Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’ Music Video, Explained!

Lady Gaga ‘s “Bad Romance” inspired one of the best and trippiest music videos of all time. The director of the clip explained that it’s about people who are “kind of vampires.” Interestingly, “Bad Romance” didn’t manage to reach No. 1 in the United States — but it did inspire a Meryl Streep cover.

Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’ is about women being auctioned off

Francis Lawrence is a movie director responsible for popcorn flicks like I Am Legend and every Hunger Games movie except for the first one. Perhaps his most significant work is the music video for “Bad Romance.” While everyone can agree the clip is visually stunning, its plotline can be difficult to understand upon first viewing. During a 2010 interview with CBS News , Lawrence gave us his interpretation of “Bad Romance.”

“The final concept behind the video, there’s a little hidden story of she and these other girls are kind of vampires and they’re in this somewhat futuristic eastern European spa,” he said. “They are auctioning girls to these guys that come, and [Gaga] gets auctioned off to this guy, and she ends up killing him. What we wanted to do is not be so literal about the story, but tell it like you would see a story told in an editorial spread in a fashion magazine.”

Francis Lawrence revealed whether ‘Lady Gaga’ was a persona or not

Lawrence said that the”Applause” singer wasn’t the only one who helped the “Bad Romance” clip achieve its surreal, high-fashion aesthetic. “The fashion is all Lady Gaga and her team,” he explained. “She has a creative director and a whole group of people that she calls the House of Gaga, and they’re pulling references from all types of stuff — painting and photography.”

At the time, many listeners wondered how much of “Lady Gaga” was a persona. Lawrence set the record straight. “She’s not really playing a character,” Lawrence said. “I think she really is Gaga. She’s always dressed in a unique way, whether you’re having a meeting with her in the recording studio or she’s on set in this video.”

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‘Bad Romance’ was part of 1 of the best pop albums of all time

“Bad Romance” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 . It stands alongside Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” as one of those No. 2 hits that deserved to hit No. 1. The tune spent 35 weeks on the chart. The track inspired an out-of-nowhere cover by Meryl Streep, who performed a rock version of the song for her movie Ricki and the Flash .

“Bad Romance” appeared on Gaga’s EP The Fame Monster , the sequel to her debut album, The Fame. The Fame Monster reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200, remaining on the chart for 74 weeks. The EP produced two other top 10 singles: “Telephone,” which peaked at No. 3 , and “Alejandro,” which reached No. 5. The Fame Monster also includes classic album tracks like “Monster” and “Dance in the Dark.” While The Fame Monster wasn’t as popular as other Gaga releases, it’s her best record on an artistic level.

“Bad Romance” is one of the best pop songs of all time, and Gaga’s video for it is equally excellent.