Lyrical Analysis Of Lady Gaga's 'Do What U Want' (Feat. R. Kelly)

A short piece which is my personal interpretation of what 'Do What U Want' by Lady Gaga and R. Kelly could mean. At the core of this song is the idea of superficial judgement.

In 'Do What U Want', Lady Gaga addresses the issue of superficial judgement. Using her body as a metaphor for false constructs of the mind stemming from the negative portrayal of her in some sections of the media, Gaga asserts the notion that they can do what they want with her body. The rationale behind her being indifferent as to how her body is treated is derived from the idea that this isn't her body and thus isn't the real her. So no matter what you do to that body, it won't affect her at all.

The first verse of the song focuses upon overcoming challenges and difficult circumstances. The line about walking alone is Gaga singing about being independent and making her own decisions in life. Sometimes, she'll trip and fall because of bad decisions that she's made, but she'll get back up every time. This is a strong message of resilience. But then she wants to scream because of what she sees or reads in the media. Interestingly, if she falls, then she can stand up. Notice that she says, "I stand up." She uses the pronoun, I, to establish the idea that even though she falls every so often, she's still in control. Since she isn't in control of what the media say about her, that frustration sometimes makes her want to scream. She's telling the media to write what they want and say what they want about her and that she's not sorry. This is because she's being true to herself, and she is proud of being who she is.

Personally, my favourite lyric from the song, "You can't have my heart and you won't use my mind but do what you want with my body," describes this song exceptionally well. Gaga is saying again, that if you're only going to focus on this false body, then you're never going know what she's really like as a person, nor will you earn her respect. Although bodies usually describe our physical structures, Gaga uses the concept of a body as a metaphor structure. The media, through everything that they print and that they show, have constructed this body which is their perception of her. But because there is so many things in the media say that are simply not true, this body is not an accurate portrayal of her.

Conflict comes from the lyric, "Sometimes I'm scared I suppose if you ever let me go. I would fall apart if you break my heart. So just take my body and don't stop the party." Even though she is frustrated with the media at times, at the end of the day she's a pop star at heart and she couldn't live without the media because she loves the limelight. However, she says that they can't stop her voice, nor do they own her life, meaning that they can't stop her from being herself because will she ever change for them.

Ultimately, the message of this song is that if all you're going to concentrate on is the body then go ahead, but you'll never know the real person inside the body, because superficiality is not reality.