It finally happened, a legitimate ARTPOP song leaked. Her voice is there, the production is there, there is no doubt: it is Gaga.
There is a lot of speculation flying around the internet about what this song is called, and/or what its about. The obvious title choice would be Burqa, since she has already confirmed its a track on ARTPOP, and she mentions a burqa multiple times through out the track. Other titles include Aura or a different spelling of a similar pronunciation, arwah. Arwah is an Islamic word, that could be translated as 'Spirit,' or 'More gracious.'
The track itself is a roller coaster ride in every sense of the word. It is written in a ABCBDC form, where every letter is incredibly different from its neighbors. The first section starts off with an acoustic guitar and drum beat, before Gaga speaks of killing her female friend and stuffing her in the trunk of her car (This alone has caused a sea of speculation about a Telephone sequel, since Gaga and Beyonce wear burqas at the end of the music video). The best way to describe this section would be to say it's like a Lana Del Rey cover of Americano.
Soon after the creepy laughs, the arabic production segways into an EDM production that makes Heavy Metal Lover look like Eh Eh. This section is pretty weak lyrically, but it's brief thankfully, which soon transitions into the standard golden pop chorus we've come to expect from Gaga. Soaring vocals, and a fairly restrained production make this highly experimental track somewhat radio-friendly. The Calvin Harris and Zedd duo soon return to the dark electronic verse, which is lyrically more interesting than the blank concepts prepared in the first. The bridge is very weak, a robotic voice similar to the one in the previously mentioned Heavy Metal Lover only sputters 4 words: "Dance. Sex. Art. Pop." Finally, the song returns to the glorious chorus before closing with a weak production line.
There is a lot to take in from this song, its more like 4 songs put into one, which lead to some very unfavorable reviews upon its release. So, I'm going to break it down part by part.
The A Section: "I killed my poor friend....aura-a-a-a"
Lyrics: B-
Vocals: B-
Production: B-
The B Section: "Im not a wandering slave...more than enough"
Lyrics: D+
Vocals: B
Production: A+
The C Section: "Do you want to see me naked.... behind the aura"
Lyrics: A-
Vocals: A-
Production: B+
The B Section #2: "Enigma popstar... pleasure and toil"
Lyrics: B
Vocals: B
Production: A+
The D Section: "Dance... Pop"
Lyrics: F
Vocals: F
Production: C-
The C Section #2: "Do you want to see me naked.... ARTPOP"
Lyrics: A-
Vocals: A-
Production: A
With all of that out there, I do feel very favorable towards Burqa. An important thing to remember is that this is a demo, a rough, unmastered idea thats rough around the edges. And by that standard, Burqa is light years ahead of that concept. The mastered edition will hopefully be much cleaner and have some filled concepts, but if radio does actually pick up a song like this: we might witness a pop revolution.
Overall: B+
Lyrics: B-
Vocals: B
Production: A+