Now, I must say that I have never really listened to Lady Gaga... Her outfits and over the top style tend to be distracting to me, so I just overlooked her and wrote her off in a sense. But I was listening to the radio one day, and they were advertising Lady Gaga's new song. I figured that this would be a good chance for me to hear her without trying to get past her look to actually hear her, especially since one of my friends had said her music was decent.
So I listened to the song entitled "Born This Way," and I must say, I was impressed. The fact that she talked about God blew me away, because admittedly my own subconscious biases assumed that she may not necessarily be tapped in to the Divine. This brings me to point one of this entry - don't judge someone based on their appearance. Now, I know that there are clever adages like "don't judge a book by its cover" that convey this same point, so it's not a new revelation by any stretch of the imagination. What I am saying is that we often have subconscious thoughts about people that we don't realize are even there until we see them in a different light and it hits us that we were assuming certain things about them. You can't assume that because someone has tattoos, baggy jeans, a mini skirt, black make-up, locs, or anything else that the person is not intimately connected to the Divine. We all are. Now, whether we acknowledge the Divine or we call the Divine by names other than what some may deem correct is another story (and frankly irrelevant to me). It's true that Lady Gaga's sense of style is one that I will never imitate, but that's my prerogative as it is hers to wear what she does. The beauty of God is Her creativity and the fact that we can all be different and still be beautiful.
And that is a wonderful segue into the song itself. I'll post the lyrics then discuss them:
It doesn't matter if you love him, or capital H-I-M
Just put your paws up
'Cause you were born this way, baby
My mama told me when I was young
We are all born superstars
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on
In the glass of her boudoir
"There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are"
She said, "'Cause He made you perfect, babe"
"So hold your head up, girl and you you'll go far,
Listen to me when I say"
I'm beautiful in my way,
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret,
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
(Born this way)
Ooo, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way
Ooo, there ain't other way
Baby, I was born this way
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Give yourself prudence and love your friends
Subway kid, rejoice the truth
In the religion of the insecure
I must be myself, respect my youth
A different lover is not a sin
Believe capital H-I-M (hey, hey, hey)
I love my life, I love this record and
Mi amore vole fe yah
Don't be drag, just be a queen
Whether you're broke or evergreen
You're black, white, beige, chola descent
You're lebanese, you're orient
Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today
'Cause baby, you were born this way
No matter gay, straight or bi
lesbian, transgendered life
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to survive
No matter black, white or beige
chola or orient made
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born to be brave
I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret,
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, yeah!
Ooo, there ain't no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way
Ooo, there ain't other way
Baby, I was born this way
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
I was born this way, hey!
I was born this wayy, hey!
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way, hey!
So, I will start by saying that I love the positive energy of this song, especially as it encourages self-acceptance, and you know how I feel about some self-acceptance. So much of life makes you feel like you are inadequate, ineffective, and insufficient, but that is not a reality. In truth, you are more than great, but I digress. "We are all born superstars. There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are. Cause He made you perfect, babe. So hold your head up, girl and you you'll go far." This is very true. If, as the Christian thought says, we are born in the image of God, then we are born beautiful and complete. The problem comes when "life's disabilities left you outcast, bullied or teased." Circumstances in life cause the beauty of the creation to become marred, insecure, angry, withdrawn, inauthentic, and many other things that keep us from being who we were originally created and shaped to be.
In Jeremiah 1, God tells Jeremiah that before he was created, he had been created and called to be a prophet. Even though this was God telling him his purpose in life, life and society had influenced him to believe that what God was telling him was not possible, especially at his age. We need to know that despite what life may have tried to tell us, there are certain beautiful things inherent within us that make us who we are. That's why it's important to not only get to know who we are but to embrace and enjoy who we are. As she said, God makes no mistakes, so the greatness that God created is not gone despite what has happened in life or where you may find yourself.
Now, I'm not saying that everything that we are and do is from God, because some things are a result of what life has done and shaped in us, but I am saying that at your core, you are still that beautiful entity that God created. For example, I was created having a way with words. For a while, I used those words in hurtful ways because sarcasm was my second language, and I was cruel with my humor as a defense mechanism. Now, however, since I realized it, I have since tried to watch my words, and I put them to more positive use in my writing. The core never disappeared, but the shaping around it had to in order to make positive use of my core person.
So I applaud Lady Gaga on a beautiful, positive song that can bring affirmation to the many hurting people who feel insecure and less than (whether or not they will ever admit it). Despite what society says and influences, be it gender roles and stereotypes, racial stipulations, economic situations, or anything like that, who you are is beautiful. Rediscover that person, get beyond the bondage and lies of outside influences, and know that you're beautiful just the way you are.
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