"Born This Way" is a song by the American singer Lady Gaga, and the lead single from her second studio album of the same name. Written by Gaga and Jeppe Laursen, who produced it along with Fernando Garibay and DJ White Shadow, the track was developed while Gaga was on the road with the Monster Ball Tour. Inspired by 1990s music which empowered women, minorities, and the LGBTQ community, Gaga explained that "Born This Way" was her freedom song. It was also inspired by Carl Bean and his song "I Was Born This Way", released in 1977. She sang part of the chorus at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and announced it as the lead single from the album, released on February 11, 2011.
The song is backed by rumbling synth sounds, a humming bass and additional chorus percussion, with sole organ toward the end. Its lyrics discuss the self-empowerment of the LGBTQ community and racial minorities. Critics positively reviewed the song, calling it a "club-ready anthem". In 2023, Rolling Stone named "Born This Way" the Most Inspirational LGBTQ Song of All Time. It reached number one in over 25 countries and was certified diamond in Brazil as well as multi-platinum in Australia, Austria, Canada, Italy, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. "Born This Way" has sold 8.2 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Nick Knight directed the accompanying music video, which was inspired by surrealist painters like Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon. Gaga is depicted as giving birth to a new race during a prologue. After a series of dance sequences, the video concludes with the view of a city populated by this race. Critics noted the video's references to the work of Madonna, Michael Jackson and fashion designer Alexander McQueen, as well as Greek mythology and surrealism.
Gaga performed the song at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards after coming out of an incubating vessel. Shortly after, she added it to the setlist of the last leg of the Monster Ball Tour. "Born This Way" was later performed on television shows, such as Saturday Night Live, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and Good Morning America, many of the singer's tours, and it was notably part of her Super Bowl LI halftime show set. The song was treated with different remixes, including a "Country Road" version recorded by Gaga herself and another by Indian production duo Salim–Sulaiman. It has been covered by artists such as Alice Cooper, Madonna, and Katy Perry.
Background
In 2010, Lady Gaga was touring for her second world tour, the Monster Ball. At that time she started developing ideas for her second studio album, Born This Way (2011). The first song written and recorded for the album was the title track itself which she wrote in Liverpool and Manchester, England, described by Gaga as a "magical message" song. She wrote it in ten minutes and compared the process to an Immaculate Conception. DJ White Shadow, one of the producers of the track, credited Gaga for coming up with the idea and the theme behind the song. "We recorded it around the world, on the road, in whatever was available. It sounds like it reads, but not like you think until you hear it," he added. Gaga wanted to record her own freedom song, and explained with Billboard her inspiration behind the song:
I want to write my this-is-who-the-fuck-I-am anthem, but I don't want it to be hidden in poetic wizardry and metaphors. I want it to be an attack, an assault on the issue because I think, especially in today's music, everything gets kind of washy sometimes and the message gets hidden in the lyrical play. Harkening back to the early '90s, when Madonna, En Vogue, Whitney Houston and TLC were making very empowering music for women and the gay community and all kind of disenfranchised communities, the lyrics and the melodies were very poignant and very gospel and very spiritual and I said, 'That's the kind of record I need to make. That's the record that's going to shake up the industry.' It's not about the track. It's not about the production. It's about the song. Anyone could sing 'Born This Way'. It could've been anyone.
In May 2021, during the 10th anniversary of the album, Gaga revealed that it was inspired by Carl Bean and his song "I Was Born This Way", released in 1977. On her social media, she wrote, "'Born This Way', my song and album, were inspired by Carl Bean, a gay black religious activist who preached, sung and wrote about being Born This Way."
Artwork and release
On February 8, 2011, Gaga tweeted the words "" ("Three Days"), along with a picture of the official single artwork, via TwitPic. Gaga is shown topless in the black-and-white cover art and displays the tattoos on her back. Her hair is air-blown and she wears heavy make-up while sharp edges protrude from her face and shoulders. The artwork was designed by Gaga and her longtime stylist, Nicola Formichetti and was photographed by Nick Knight. It was described by Charlie Amter from The Hollywood Reporter as harkening back to the classic record covers from the 1980s. He compared it to the artworks by bands like Missing Persons, Roxy Music and Duran Duran. Tanner Stransky from Entertainment Weekly gave a positive review of the cover art, feeling that Gaga looked almost "animalistic" in the picture, and her flowing hair made her look like a creature from the African jungle. She also added that the artwork was "totally and completely fierce". Archana Ram from the same publication found similarities between the "Born This Way" cover art and Kylie Minogue's cover art for her 2007 single "2 Hearts". Nicole Eggenberger from OK! described the artwork as a perfect balance between the singer's "wild side" and her "glamorous" looks. Leah Collins from Dose believed that the extreme make-up and tattoos were an ironic play on the title of the song.
Gaga had sung a few lines from the song while accepting the 2010 MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year, for "Bad Romance". Given as a Christmas gift to her fans, Gaga announced, via Twitter, the release dates of the album and the lead single at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day, 2011. The single was dated to be released on February 13, 2011, while the album on May 23, 2011. Supplementing this announcement came a black-and-white photograph in which Gaga, according to Jocelyn Vena from MTV, is "nude from the waist down, with her hair blowing about, and sporting a jacket with 'Born This Way' emblazoned in what looks like bedazzled jewels." In late January 2011, Gaga released the lyrics of the song, before announcing that she planned to release the single two days prior to its stipulated date. Hence the song was premiered on radio stations worldwide at 6 a.m. EST on February 11, 2011, and was released for digital download from online retailers at 9 a.m. EST the same day.
Composition and lyrics "Born This Way" was written and composed by Gaga and Jeppe Laursen (formerly of the band Junior Senior), with the arrangement was held by Gaga and Fernando Garibay. Gaga and Laursen produced the track with Paul Blair (a.k.a. DJ White Shadow) and Garibay, while it was recorded and mixed at Abbey Road Studios in London and Germano Studios in New York. The electropop and house song begins with Gaga's voice uttering the line "It doesn't matter if you love him or capital H-I-M" on a loop, backed by a rumbling synth sound and a humming bass. As the synths change into a beat, Gaga belts out the song's first verse, followed by the bass dropping off and the percussion-backed chorus, "I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes; I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way", which Jocelyn Vena from MTV likened as being "meant to be heard in a big space. It's fast and hard-hitting." After the chorus, she chants the line "Don't be a drag, Just be a queen", making a reference to drag queens, a number of times on top of handclaps, before moving to the second verse. After the second chorus, a rap interlude and bridge follows, where Gaga chants the names of various communities. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that the interlude is a mixture of the music from American television show, Glee, and the song "There But For the Grace of God Go I" by Machine. The music fades out for a moment as Gaga continues to sing, before the addition of an organ and Gaga closes the song. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Born This Way" is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderate dance beat tempo of 124 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of F-sharp major (in the F Mixolydian mode) as Gaga's voice spans the tonal nodes of F3 to C5. "Born This Way" follows a chord progression of F5–F–E–B–F in the chorus.
The lyrics during the verses talk about empowerment, while the chorus talks about making no apologies and accepting one as themselves. It features the names of LGBTQ and other minority communities, which was due to the support Gaga had received from the community over the years. She also explained that since The Fame (2008) and The Fame Monster (2009) did not directly address those communities, "Born This Way" was her chance to create something that not only supported her political and social beliefs, but also empowered her to artistically say, I'm not being safe with this record.' I'm not trying to gain new fans. I love the fans I already have, and this is for them."
After the early release of the lyrics, it had garnered criticism from some Asian and Hispanic communities, including Latino groups MECha and Chicanos Unidos Arizona. Radio stations in Malaysia chose to censor the part of the lyrics dealing with the acceptance of the LGBTQ community, due to censorship in the country of content that may be deemed offensive. In response, Gaga urged her Malaysian fans, who wanted the uncensored version to be played, to take action by stating: "It is your job and it is your duty as young people to have your voices heard. You must do everything that you can if you want to be liberated by your society. You must call, you must not stop, you must protest peaceably."
Remixes A number of remixes were commissioned by Interscope Records, to accompany the song. The first set of remixes were done by LA Riots, Chew Fu and DJ White Shadow. Titled Born This Way – The Remixes Part 1, the remixes were released as CD single and digital download on March 15, 2011. Another set of remixes were done by Michael Woods, Grum, Dada Life, Zedd, Bimbo Jones and Twin Shadow. It was released on March 25, 2011, for digital download only, with the name Born This Way – The Remixes Part 2.
Gaga released a "Country Road Version" of the song on March 15, 2011, via her Twitter account. The version opens with the sound of guitars and then introduces a fuzzed-out slide guitar and a bluesy harmonica by Tim Harris, with the original disco beats replaced by restrained brush drumming and a more laid-back vibe. Once the first chorus starts, the song chugs alongside the harmonica sounds. Just before the three-minute mark, Gaga sings new lyrics, "If I wanna make it country, baby, then it's OK, cuz I was born, I was born, I was born this way," over a picked mandolin. According to Gil Kaufman of MTV, the song breaks into full-on country-rock mode, reminiscent of late-period Bon Jovi music, in the final minute. A portion of the money earned from sales of "Country Road Version" went to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).