The intimate venue could hardly contain her, however.
You have to be willing to listen, and that goes for life and the album.
LADY GAGA:Oh man, that was so much fun.
Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images for Bud Light
Im just so happy, I cant believe it.
Were really like a family.
Was that to check that fans of your earlier dance-pop didnt feel left behind with your new direction?
What drove that instinct?
I dont know, I guess thats my style.
As the years go on, you start to identify the things about yourself that are unique.
And for me, I like to hold onto those things.
I love a sugary sweet melody.
Not darkness as horrorits dark in the way that things can life be dark.
But has switching up your sound showed you more of whats stayed the same?
Do you have a stronger sense of what makes a Lady Gaga song now?
I keep bringing them up because it was such a wonderful time.
Everybody came from different musical perspectives, and we created exactly what I wanted to hear.
You cant believe its Beck!
Yeah, I cant even think that way.
Thats when Im terrible at making musicwhen Im all worried about what other people want to hear.
With Beck, we just went in there and jammed.
I think we hung out for two hours, actually, before we even went in.
We were just talking about life, laying there on the couch, looking out the window.
I said, Hey, do you want to go in there and grab a guitar?
I have a nice Hummingbird, Mark gave it to me for my birthday.
Her name is Amymaybe you could play her?
Ive got the Wurlitzer out, and Mark had all the mics set up.
We went in there and just started writing.
Before we knew it we were going, [singing] Baby dont cry, baby dont cry!
Dancin in circles, feels good to be lonely.
How do the other songs on the album relate to that story?
The truth is, the album is about being tough.
You have to be willing to listen, and that goes for life and the album.
This is an album you really have to listen to.
Youve got to close your eyes and pay attention.
Do you feel like thats the ideal setting for people to experience and understandJoanne?
It was so fun to sing from that roof.
That was a dream come true.
You were literally onthe edge of glory.
Thats what I said when I came off.
My father grabbed me by both of my arms and went, Arrgghh!
He was so mad at me for lying on the edge.
But it just was right and fun.
And it wasnt that small!
What headspace were you in when you first linked up with Mark.
By that point, you had recorded a handful of tracks with [Bad Romance producer] RedOne.
Did you already know that most of them werent what you were looking for on this album?
Or were you still just experimenting?
Ive known Mark Ronson for seven years.
We met in New York many years ago.
He wanted me to sing and write with him and Wale on a record called Chillin.
I was like, What is this?
How am I going to do this?
Sean is actually an incredible musician and and a very, very accomplished pianisthis voicings are magnificent.
I just remember that was the beginning.
I remember thinking these are my neighbors, this is where I belongwith New York musicians.
You want to make friends with them and work.
I said, Yeah, Im ready!
He said, Okay, call me!
[Gaga shakes her head no.]
I was playing him some music ideas, and I kept looking over at him.
He said to me, Could you just hey f-ing make the record that everyone wants you to make?
And when he said everybody, what he meant was all of [my friends].
Could you c’mon make that record?
Because you know you have to make it.
You might as well just do it.
So just f-ing do it.
Im still really close with people Ive known since I lived on Stanton and Clinton street.
Like, call-them-when-Im-sad close.
Have you thought about how youll balance new and old material during your Super Bowl halftime show next year?
I sentA-YOto my dad because I thought that might be his entry point to Lady Gaga.
And if they dont, well see.
Im not sure what songs well play.
But for me I just always want the show to be great.
I think that these songs could reach a lot of people and bring other sons and fathers together.
That was also my intention in a way, because this album brought me and my father closer together.
It healed a lot of things between us.
Hes taking care of me in a totally different way.
I dont know how to explain it.
He taught me that, and thats important, and I wanted to write about it.
Bringing families togetherthat seems like something the Super Bowl can get behind.
What was so great was the NFL heard the record before it came out.
They gave me that slot, really, off my album.
