Lady Gaga’s “A-YO” Is NOT a Country Song
Saying that a massive pop star has just released a “country” song has become the Rickroll of 2016. Enterprising entertainers looking to troll popular media and the gullible Millenial journalists who enable them have made this an enterprising endeavor for not just a few pop stars this year. In May it was Beyoncé and her fleeting “country” song that even had the Associated Press saying she deserved multiple CMA Awards, setting the table for claims of racism when she was “snubbed.”
It’s bad enough when actual pop stars go country. Now we have to deal with this sort of flinching, shell game where a pop star hints at country “influences” to draw the idiot media offsides and get their new single that extra bit of attention.
So Lady Gaga took a piss at The 5 Spot in east Nashville while her limo idled outside, and then bought a floppy hat from a vintage shop a few weeks ago. Now all of a sudden she’s got country cred in spades. Please. Let me be on record saying this “mod colture” movement in east Nashville is eroding everything cool about the music because it’s making it more about style and image as opposed to substance. Now the hipster cool factor of decrepit turned ultra modern east Nashville is ranging all the way to the top of the pop world.
Too bad when Gaga was talking about her “country” influences she named dropped Garth Brooks of all people, clashing immediate with her newly-minted east Nashville cred. “When I was little, my father used to play ‘I’ve Got Friends in Low Places’ really loud in the basement, and I’d catch him down there dancing by himself, screaming real loud,” says Gaga, implementing rule #2 of the Country Music Interloper Field Guide by citing her long exposure to country.
But then she goes on to say, “I have a general and deep respect for all country musicians, but I myself am not a country musician. I’m just a musician period. I love all different kinds of music and this is just what I wrote.”
And that’s where all of this should have ended. But no, we have to ask, will Gaga’s “Country” song (called “A-YO” of all things) be played on country radio? Will it do well on country radio? Might she appear on one of the country awards shows? May Lady Gaga even perhaps be nominated for a country award, or gulp, maybe even win it? Is Lady Gaga perhaps the greatest country music entertainer of our time, if not in the entire history of country music? And if country music is unwilling and/or unable to acknowledge this glaring truth, is it a bigoted and sexist institution, clearly colluding against one of the greatest entertainers of all time?
Okay perhaps my hyperbole is getting a bit out of hand, but why exactly is this a country song, because she mentions fucking Marlboros? You want to be respected by the country music community? Perhaps put a shirt on, Lady Gaga.
This song is not country. Stop it!
BrandonWard
October 19, 2016 @ 10:07 am
Utterly horrible (as expected), although sadly, it really doesnt sound much different from any of the other crap being played on “country” FM radio and award shows these days.
Fat Freddy's Cat
October 19, 2016 @ 10:15 am
Is Lady Gaga perhaps the greatest country music entertainer of our time, if not in the entire history of country music? And if country music is unwilling and/or unable to acknowledge this glaring truth, is it a bigoted and sexist institution, clearly colluding against one of the greatest entertainers of all time?
This may be hyperbole, but I suspect there’s a corner of the social media swamp that would seriously take that attitude. (Which, to me, would be marvelously funny.)
gtrman86
October 19, 2016 @ 10:15 am
Holy fuck this is getting way out of hand, it’s sometimes very difficult to even come close to wondering what the fuck is going through the minds of the label dicks that put this shit out.
ElectricOutcast
October 19, 2016 @ 10:21 am
I think what would really get me listening to a Lady Gaga album is if she put out a solo non-holiday Jazz album (no offense to Tony Bennett) I think she has a good Jazz voice.
Other than that, I have absolutely no interest.
Fuzzy TwoShirts
October 19, 2016 @ 10:44 am
agreed. I am pretty indifferent towards her and her work because she is a pretty talented person in some aspects
This song wouldn’t bother me if it weren’t an erosion of Country Music.
I miss Stevie Gaines
October 19, 2016 @ 10:22 am
I Did not click the play button, I win!
James Hooker
October 21, 2016 @ 2:25 am
I clicked because I have the two ton brass balls it takes to puke on my shoes in public! You’re right. You win.
Gena R.
October 19, 2016 @ 10:23 am
Cripes! That’s about as “country” as “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” or “Said No One Ever.”
Gina
December 6, 2016 @ 8:34 pm
totally agree about A Yo but to be fair, that isn’t the best representation of the country songs on the album.go to youtube pull up the album Joanne and listen to Sinners Prayer and Grigio Girls.. those are much better songs to judge from.
Wayfast
October 19, 2016 @ 10:32 am
Her song “You and I” sounded like modern country but better……
memarc
October 19, 2016 @ 10:32 am
Glad to see country music will be represented during the Super Bowl halftime show. The last country artist to perform during the halftime show was none other than Justin Timberlake.
Lindsey
October 19, 2016 @ 10:40 am
I understood her saying “can’t wait” and “your face” from that. What is an a-yo?
Herman
October 28, 2016 @ 11:10 am
It’s kind of like a yo-yo, except instead of coming back up at you it just sinks into the bowels of Hell, dragging you along with it.
Jim
October 19, 2016 @ 10:42 am
This reminds me of Sugarland. Who were also not particularly country.
It’s a catchy little song – but other than that little bit of slide guitar scattered throughout, I’m not really sure what makes it country other than that people are calling it country.
Jaimito
October 19, 2016 @ 10:46 am
Meanwhile, Matt Woods just released a KILLER record…
Hank
October 19, 2016 @ 10:50 am
I live in East Nashville and was able to attend the 5 Spot show. While she is definitely not a country artist, I think she’s a very talented artist and an electrifying performer. If any Lady Gaga songs are being considered country, it should be her last promo single “Million Reasons” which is still not country but much closer to it than this one.
seak05
October 19, 2016 @ 11:01 am
Well, I’m not sure her clothing choices should have anything to do with whether her music is respected or not in country, but anyways….
Her music clearly has a lot of jazz influence, and she comes by that completely honestly. In that way it does fit in well with a lot of the Americana music coming out of East Nashville. It’s also why I keep screaming, metaphorically, on this blog that Americana and Country should be separate. Americana should be viewed like rock (or pop), an alternate form of music that can be very good, but isn’t country & an album that is a good Americana album isn’t by definition a good country album. Artists like Isbell aren’t country etc.
Also I despise hipsters, and the entire hipster culture, smoking, skinny jeans, bad light beer choices. Everyone just trying to be cool and “artsy”.
Doug
October 19, 2016 @ 2:29 pm
East Nashville (or as I like to call it “West Ghetto”) is hipster central. I’ve been in the 5 Spot twice and both times I thought I was at a hipster convention.
Corncaster
October 19, 2016 @ 11:15 am
Look, to Stefani Germanotta, everything is just a “style.” Even your biological sex is just a “performative.” It should be no surprise at all that she feels free to flit in and out of whatever musical style takes her fancy at a given (read: potentially lucrative) moment. People like her don’t see themselves as being anything in particular. They are men and women without qualities, fungible, protean, and therefore insubstantial.
Lewis
October 19, 2016 @ 11:18 am
I hit play and immediately said “what the f*&%” rather loudly at my desk at work…. oops
Craig
October 19, 2016 @ 11:27 am
It sounds exactly like everything else on country radio. If I didn’t know it was ‘Lady Gaga’ I’d just assume it was Nashville’s latest ditz. Pretty sure she’s more talented than this, also pretty sure she knows exactly how much money she’s going to make from this. And agree 100% with Corncaster. When everything is style, then whatever.
Amanda
October 19, 2016 @ 11:32 am
Barf.
Conwayfan98
October 19, 2016 @ 11:53 am
Mainstream country music died years ago. Now, it’s just playing follow the leader with pop music.
jody
October 19, 2016 @ 11:53 am
Trigger, please don’t blame this abortion on East Nashville. Even on our very worst day, we’re not within a fixed-gear bike ride of this trash.
Trigger
October 19, 2016 @ 1:24 pm
I love east Nashville. But at the same time, I think it should be on guard for image surpassing substance in the “scene.” Obviously, Lady Gaga has nothing to do with it aside from attempting to siphon off some cred from it.
TheRealBobCephus
October 19, 2016 @ 11:58 am
This is really sad. Lady Gaga may do weird things, but she is an exceptionally talented and smart individual. She should know better than this. She IS better than this. It also shows the trickle down effects of the class of 89′. This are the people younger pop stars are going to start citing. They won’t even know who the Outlaw Era big names are or who Hank is. Instead we get Garth Brooks and Reba Mcentire.
Jbernstein
October 19, 2016 @ 12:05 pm
You do know that’s not her country song, right?
It’s this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYRJ-ryPEu0
Trigger
October 19, 2016 @ 1:37 pm
Well now, this is very interesting.
First off, there are scores of outlets saying that Lady Gaga’s “country” single is “A-YO.” That is the only reason I know it as being such, because I don’t follow Lady Gaga news, I follow country music news. Here are a few examples:
Taste of Country:
http://tasteofcountry.com/lady-gaga-a-yo-country-song/
Dazed:
http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/33404/1/listen-to-lady-gaga-s-country-twanged-new-single-a-yo
However, I am now seeing in the Rolling Stone article I linked and quoted above they’re saying that this “Million Reasons” song is actually the country one. So which one is it? You would think we could listen to the song and determine this. But since neither are country songs, who the hell knows? Maybe they’re both country songs. Maybe every single song Lady Gaga has ever released is a country song. Why wouldn’t they be considered country? Pretty much anything can be considered country at this point.
Look, I don’t want to pick on Lady Gaga. I have no opinion on her or her music either way. This is totally a media-generated narrative, and apparently, one that can’t even decide which song they’re trying to say is country. Which is hilarious, and about the most glaring evidence that I could ever procure that this is all ridiculousness.
seak05
October 19, 2016 @ 1:48 pm
She’s pitching the album as Americana, so yeah, who knows
Gene R.
October 19, 2016 @ 2:02 pm
Either way, between the two I enjoyed “Million Reasons” more (pretty tune); but it still sounds a lot closer to Adult Contemporary pop (like Adele or Kelly Clarkson) than country. :\
Pickle
October 19, 2016 @ 1:08 pm
I think this whole pop gone country bit’s done got out of hand
Corncaster
October 19, 2016 @ 1:20 pm
“Can’t wait to get you shook up
Faster than you can try to hate it
You can try to hate it, you can try to fake it
But baby, I laced it”
LOL, um… yeah, no, but thanks for playing. Maybe I’ll catch you at Robert’s on Lower Broadway.
“Get off on me, my body’s got you pleadin’
Light me up and breathe in
Mirror on the ceilin'”
(rolls eyes)
Corncaster
October 19, 2016 @ 1:23 pm
Stefani, if you want to know what country is, listen to Elizabeth Cook:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xObDIK-lFk
Now that’s country, and I’m in love.
Benny Lee
October 19, 2016 @ 1:37 pm
Wow. That’s definitely a pop song. I made it about 4 seconds in…
Smokey J
October 19, 2016 @ 1:57 pm
I don’t hear anything country in this song, and honestly, it’s a weak effort by her pop standards. But of course the media can call it country because the term no longer has any definition with most folks. Sadly, the industry itself eroded that definition. The outsiders and inter-loafers are just coming in to pick the bones clean.
Corncaster
October 19, 2016 @ 2:03 pm
Plenty of meat left on them bones, you just have to know where to look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Am4klts-s&index=7&list=RDggCu46-e0-k
Oivind
October 19, 2016 @ 2:03 pm
Wow, someone are really protective of their genre. I love Lady Gaga, and I love this song. I also play bluegrass banjo, so if bluegrass is “authentic” enough for you, I do like authentic country music. But Gaga doesn’t claim to be a country artist, so why the hate from some people? Isn’t she allowed to be influenced by country, and to play at this club in Nashville?
Corncaster
October 19, 2016 @ 5:51 pm
“really protective,” “hate,” “allowed”
Sigh. Another way to look at things, Oivind, is to understand that some people wish to cultivate a musical tradition. Think of a garden. Yes, plants are all related. But if you hybridize everything, do a whole genetic makeover, you lose the identity of the very things that attracted you to them in the first place. And when you do that, you lose those things entirely. Some people want to do that, often just to make money. But for those of us who love those things and cultivate them with care, there’s no “hate” for those people, but there is plenty of disgust for how belittling and reductive their approach is. They reduce an entire culture to a few stylistic gestures. Do you understand how cheap that is? And how condescending? If Germanotta were to take up country music the way respectful people do, and live with the people in this tradition, and learn how to cultivate it with the same care, I’d venture to say she’d be welcome. Country music is a big tent — to use an old phrase, it stretches “from shore to shore” — and is not well-served by the reductive whims of people with marginal interests who are looking to cash in.
Hope that helps.
Oivind
October 20, 2016 @ 9:19 am
Thank you for taking your time to respond. That’s a good answer. But still, look at it from my viewpoint: I don’t really care what genre I listen to, and I love artists which are influenced by many genres. Faith No More is my favorite band ever, and one reason for that is that they can’t really be placed in any genre. Some metal here, some funk there, some jazz, some hip-hop. Lady Gaga also seems to me to be genuinely inspired by many different genres, and I love that about her. I don’t think she is doing it to cash in, either: Let’s face it: More of the dance pop she used to make would probably sell more than the stripped-down music she is making now.
I do like artists which stick to one genre too, BTW. For one thing, I like bluegrass. And I love a band like AC/DC for never changing, at the same time that I love Gaga for always changing. 🙂
Corncaster
October 20, 2016 @ 10:43 am
No worries, and I’m not trying to be combative. I’m interested in your interest in bluegrass. That’s a genre that has, even with “newgrass” hybrids, remained coherent. Why is that, do you think? My suspicion is that bluegrass is cultivated per se. So while we can like artists who dabble in whatever they like — just as we often like social butterflies — we also realize that cultures don’t last as such if no one tries to make them last. My concern is that young people will stop trying if they think, persuaded by people like Germanotta, that it’s more exciting and lucrative to flit around like dilettantes.
Oivind
October 20, 2016 @ 4:33 pm
I think you’re right, bluegrass is cultivated per se. Don’t they have weekly bluegrass shows at the Ryman Auditorium? It is also a genre which is quite conservative, and I wouldn’t have any other way. Bluegrass is one of the genres in which instrumentation is quite fixed: Guitar, banjo, fiddle, dobro, mandolin, contrabass. It’s something of a fixed format, like string quartet music is a fixed format. I would hate to see that format disappear. I hope some young people will still start complete bluegrass bands, not just put some banjo picking in a pop song.
I wouldn’t worry about this too much, though. Young people who identify with bluegrass and country music probably won’t listen to Lady Gaga and follow in her footsteps. Bluegrass and Lady Gaga is an unusual combination. I think I’m the only one I know who likes both. 🙂
Doug
October 19, 2016 @ 2:25 pm
Good Ol’ East Nashville or as I like to call it Madison’s West Ghetto!
Kevin Smith
October 19, 2016 @ 2:31 pm
Alright you haters, listen up. Did you not see in the picture that she is wearing Daisy Dukes!! Oh yeah…mm hmm…And a wide brimmed hat, yeah, yeah …and she’s drinking a Bud Light, hah! Can it get any more country than that? Shoot, I bet shes probably got a can of Skoal in her back cheek pocket..and…did you not hear what the Gagster said ? Her dad liked a Garth song!!!!! So , put that in yer pipe and smoke it!! Only one question now: who gets the CMA female vocalist and song of the year award? Queen Bey, Arianna, or Lady G ?
This just in: Lady G is announcing her new duet with Zac Brown featuring Pitbull!
JohnS
October 19, 2016 @ 3:27 pm
About as “country” as Daddy Lessons.
albert
October 19, 2016 @ 3:30 pm
Ever since they called Taylor Swift country pretty much anything goes . Why NOT call GaGa ‘country’ , since the term , when used to describe radio shit , means absolutely nothing ?
I’d bet even Louis Armstrong could have made it onto today’s country radio . What the hell …he never used steel guitar ,never used fiddle , never used harmonica or mandolin , he never yodeled ….and he played a horn ! If that’s not country …………..
BrandonRMM
October 19, 2016 @ 4:58 pm
“I’d bet even Louis Armstrong could have made it onto today’s country radio.”
I’d say he has more “country cred” than most musicians. While it’s not much, he recorded a song with Jimmie Rodgers, Blue Yodel No. 9 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BFbY9Vw8DM), and the last album he recorded was cover album filled with country songs. (Crazy Arms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLfCn1maDf0 / Crystal Chandeliers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHOmYAC0Oto / Almost Persuaded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl4_cme0QrY)
albert
October 19, 2016 @ 10:42 pm
Wow ! I don’t know how this record got by me . I stand corrected , Brandon . Turns out even LOUIS ARMSTRONG knew that country music needed steel and fiddle . And you’re absolutely right . It does give him way more Country Cred than the Taylor Swifts , Steven Tylers, Lady Gagas and most of the wannabe’s playing fake country today . Thanks for the education .
Sam Cody
October 19, 2016 @ 3:49 pm
Here she comes…
Oivind
October 19, 2016 @ 4:00 pm
I do agree that “A-Yo” is not a country song. The rhythm is too funky (I like it, but it doesn’t make me think of country music). But how about “Million Reasons”? If you think it couldn’t pass as an authentic country song, why? The subject is typical for country music. The harmony singing and sweet melody sounds very country to me. If I heard it for the first time and didn’t know better, I would think it was done by a country artist. And I’m not thinking of the electro-pop variety, like Shania Twain.
Pete Marshall
October 19, 2016 @ 4:10 pm
I wan to puke when I read that Lady Gaga is releasing a so called country single.
Ryan
October 25, 2016 @ 5:03 pm
She isn’t releasing a country single and she never said this was country. This song is labeled as pop and charting only on pop charts. People mad about their own created dramas.
Erik North
October 19, 2016 @ 5:10 pm
I think Lady Gaga did another country-sounding (but obviously NOT STRAIGHT country) song a couple of years ago, called “You And I”, so this really isn’t the first time that the woman known for showing up at awards shows in meat dresses or inside a giant egg has done something like this.
Personally, I don’t think this is anything to get hot and bothered about; it isn’t any better or worse than anything else on the radio, and it certainly isn’t really country either. And it’s not like Lady Gaga’s going to do what Taylor Swift did in 2010, or Olivia Newton-John before HER, in 1975, and cause Music Row to go absolutely crazy about pop/country crossovers. But as I’ve said before, this has been going on since the 1950s in one form or another, so, aside from the fact of who it is this time around, no one can possibly pretend anymore this is really shocking.
Besides, it is much more important to keep championing folks like Chris Stapleton and Margo Price, and going after the Bros for distorting/perverting the country genre, than worry about Lady Gaga (IMHO).
Scott S.
October 19, 2016 @ 5:33 pm
Agreed. Not country.
That being said, I think Lady Gaga has a very nice voice. My daughter likes her music, and as much as I have tried not to like it, I have to admit she is a talented singer.
Jason
October 19, 2016 @ 7:07 pm
If this is country, then I was born in Indonesia.
TheKillerRocksOn
October 19, 2016 @ 7:15 pm
still more country than the Luke Bryan and she looks better naked…don’t ask.
Summer Jam
October 19, 2016 @ 10:04 pm
I hope that is sarcasm. If not, you are out of your mind insane.
Tunesmiff
October 20, 2016 @ 3:04 am
Was gonna go with the standard, “Still mor country than Sam Hunt,” – once I realized there was no, “Fake News” tag…
Corncaster
October 20, 2016 @ 5:12 am
the point of this tune may be to widen the definition of “country” so much that luke bryan looks like a country music centrist — which nudges country music further into the individualized global kale juice blender
might be a good time for some Johnny Cash
Summer Jam
October 19, 2016 @ 10:03 pm
This is very likely to be the absolute worst song I have ever heard. I rarely turn off a new song when i’m hearing it for the first time, but i clicked this off halfway thru, i just couldn’t take it anymore. I like Lady GaGa’s older music, but this straight up trash, just like all pop music since late 2013.
Austin Lee
October 20, 2016 @ 6:20 am
Thomas Rhett was running out of pop guys to imitate I bet he goes for this next!
F Minor to C
October 20, 2016 @ 9:21 am
I’m pretty sure this is how hank done it this way.
Jamie Lavigne
October 20, 2016 @ 10:16 am
What’s so bad about pop stars being influenced by country music though?
Isn’t it a good thing that the genre (which we are all trying to ‘save’) influences so many people including numerous musicians that are very much outside the country music milieu.
Yes, I know it can be alarming when various media outlets brand pop/rock songs as COUNTRY (when it clearly is not). That’s the thing though, we live in a world where we see soundbite/clickbait info, react and take it as verbatim –
“Lady Gaga Loves Country Music, Especially Garth Brooks” – Taste of Country
“Hear Lady Gaga’s Catchy New Country Song ‘A-Yo'” – Rolling Stone
“Lady Gaga’s New “Million Reasons” Video Shows Off Her Country Style” – Teen Vogue
I don’t know much about Lady Gaga’s music, but as far as I’m aware she isn’t seeking to be played on Country radio or even to market herself as a “country star”. She’s a pop star that is doing pretty well for herself in that pop world and isn’t like some washed up rock/pop guys that need the country music market to reinvent their flopping careers.
I listened to A-YO, is it a country song? No. I also listened to her other “influenced” country song… MILLION REASONS. Is it a country song? No. A bit more country leaning than A-YO. But these are pop songs. I also heard her older song ‘You & I’ which i believe (lyrically at least) is more country than most of the top 40 stuff that is being passed off as “country” on country radio right now.
I understand why you wrote the article Trigger, but honestly, we don’t need to worry about Lady Gaga’s “country influences”.
karl
October 20, 2016 @ 11:25 am
I love Gaga, but, no that isn’t Country. I like just fine, though. I am not sure who thought this was country, I really don’t think she thinks it is.
Christian H
October 20, 2016 @ 10:42 pm
I think is rather amusing that the title of Trigger’s article is “Lady Gaga’s ‘A-YO’ is NOT a country song”, but a bunch of folks are all riled up after listening to the song and discovering it is NOT a country song. Surprise! folks, its a bad pop song! “Million Reasons” is a not so bad pop song; I wouldn’t make my daughter turn that one off. The important takeaway from this article is that we learned the term, “Rickroll” and can hopefully find an opportunity to remember to use it in the future!
justin casey
October 21, 2016 @ 2:31 pm
no it’s not a country song it’s also not very good
i’ve liked her music in the past (wouldn’t consider myself a huge fan but she has made stuff i like in the past mainly the first two albums) but everything i’ve heard from this one so far (even perfect illusion which is pretty good but never tops how solid the opening is) has done pretty much nothing for me
seak05
October 21, 2016 @ 3:29 pm
So I actually listened to some of the album. A-Yo still isn’t country, but you can definitely hear some Americana/country influences on the album overall (more Americana than country). They are I think the most apparent on Sinner’s Prayer. Is it super well done? No? But she’s also not claiming it’s a country album, nor marketing it to country radio. And it’s better than some of the stuff that is currently out under the country label.
I would also say, it’s probably best to listen to without thinking to yourself it’s Lady Gaga, because that comes with certain pre-conceived notions.
cyco eva
October 23, 2016 @ 12:36 am
If you think lady googoo gaga sucks, just wait until Fergie drops a “country” album! Or Kim kardassian, she could ask her producers to write her a “country” single, it could be about her corn fed “all natural” shitter. – cyco eva
Michael P
October 27, 2016 @ 7:10 pm
Most my my musical taste tends toward either old, trad, country, or stuff that sounds like old trad country (thought there are exceptions: Cohen, Cave, Nomeansno, etc., so you can tell where I’m coming from). That being said, I am actually a really big fan of Ms. Gaga: I think she has a great voice, and I think she is an excellent songwriter (despite working in genre I generally do not like at all, I have all of her records).
I think that if she seriously tried to do a country record, it would be an astonishingly good album. Oddly enough, I also think that if she tried to do a black metal record, it too would be astonishingly good – it would give Watain a run for the money.
I think she is an extremely astute artist, who knows her strengths and weaknesses (both economically and artistically). I don’t know if she’s a big enough country fan to do/want to do a trad-country record (given where she’s from, probably not. On the other hand, I wore out 4 tape copies of Johnny Cash’s greatest hits before I was 10 years old, despite living right outside NYC). Either way, I think she is an enormously talented songwriter, and if she really WANTED to do a country record, it would probably be record of the year.