What Lady Gaga is Truly Saying

I'm going to analyze this to death. Everything between (parentheses) refers to the text directly above it.

Watch the video. Note how she covers her face with her hands.





Just Dance
(The title, like Lady Gaga and this song, is riddled with ambivalence. Just often precedes a command. "Just do it" for example. It is meant to strip away any inhibitions that might be preventing an action. Just is also an adjective meaning lawful, moral, and righteous. So you have at once a push to dance without thought of consequence and the inescapable presence of justice, or consequence for immoral action.)

Lady Gaga
(Lady is a term used to identify a woman who is refined and proper. Gaga is a sound babies make and often associated with the sexually charged response that a man has toward an attractive woman. He went "gaga" for her. So in the name you have Lady, which brings to mind class, order, propriety, and Gaga, which brings to mind the carnal, and improper.)

I’ve had a little bit too much
All of the people star to rush (start to rush by)
A dizzy twister dance
Can’t find my drink or man
Where are my keys?
I lost my phone

What’s goin’ on, on the floor?
I love this record baby but I can’t see straight anymore keep it cool
What’s the name of this club?
I can’t remember but it’s alright, a-alright

(The singer begins in a state of confusion. Where is my phone? Where is my drink? Where is the gentleman that I came in here with? She is experiencing the consequences of her revelry. Then she says, "It's alright". But of course it isn't alright. She went to great lengths to show us that nothing is alright. She is drunk, confused, and alone. She simply tells herself that it's alright in order to continue "the dance". Otherwise, she would be forced to accept the fact that she is lost and alone.)

Chorus:
JUST DANCE!
Gonna be ok
Da da doo doot-n
JUST DANCE!
Spin that record babe
Da da doo doot-n
JUST DANCE!
Gonna be ok
D-d-d dance, dance, dance, just
J-J-JUST DANCE!

(She repeats the command four times. JUST DANCE! And she reassures herself that it is going to be ok. Also, look at the "Da da doo doot" gibberish. Doesn't this look like more baby talk? Da da. Ga ga. That's because this is the fleshy, impulse driven, carnal side of her nature. It makes it easier to forget that things are not alright.)

Wish I could shut my playboy mouth
How’d I turn my shirt inside out (inside out right)
Control your poison babe
Roses have thorns they say
And we’re all gettin’ hosed tonight!

What’s goin’ on, on the floor?
I love this record baby but I can’t see straight anymore keep it cool
What’s the name of this club?
I can’t remember but it’s alright, a-alright

(Here we have more of the same. There is a strong sense that she is aware of her sad condition. She even wishes she could shut her playboy mouth and control her poison. She knows that her recklessness has consequences. Her words and actions are harming herself and others. Nevertheless, she tells herself that things are alright)

Chorus:
JUST DANCE!
Gonna be ok
Da da doo doot-n
JUST DANCE!
Spin that record babe
Da da doo doot-n
JUST DANCE!
Gonna be ok
D-d-d dance, dance, dance, just
J-J-JUST DANCE!

(More false affirmation)

When I come through on the dance floor checkin’ out that catalogue
Can’t believe my eyes so many women without a flaw
And I ain’t gonna give it up, steady trying to pick it up like a call
I’m a hit it up beat it up latch on to it until tomorrow yeah

(This is coming from a man. First, notice that he refers to the women as catalogues. They are attractive like models one would find in a catalogue, and since Lady Gaga included the word playboy earlier in the song it's not a far reach to make that connection. He continues to describe the women as flawless. Once again, like models. In the next two lines he reveals his tremendous lack of respect for their humanity. He threatens to "hit" "beat up" and "latch on" to one until tomorrow. He is a wolf and the confused lost woman is a sheep.)

Shorty I can see that you got so much energy\\
The way you twirlin’ up them hips round and round
And there is no reason at all why you can’t leave here with me
In the meantime stay let me watch you break it down and

( To him, she has so much energy, or life. But really, it is fake. She is not full of life. The attraction is superficial. And if you look at the third line he makes it clear that he will have his way. "There is no reason at all why you can't leave here with me." Of course, she can't reason anyway since she is so disoriented. There will be consequences for her actions.)

Chorus:
DANCE!
Gonna be ok
Dad a doo doot-n
JUST DANCE!
Spin that record babe
Dad a doo doot-n
JUST DANCE!
Gonna be ok
D-d-d dance, dance, dance, just
J-J-JUST DANCE!

Half psychotic sick hypnotic got my blueprint it’s symphonic
Half psychotic sick hypnotic got my blueprint electronic
Half psychotic sick hypnotic got my blueprint it’s symphonic
Half psychotic sick hypnotic got my blueprint electronic

(Notice how she covers her face throughout the song. Usually, she only covers about half of her face. That's because part of her realizes that she is sick and psychotic and the other half chooses to ignore it. The part that realizes her true state of being is ashamed and so covers it up. The electronic symphony coming from the music allows her to dance. The electronic symphony gives her a purpose and a structure. Like a blueprint for a building)


Go use your muscle car-ve it out work it, hustle! (I got it just stay close enough to go it on)
Don’t slow! Drive it, clean it Lysol, bleed it
Spend the last dough (I’ve got it) in your pocko (I’ve got it)

(I think this is about all of the things people do to get through life. They spend money on things. Then they tell themselves "I've got it", but that is as much a lie as "It's alright" within the song.)
Chorus:
JUST DANCE!
Gonna be ok
Da da doo doot-n
JUST DANCE!
Spin that record babe
Da da doo doot-n
JUST DANCE!
Gonna be ok
D-d-d dance, dance, dance, just
J-J-JUST DANCE!



(Just Dance is a song about the ways that people cover up the truth. The truth is that they are not alright. Lady Gaga is a genius.)