'Just Dance,' and 'Poker Face' were all written in a minor key.
Lady Gaga's powerful persona has been further backed by her compositional choices. I would be remiss in this article if I didn't mention that Lady Gaga does have co-writers on many of her hit songs, most notably, RedOne (Nadir Khayat) who does have a background in music theory – so these concepts would not be lost on him. Lady Gaga is also far from a pretty face singing someone else's songs. She also studied music from a young age. In addition to her natural talents as a musician, she also participated in music school early on in her career at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, which would have given her a deeper understanding of the many concepts that we've discussed here today.
Gaga's understanding of compositional concepts is evident in her clever usage of the devil's interval in a song about bad romance, and her use of disorientating rhythmic structures in 'Poker Face.' This is not only a clever effect that helps the song stick in the listener's ear, it is also a wink and a nod to those who spend the time examining those compositional elements. Rest assured, there are plenty of other compositional easter eggs hidden throughout Lady Gaga's vast musical catalogue.