Writingbolt's Creation

*****

Dear Lady Gaga, Stefani,

Ten years ago, Stefani, I could have written you off as street trash, as the “tramp” you’ve been singing about with classy Tony B. I witnessed your “Edge of Glory” and thought I’d seen enough of you being just a bit too bold. [Was that actually ten years ago?! Holy #^&@!] I admired your outspoken spirit and unique beauty but quickly lost interest in all of the tattoos, sexual references, meat dresses, prostitute-like antics, etc. You get the picture.

the new, more natural, classy Stefani Gaga

the former scandalous exhibitionist Lady Gaga

But, ever since you paired up with Tony, you little Aries tigress, you’ve taken on a magical glow, shed layers of mud and filth and exposed your true talent almost–not quite yet–in its purest form. Your voice; it is a potentially powerful one. [If it didn’t have any power, how would you have made such a stand-out appearance in The Simpsons? They built a whole episode around you.] After witnessing some of that power in recent performances, I’ve come to this conclusion…I need to write you a letter!

I saw the emotion in your face at what may have been your last public concert with Tony. Now, to be fair, you are someone I expect to be good at “faking” as well as shocking the pants off anyone who dares to challenge you. You certainly know how to apply makeup for effect. But, if what I saw was genuine, you were so close to having an emotional breakdown on stage; I wondered if your words were becoming garbled and confused. You seemed a bit…hokey and reminded me of Liza M., Judy G’s daughter. [All that aside, that gold curtain-like dress you had on was fabulous.]

At some point, a light grew inside my head, and a voice said, “Save the music!” Those who were sitting with me told me to shut up so they could listen to the rest of the show. [Ha.]

It wouldn’t stop hounding me; that voice. I saw potential and was dying to harness it; not like a stereotypical record producer from the 70s with tinted glasses, a gold chain and a bad mustache. But, take that “light” you currently have and extend it, expand upon it to (re)create a new flavor of music, something so refreshing and not-so-new that it would clear the air suffocating so many heads, right now. At a time when less powerful variations of the previous you and countless others are dragging the sex-drug-and-wealth mentality through the sludge year after year, you could be the golden force that cleans up the streets, the light that inspires pride in a person, for him or her self and/or their homeland. You could be a statue of liberty (or maybe an Evita telling New-Yorkers not to cry for you when you’re…ya know).

I kept thinking…what happens to you when the current phase you are in comes to an end? Surely, you feel it (coming). [Let’s not get too detailed about the realities of Tony B.] You can only sing those old songs so long before they get even older.

I’ve noticed how certain famous musicians/vocal artists put out albums of familiar songs they get the chance to “cover” when they seem to have run out of original material, just to stay afloat, to stay visible and hopefully keep making money. But, it’s like a bad smell. You can almost see the vultures circling over their heads. The end is near. Or, maybe, the career is already over, and the “remix” is just a pillow to cushion the blow, the departure from the spotlight.

Do we really need another copy of a song sung countless times, even if we like one voice better than another? [I don’t care who sings that old Happy Birthday song, even Marilyn Monroe. I’m going to eventually scream from hearing it too often.]

But, for you, surely, this isn’t the end. You’ve still got plenty of years ahead of you. I’m just concerned about what becomes of you in those coming years. [Why? I’m not sure. Let’s rewind the tape here and see if anything makes sense. Oh, yeah; the light that recently emerged.] I guess I’m concerned you might revert to your former ways and material when you no longer have your current vocal partner, your stabilizing force in the storm (which gives me this potent visual of you as a siren on a rock in the middle of a stormy sea, gleaming in golden scales with your pale hair flapping in the wind).

Rather than witness the lesser of roads taken and wait for you to either shed the glitz of “old New York” or fall hard from “glory,” I feel a need to preserve the “light” that seems to be growing or emerging from inside you, like a little seed of hope. In a world where it’s so easy to fall into bad habits and dark influences, you could change some or all of that just by maintaining your current glow.

I guess what I’m trying to say–in probably too many words–is that you need to put out an album of new “old” music (if that makes any sense). Take what you’ve learned with Tony and write new songs of similar (but potentially better) caliber. I’d like to believe you can do it. You have the opportunity to recreate Tony’s quality of music in the present time and extend its lifetime for as long as that may last. [I’ve seen other artists try and fail; Alicia Keys if I must mention a name (no offense intended to that beautiful woman).] I know, originality is at an all-time low. Even I feel the effects and want to cry out because it pains me to admit. It’s hard to create something new, right now. But, if you could, it might crack the crust on that tired, old mess clouding so many heads. It might start a creative revolution.

Just think, you could be the new song carried in the hearts of millions when they start their day and/or when a certain holiday season approaches. You could be the voice echoed in the streets. You’d be immortalized, in a good way. And, I’d rather see you glimmering in gold than covered in spikes and raw meat. Ya know? I’d rather see you inspiring others to clean themselves up than encouraging them to get down and dirty (just because the world seems to suck and it’s easier to act out like the cast of Rent).

If you think Tony’s “shine” is old and outdated, merely something you are grateful to share for a moment because the world isn’t like that old song, think again. Do you honestly believe the world was a better place when he and those before him made those old songs famous? For all we presently know, the past generations might have had a very similar share of problems, just painted a little differently. Those old songs might have been crafted to lift soiled chins up from their misery. They might have been casting illusions, but they also energized people to get moving and make a (positive) difference. Sure; right now, the world doesn’t seem like it could get any worse. It stinks. It feels doomed and gloomy. And, it’s easy to spit on it all.

You don’t have to go “full Broadway” (and merely be a new face on old “shtick”) or give up that rebellious spirit that first made you famous. That which put your name in lights can be the driving force that steels you against the muck and stale gloom of mediocrity (which seems inevitable when you think of how others quickly try to copy something another performer just did and turn it into a brief but blaring trend of the decade). But, rather than go on being a sexually explicit scandal hidden under a stage name, you could become a household name associated with class.

If you go back to a previous incarnation of yourself, you strip away all of the polish you’ve recently acquired/earned and make your time with Tony look like a sad joke. You make it all feel like a Polaroid moment with grandpa which is just as quickly tossed aside in a shoebox and, eventually, forgotten. You kiss an old man goodbye and hit the road to tag a few more fire hydrants. Is this just your summer vacation or the start of a positive, elating, inspiring revolution?

[By the way, at the end of that recent performance, when you said you were going to escort Tony off the stage one last time? I would have said, “Tony and I are going to take off, now. We’re going to party. Maybe we’ll see some of you, later.” ‘Rather than sound like that moment was…well…the (sad) end. But, I realize, again, you may have been so emotional that you couldn’t think of a better choice of words.]

You could outshine every other young gal donning a top hat and some skin-tight or suffocating outfit, trying to be the best eye candy out there…which seems hard for me to admit, considering how I feel about your past. [But, then again, look at how a prostitute like Mary Magdalene (if that is the correct spelling/person), sharing a first name with the guy’s own virgin mother, could win the heart of someone like Jesus.] I’m aware; there are others with tattoos, pretty faces (under all of the showy stage makeup) and similarly (but not quite the same quality) powerful voices who could steal your spotlight. You don’t have to let that happen.

If the emotion I witnessed in you during that recent concert was genuine, get a firm grip on that light within you and help it grow by working on new songs that emulate the quality of the ones you’ve been singing with Tony. [Am I repeating myself?] MMMaybe wait a few years to write the next New-York anthem; I think that effort has been beaten raw and seems risky, right now. But, let that infamous song inspire you. Kick up your legs like a Rockette in a recording studio and feel the happier music spring from your pores. The world might be looking like it’s at its lowest and as if humankind is just the worst, but you can find the gold in the rough and give even the slimiest of people hope.

[I just wish I had a set of lyrics to deliver rather than be one more badgering voice telling you to do something. If I had more resources, emotional support and a better situation/work environment, I probably would be crafting such songs. But, then again, forces that be might still hinder that development. There is the slim possibility that something outside our control is preventing new quality music from being written.]

As I was clashing with my fellow viewers of your (duet) performance, they actually made a decent suggestion. You could be like Tony and find an “apprentice” to help “carry the torch.” Rather than go on alone when…ya know…you could pick a new partner to be that support/balance and carry on with the same quality of music you now praise when even you have to…ya know. Just imagine…an on-going legacy of quality music that keeps a torch of hope and cheer burning in countless hearts. It’s a prospect bigger than solo fame, bigger than being a legend known by his or her name.

It’s ultimately up to you, new…er, you. New Yooou! Newww Yooooou! Yeah!

Sincerely,

Writingbolt, a rather passionate and morally-conscious artist

P.S. And, if I am completely wrong, if you have no intention of reverting to your former scandalous behavior, if that was just a breakout phase and you’ve matured beyond my comprehension, then I will just button my lip and fade away.

P.S.S. I look forward to your performance in the Gucci movie. But, why didn’t you want to meet with the woman you portray?