Today's Evil Beet Gossip

Poll: Did Lady Gaga Copy Madonna?

By now you’ve all heard Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” (click through to listen) and you’ve also probably heard that tons of people are up in arms over the fact that it appears to sound awful lot like Madonna’s classic hit “Express Yourself” (click through to listen.)

The songs have similar messages, similar beats and a similar overall sound, but can’t that be said of almost all pop music? I remember my mom telling me when I was growing up that nearly everything I listened to sounded repetitive, so maybe that’s just how our ears start to work when we get older.

I’ve listened to both songs back-to-back and while there’s no doubt that certain parts sound almost exactly the same to me, I’m not sure I look at this as stealing. More like borrowing with a dash of reinterpretation. And that’s allowed, right?

Let me know what you think about this in the comments and by voting in the poll.

{democracy:117}

14 CommentsLeave a comment

  • The people who are so upset about this should remember Madonna’s “Hung Up” (a wonderful song), and it’s musical similarity to Abba’s “Gimme Gimme Gimme.”

    • Not at all the same thing! Madonna sampled “Gimme Gimme Gimme” and got permission from the songwriters to use it in “Hung Up”. Madonna even sent a letter to the writers in Sweden begging them to let her use the song. They were credited. I don’t mind sampling when it’s done the right way and everyone receives proper credit.

      • Thank you for clarifying, Bobo. I was starting to bring my palm closer to my face. Madonna got permission from ABBA because she used the exact riff ABBA used back in the day.

    • that’s slightly different in that Madonna in ‘Hung Up’ was openly sampling the exact same piece of music used by Abba. Lady Gaga has produced a song that is basically the same but it is a new recording, not sampling any of Express Yourself.

  • you’d have to be pretty stupid to think she ripped her off. I mean saying she ripped that song off is like saying all techno and house music artists rip each other off- alot of the times they have similar beats and music. You people just don’t know anything about that sort of thing.

  • It’s similar but not a rip off.A rip off would have identical beats and almost identical lyrics.

    The dance beats are similar but that is because certain rhythms will have mass appeal[sometimes only because of familiarity] and I suspect that is trying to get a message about sexual and social tolerance to as many people as possible and that is not a bad thing.

    And as Madonna tore through the 80’s and early 90’s she set the standard for many sounds and looks for female singers that exist.

    It’s hard to be original, it can only happen once for each look or sound so comparisons will always occur even if things are unique but similar to what has come previously.

    And as Sir Isaac Newton once said “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”

    Gaga is just doing the same. Inching forwards rather than leaping.

  • That is no way if she’s going to rip Madonna. She has her own style, her own songs and of course her own idea……….about life.

  • well if we are talking about ripping rythms and beats of classic songs, watch out with Rihanna, most of her songs are based on lots of classic songs

  • Yes Gaga ripped Madonna. Hung up by Madonna had Benny and Bjorn down as songwriters. It’s not the only song Gaga has ripped.You hear lots of other people songs inher music.

  • This is a ripoff, you can see from other places saying you can sing the original over this one – Frankly, shock pop like Madonna can’t be reinvented, she was the Queen of it, even Britney didnt “REINVENT IT” – Brit did her own thing, she wasn’t out to shock EVERYONE … no she worked WITH Madonna :) – GaGa? …. Her name’s a ripoff, her style is … shockingly odd, tho sometimes fashionable i think she’s about to get caught with her “tail” between her legs.

  • lady gaga is way different to madonna gaga writes her own songs and she is obsessed with madonna but that doesnt mean that she copies her. lady gaga found out that other artists were making songs about the gay community so she decided that she should make one but she wasnt copying