Lady Gaga's New Album 'Harlequin' - A Happy Mistake?

Look, I could write for hours about what Gaga and her art mean to me, but I will not defend her anymore; she is good.

The one thing, though, about Gaga is that you will remain disappointed if you try to put her in a box, as she often doesn’t match your expectations. A true fan will go on this journey with her wherever she decides to take us. Over the last couple of days, I’ve felt like I prejudged her last album. It didn’t match the vibe of "Joker," nor did it meet what I was expecting, and on top of that, the album cover didn’t really fit the album’s vibe. I expected punk; she went solo jazz etc.. But what’s more punk than giving them zig when they were expecting zag? It’s almost like she’s punk through her music, subverting what even punk means. 

This morning, when I heard the live version of "Happy Mistake" as the first thing when I opened my eyes, my opinion changed. Did you hear her voice in that live Jimmy Kimmel performance? I judged too quickly, because this live version totally won me over. I’ve never heard her voice like that before. It’s been hours since I woke up, and I can’t stop listening to the new album from top to bottom. I’ve fallen in love with every song, except "Joker," whose vocals are top-notch.

I tend to forget the context of some actions and judge them too quickly, holding them to this perfect image in my mind of how people should act. I mix that with my vision of their potential and what I need from them, but also what I’m trying not to be. This cocktail ruins relationships. My ego steps in, deleting and destroying connections as soon as someone doesn’t meet my expectations. Of course, for some distant acquaintances, I’ll never regret cutting ties—they were just getting on my last nerve—but for others, I can’t help but wonder if a big part of annihilating these relationships was the ego I had grown inside me. Once I saw the ego and its reactions to my basic empathy and love, I felt scared that I couldn’t control this beast. As soon as I felt scared, I also felt hopeful that I absolutely can overcome this motherfucker as long as I have the time to do it. Then, I thought, why don’t I give people around me the time to overcome their own demons? We all have this inner fight moving at its own pace. I should be more gentle with the people around me. Kindness is the highest form of intellect. Especially Gaga—she stood by me from her first song, and when I pressed play, I was ready to appreciate the direction she chose to take. 

On this project, Gaga blew me away with her raw talent, and once again, she surprised me. I still don’t see how this music will fit with the "Joker" movie, which I’m going to see on Sunday, but until then, the music definitely has me on track. With all the negative reviews coming from the critics, I wonder if the fandom is strong enough to overcome it. But in the same sense, if you love somebody, you don’t judge them by their mistakes and falls, but by how they get up. This album is definitely one of the stronger ones. It took me a while to get it, which, for some reason, happens with almost every album since "Joanne." I feel like this is her best jazz album, and it will go down as an incredible autumn collection along with the other two that I will cherish as soon as the first leaf falls. This album is anything but a mistake. Why would I care about the critics' opinions if the album or the movie brings me any joy? Her career will survive, and worrying about it is plain dumb. What if the box office numbers? Yeah, what about them? I think this sentence is one of those that stole the fun from just going to see the movie and feeling it for yourself.

Iliya Badev