Sunday: Lady Gaga - Venus

Hello, Welcome to Seven Songs a Week

We've got our first repeat offender with "Venus" by Lady Gaga off her third studio album "Artpop." "Artpop" was a controversial time in Lady Gaga's career with her infamous South by Southwest performance and her collaboration with the infamous R.Kelly among other factors. It only took eight years for her fans aka the "Little Monsters" to being a campaign for the album to get to the album to number one with the hashtag #BuyArtpopOniTunes. The album is currently at number two on iTunes at the time I am writing this and along with this campaign came another one for an act two for the album. A petition has been created for a take two of the "Artpop" album as Gaga created plenty of unreleased songs for the album including collaborations with Kendrick Lamar and Azealia Banks. Gaga acknowledged the petition in the tweets. Allow us to take a look back at "Artpop" as the rest of the world is doing.

Single Cover 1 for "Venus"

Single Cover 2 for "Venus"

Single Cover 3 for "Venus"

Gaga released "Venus" as a promotional single on October 27th 2013. The songs makes references to both the roman goddess and the planet Venus. Gaga claims that the song is about faith but then goes on to say it's actually about sex "in the most mythological kind of way." Gaga begins with a Sun Ra sample as she sets off to Venus. Gaga then describes the "Aphrodite lady" with her "seashell bikini" and "garden panty"   which is what the goddess is known to wear and Gaga as well throughout the "Artpop" era. Gaga did say this song is about sex and she makes that clear with "Let’s blast off to a new dimension, in your bedroom and how she want her lover to "get with [her]." Gaga "can't help the way [she's] feeling" and wants her lover to take "[her] to [their] leader." Gaga gets to the point in the pre-chorus and wants to taken to her lover's planet and "Venus," which I think sounds quite a bit like penis with the way she sings it. Gaga describes the chorus as "an orgasm" in a tweet and the lyrics clearly display that. "When you touch me, I die just a little inside. I wonder if this could be love, this could be love" this lyric references the french phrase for orgasm "la petite mort" or "the little death" and she begins to wonder if she is actually in love instead of in lust. Gaga's "out of this world" lover could mean they are great at what they do or even that they are a woman, Gaga is bisexual and this could be considered as her first experience with a women which is why she wonders if she could be in love with one, this also could be why she says "Venus" instead of penis. To get her lover into the mood, she asked them to eat some oysters, which is a well-known aphrodisiac and another reference to the Greek and Roman goddess. She then again references her intimate moments with her lover with the pre-chorus and chorus. During the bridge, Gaga reference the planets and gods simultaneously. "Neptune, go now serve Pluto! Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus..." and "Uranus" referencing her self and her famous posterior with "don’t you know my ass is famous?" Gaga continues naming with Mars and Earth and tells them to "serve for the gods...[and]...serve for the stars."

Venus never received a proper music video, However, "Venus" was featured in "G.U.Y. (An ARTPOP Film)" along with "Artpop" "G.U.Y." and "Manicure." The "Venus" section comes after the "Artpop" section where a disheveled Gaga appears before a mansion. She is taken in by two people dressed in black. She is taken to a pool with other dancers cloaked in black and she is taken by swimmers in the pool after being covered with flowers. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills appear to play the instrumental while Gaga is reborn in the pool.

I adore "Venus" it's on of my favorite on "Artpop" and also have been. I like how this song is a triple entrendre and the production is just very good.

I give "Venus" 4.6 Greek gods out of 5

I hope you enjoyed my review. How do you feel about "Venus"? Leave a comment and a request for Saturday down below.

 

I listed my sources below in case you are interested in reading more.

 

Take Care,

Jonathan

I wrote 4 hooks in Venus. The snippet is of the first two before the true chorus. The rise before the orgasm. #StopDigitalHate

— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) October 26, 2013

The petition to #buyARTPOPoniTunes for a volume II has inspired such a tremendous warmth in my heart. Making this album was like heart surgery, I was desperate, in pain, and poured my heart into electronic music that slammed harder than any drug I could find.

— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) April 13, 2021

Lady Gaga – Venus Lyrics | Genius Lyrics