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Lady Gaga: 2022

 Like so much of the other Mother Monster work, Lady Gaga's new song is a little bit shrewd, a little bit corny.


Gaga had an unenviable task--to write a sequel to "Take My Breath Away," a famous Hollywood song.

It's smart for Gaga to tip her hat to this song, by choosing a *different* command for her own title: You don't have to take my breath away, but you do have to hold my hand.

A lover--no longer an impassioned twentysomething mess--attempts to care for another lover. The new song is about trying to understand what another person is feeling. "So cry tonight--but don't you let go of my hand. You can cry every last tear. I won't leave till I understand...."

One fascinating section seems to allude to Lady Gaga's chronic pain: "Don't you give up on yourself....I've heard a story....A girl, she once told me.....that I would be happy again...."

"If you decide to, I'll ride in this life with you": Simple, direct, swinging for the fences.

What would I omit? The discussion of the heavens and the grey clouds. But a fully inoffensive song would be uninteresting. And Lady Gaga is not uninteresting!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2CIAKVTOrc
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