Lady Gaga's G.U.Y music video (ARTPOP Film) meaning released
At midnight Lady Gaga released her latest ARTPOP music video for her new single "G.U.Y" (Girl Under You) and with synchronised swimmers, the real housewives of Beverly Hills band and Michael Jackson being brought back from the dead it left fans as confused as ever - in true Gaga style.
The video has several hidden messages and themes, with the most prominent being love and the power of women within a relationship. In the opening few moments of the video we see Lady Gaga as a fallen angel with an arrow through her heart. The greed of the men surrounding her is shown through their interest in fighting for the money around her - rather than going to her aid. When I first watched the video I assumed that Gaga was the angel of death (as she has brown wings, hair and body, contradicting the traditional white) however, I am now certain that she is acting out Psyche - goddess of the sole.
According to Greek mythology, Psyche was unable to find a husband - she could not fall in love and men did not fall in love with her but instead just admired and lusted after her. Psyche's farther went to seek advice from Apollo (the son of Zeus) who then decreed that Psyche should be brought to the summit of a mountain and stay there alone - forever. Family and friends of Psyche led the young lady to the hill and then departed, leaving Psyche to her fate and returned to lock themselves in the palace to morn her for the rest of their days. This explains the hill at the start of the video and Gaga being left to fend for herself. Lady G then makes her way back to the "palace" however, instead of sticking to the Greek mythology where Psykey was carried by Eros - he is independent and strong enough to make her own way there.
When in the "palace" we see Gaga being covered in flowers, many of which being purple violets - the symbol of love, as she is submerged in water. Again, I initially thought this was supposed to symbolise the Fountain of Youth but I now realise that Gaga has cleverly recreated the famous image of the birth of Aphrodite - the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. During the scene Gaga also makes reference to Eros and Himeros who are said to have been present at the birth of Aphrodite and later in the video we also see her lying on a bed which as a clamshell headboard.
The next character to be introduced in the new G.U.Y video is Eros, the son of Aphrodite who shoots golden arrows which makes people fall in love. According to Greek mythology he was ordered to shoot Psyche by Aphrodite to make her fall in love with the ugliest man on Earth (due to Aphrodite's extreme jealously) but instead he accidentally pricked himself and fell in love with Psyche himself. Again, Gaga symbolises her power and strength (as well as a female’s role within a relationship) by being the only person to hold both a bow and arrow - the men around her just have bows.
In the next scene we see Gaga surrounded by beautiful "butterflied winged" men (Psyche herself is also traditionally described to have small "butterfly wings"). Although the men are trying to tempt her, she is unable to make eye contact with the male closest to her - like the story of Psyche and Eros where she is unable to look at her true love. Next to her there is also a bowl of apples and in her hand an apple made from lego with a clear bite taken from it - this is symbolic to the Forbidden, Garden, temptation and eating the "forbidden fruit" which is referenced again in the closing lines of the song.
From this Gaga then enters a room with four coffins which contain three of the world’s most influential people; Jesus, Dalai Lama and Micheal Jackon(?!). A Monster News Facebook Page highlighted that all of these icons were killed by their own people, the fourth coffin remains empty (or at least the owner is not relieve) and it has been suggested that it is for Lady Gaga herself.
In Psyche’s quest to find love she is ordered to overcome obstacles set by Aphrodite, Gaga (in a modern society) tries to clone the perfect man through taking DNA from Dalai Lama and Jesus and then kills those who do not fit this ideal. Once she has found true love, the men are free to leave the palace, to stop admiring and worshiping Psyche and to fall in love with women who live on the Earth – while Psyche and Eros live happily ever after in the Kingdom of the Gods. This is shown by the men leaving and surrounding the grounds of the palace and as the camera angle pans away and looks up into the sky.
Achtzehn, Sechszehn, Fourteen, Vierzehn, Drei, Eins meaning;
"Achtzehn, Sechszehn, Fourteen, Vierzehn, Drei, Eins" or eighteen, sixteen, fourteen, fourteen, three, one which can be decoded by searching bible quotes 18:16, 14:14, 3:1
Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Gaga's response "Nein, Zedd!" which translate as "No, Bitch".
The video has several hidden messages and themes, with the most prominent being love and the power of women within a relationship. In the opening few moments of the video we see Lady Gaga as a fallen angel with an arrow through her heart. The greed of the men surrounding her is shown through their interest in fighting for the money around her - rather than going to her aid. When I first watched the video I assumed that Gaga was the angel of death (as she has brown wings, hair and body, contradicting the traditional white) however, I am now certain that she is acting out Psyche - goddess of the sole.
According to Greek mythology, Psyche was unable to find a husband - she could not fall in love and men did not fall in love with her but instead just admired and lusted after her. Psyche's farther went to seek advice from Apollo (the son of Zeus) who then decreed that Psyche should be brought to the summit of a mountain and stay there alone - forever. Family and friends of Psyche led the young lady to the hill and then departed, leaving Psyche to her fate and returned to lock themselves in the palace to morn her for the rest of their days. This explains the hill at the start of the video and Gaga being left to fend for herself. Lady G then makes her way back to the "palace" however, instead of sticking to the Greek mythology where Psykey was carried by Eros - he is independent and strong enough to make her own way there.
When in the "palace" we see Gaga being covered in flowers, many of which being purple violets - the symbol of love, as she is submerged in water. Again, I initially thought this was supposed to symbolise the Fountain of Youth but I now realise that Gaga has cleverly recreated the famous image of the birth of Aphrodite - the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. During the scene Gaga also makes reference to Eros and Himeros who are said to have been present at the birth of Aphrodite and later in the video we also see her lying on a bed which as a clamshell headboard.
The next character to be introduced in the new G.U.Y video is Eros, the son of Aphrodite who shoots golden arrows which makes people fall in love. According to Greek mythology he was ordered to shoot Psyche by Aphrodite to make her fall in love with the ugliest man on Earth (due to Aphrodite's extreme jealously) but instead he accidentally pricked himself and fell in love with Psyche himself. Again, Gaga symbolises her power and strength (as well as a female’s role within a relationship) by being the only person to hold both a bow and arrow - the men around her just have bows.
In the next scene we see Gaga surrounded by beautiful "butterflied winged" men (Psyche herself is also traditionally described to have small "butterfly wings"). Although the men are trying to tempt her, she is unable to make eye contact with the male closest to her - like the story of Psyche and Eros where she is unable to look at her true love. Next to her there is also a bowl of apples and in her hand an apple made from lego with a clear bite taken from it - this is symbolic to the Forbidden, Garden, temptation and eating the "forbidden fruit" which is referenced again in the closing lines of the song.
From this Gaga then enters a room with four coffins which contain three of the world’s most influential people; Jesus, Dalai Lama and Micheal Jackon(?!). A Monster News Facebook Page highlighted that all of these icons were killed by their own people, the fourth coffin remains empty (or at least the owner is not relieve) and it has been suggested that it is for Lady Gaga herself.
In Psyche’s quest to find love she is ordered to overcome obstacles set by Aphrodite, Gaga (in a modern society) tries to clone the perfect man through taking DNA from Dalai Lama and Jesus and then kills those who do not fit this ideal. Once she has found true love, the men are free to leave the palace, to stop admiring and worshiping Psyche and to fall in love with women who live on the Earth – while Psyche and Eros live happily ever after in the Kingdom of the Gods. This is shown by the men leaving and surrounding the grounds of the palace and as the camera angle pans away and looks up into the sky.
Achtzehn, Sechszehn, Fourteen, Vierzehn, Drei, Eins meaning;
"Achtzehn, Sechszehn, Fourteen, Vierzehn, Drei, Eins" or eighteen, sixteen, fourteen, fourteen, three, one which can be decoded by searching bible quotes 18:16, 14:14, 3:1
Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Gaga's response "Nein, Zedd!" which translate as "No, Bitch".
The fourth coffin according to the credits of the video was John Lennon,, maybe the cutting of the video missed showing him
ReplyDeleteI wasn't 100% sure myself - it was just reported from a Monster News Facebook page so thought I'd include it as a point of conversation. Thanks for your comment :)
ReplyDeleteI was reading the love story of Eros and Psyche and at one point stopped and thought this is what gaga is interpreting in g.u.y. I googled it and found this post and am so glad you see this the same way. I do have a different interpretation to you however I think we are on to something. For example you mentioned when gaga enters the castle you depicted the birth of Venus..to me I felt this was more a representation of the wedding banquet. If you look at the painting Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche by Raffaello Sanzio you may see similarities in that part of the video ie the head wreath. Thanks for your post, I really enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment - your idea of the Wedding Banquet is a really interesting one and I'll definitely check it out.
ReplyDelete