Lady Gaga's New Song "Burqa" Is Weird and Awesome

A new Lady Gaga song leaked Monday night called "Burqa," though some blogs suggest it may actually be called "Aura." (Hypeable did some sleuthing, leading us to believe that it is, in fact, called "Burqa.") Both Zedd and Calvin Harris are mentioned in Gaga's "**rq*" tweet from October, prefacing this...

By Melissa Fossum

August 6, 2013

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A new Lady Gaga song leaked Monday night called "Burqa," though some blogs suggest it may actually be called "Aura." (Hypeable did some sleuthing, leading us to believe that it is, in fact, called "Burqa.") Both Zedd and Calvin Harris are mentioned in Gaga's "**rq*" tweet from October, prefacing this EDM-influenced gem.

We'd embed it, but if you have time to copy and paste a URL, at this point, it's probably already been taken down.

No fear were all good @zedd miss u buddy been listening to **rq* all day.
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) October 29, 2012

The song has a rough start, but hang in there. The first minute and 15 seconds of the song features Gaga rambling about killing a girl, locking her in the trunk, and taking her to Hollywood over a vaguely Middle Eastern-sounding guitar riff.

Strange as it is, this segment has a lot of potential for a music video -- picture Gaga trying to cover up her crimes in the dessert in an epic a la "Telephone." It's more than welcome to pay homage to Tarantino -- this could be Lady Gaga's Django Unchained.

"Burqa" picks up at the 1:12 mark as Gaga sings, "I'm not a wandering slave / I am a woman of choice," paired with the song's transition from guitar and drowned-out vocals to dubstep beats that sound like Zedd's handiwork.

At 1:41, the song sounds like Gaga's usual pop glory as she sings the chorus: "Do you want to see me naked, lover? Do you want to peak underneath the cover?" paired with Calvin Harris' signature house beats.

The song hits its stride at 2:18 in the second verse, as it turns into a full-out dance song, only slowing down for the chorus. In spite of its weird start, if "Burqa"/"Aura" is representative of Gaga's forthcoming album, ARTPOP (which is due for release on November 11), it will be nice to hear more from the EDM/experimental side of Lady Gaga.

Her first actual ARTPOP single, "Applause" will be released in a couple of weeks, so we'll find out what the new album is all about soon enough.

Listen to Lady Gaga's demo here. Most "Burqa" links have been taken down, but this one is active (for now.)

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