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A Guide to Lady Gaga’s ‘Mayhem’ References: David Bowie, Prince, Herself, and More
Lady Gaga's 'Mayhem' is so stuffed with loving musical references that spotting them is half the fun: We found David Bowie, Prince, herself and more.
The words “influence” and “reference” are closely related, and in any art form, both are often — hopefully usually — an act of love, an acknowledgement, a knowing wink to fans (as long as they don’t verge into copyright infringement, anyway). “Abracadabra” — The groove in the woozy synthesized bass certainly evokes Charli xcx’s “Brat Summer”-launching hit “ Von Dutch, ” and the operatic middle section (“simple mel-o- dee”) bears traces of ‘80s ABBA. “Garden of Eden” — As noted by many fans — and as this side-by-side comparison shows — this song is basically a rewrite of a demo apparently called “Private Audition” that Gaga recorded in the late ‘00s with soulmaster Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, bringing this game of spot-the-reference full circle.
Or read this on Variety
