Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’: New Pop Anthem or Madonna Rip-Off?; Listen To New Gaga Song

ABCNews

It seems that “Born This Way” means being born like Madonna

Listen to the new song here. Listen to Madonna’s “Express Yourself” here.

This morning, pop sensation Lady Gaga released the first single off her much-anticipated upcoming album, “Born This Way.” The eponymous track boasts a thumping beat, powerful vocals and melodies ripped straight from Madonna’s 1989 hit, “Express Yourself.”

It’s not the first time Gaga has borrowed from pop staples of the past: “Alejandro,” the third and final single off her most-recent album, “The Fame Monster,” harkened back to Ace of Base’s 1994 rendition of “Don’t Turn Around.”

The song’s release comes almost two weeks after Gaga published the lyrics to “Born This Way” on Twitter. They read like a 21st century handbook on self esteem:

“I’m beautiful in my way/’Cause God makes no mistakes/I’m on the right track baby/I was born this way.”

The song embraces myriad sexual orientations and races (though Gaga’s mention of “Chola” and “Orient” people is bound to rub some listeners the wrong way) and features a hook that’s born to be a bumper sticker: “Don’t be a drag, just be a queen.”

Though Gaga’s new album won’t be released until May 23, putting out the first single now makes sense. She’s slated to perform the song at the Grammys Feb. 13, where she’s up for six awards, including Album of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Her sophomore album will be released in May. Her Monster Ball Tour will stop in Phoenix at the end of March and in Texas cities this spring.

Whether or not she takes home any of those trophies, Gaga has confidence in her abilities. In an interview for the latest issue of Vogue magazine, Gaga sang her praises.

“Speaking purely from a musical standpoint, I think I am a great performer,” she said. “I am a talented entertainer. I consider myself to have one of the greatest voices in the industry. I consider myself to be one of the greatest songwriters. I wouldn’t say that I am one of the greatest dancers, but I am really quite good at what I do. … I think it’s OK to be confident in yourself.”

She expects that her upcoming album will blow away her “Little Monsters” — the legions of Gaga fanatics prone to crying and fainting at concerts.

“I want to give my fans nothing less than the greatest album of the decade,” she said. “I don’t want to give them something trendy. I want to give them the future.”

As for the critics who question her frequent pillaging of pop stars of the past, with both her music and her style, she couldn’t care less.

“I could go on and on about all of the people I have been compared to,” she said, “from Madonna to Grace Jones to Debbie Harry to Elton John to Marilyn Manson to Yoko Ono — but at a certain point you have to realize that what they are saying is that I am cut from the cloth of performer, that I am like all of those people in spirit.”