Music News

Even with the understanding that “When the Saints Go Marching In” serves as a plot point in the film, Gaga’s version of the gospel classic feels superfluous here. Giving the song a soul-funk update, Gaga wails through a series of dramatic key-changes, but the vocal alone isn’t enough to justify the peculiar production, including an inexplicable classic rock guitar solo and 30-second big band outro breakdown. For as freewheeling as Harlequin can be, “Oh, When the Saints” feels as though it’s spun a smidge too far from the premise.

“Showbiz, baby!” could be a tagline for many of the songs chosen for Harlequin (and by extension, Folie à Deux). Unfortunately for Gaga, by the time you reach “That’s Entertainment” on her new album, it’s easy to feel underwhelmed by the simplicity of it all. Gaga couldn’t sound bad on one of these songs if she tried, but her version of “That’s Entertainment” simply comes across as Gaga doing Old Hollywood Karaoke while other songs on the album show what she could do when it comes to reinterpretation.

A gentle cover of the Carpenters’ breakthrough single doesn’t feel entirely cohesive on an album as bold as Harlequin, but Gaga manages to sell the performance well enough that the Burt Bacharach-penned classic earns its place. Little idiosyncrasies in Gaga’s performance make for a slightly disjointed listening experience, but “Close to You” manages to stick its landing by the time it closes.

“World on a String” is the kind of song that really makes you sit back and appreciate what a voice Lady Gaga has. Swaying along in a crystal clear head voice throughout her breezy version of the jazz standard, Gaga sells the carefree romance of the song’s lyrics without breaking a sweat. Add in the atomospheric, echoing production, and “World on a String” earns its standout moment on Harlequin.

Where Harlequin’s “Oh, When the Saints” fails to capture the gospel spirit, “Gonna Build a Mountain” just keeps ratcheting up the soul until it comes bursting out in the song’s final moments. Taking Anthony Newley’s classic tune and turning up the drama, Gaga delivers a riveting vocal performance throughout this ebullient anthem, making it an immediate standout on the tracklist.

As one of only two original songs on Harlequin, “Folie à Deux” might manage to fool you at first — this seemingly-glamorous waltz syncs up well with the big band covers and glitzy showtunes throughout the rest of the album. But leave it to Gaga (and the Joker series, for that matter) to take a simple, heartfelt ballad and twist it into something unsettling. With just a few minor details — including a haunting choir that punctuates the song’s final verse — “Folie à Deux” brings its titular psychosis to life, for better or worse.

Songs as ubiquitous as Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” becoming virtually impossible to cover as years go by — especially when they’ve been covered by greats like Nat King Cole, Barbra Streisand and even Michael Jackson. Yet Gaga successfully takes the classic and makes it into something new — tapping into the inherent melancholy of the music, the simple addition of echoing reverb and an ominous background noise, Gaga turns “Smile” into something both endearing and disquieting at the same time.

We know you didn’t have Lady Gaga releasing her own solo version of a showstopper from 1966’s Sweet Charity on your 2024 bingo card — which is part of what makes this reimagining of “If My Friends Could See Me Now” so delightful. Gaga brings the pathos of her mentally unravelling character to the song, starting off the typically-upbeat classic as a moody, emotional ballad. But soon enough, the band kicks in, and Gaga is scatting, growling and belting her way through a tumultuous, almost unhinged performance. There’s a feeling that the song could come apart at the seams in any moment, only adding to the thrill of the singer’s excellent performance therein.

Kicking off the album with some jazzy flair, Gaga soars on her rendition of this old Hollywood classic. Falling somewhere between Judy Garland’s original rendition from Babes in Arms and the Betty Noyes, Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor version from Singin’ in the Rain, Gaga’s “Good Morning” shows off her sparkling, timeless voice — and a few updated lyrics to fit the plot of the film add a slightly sinister underbelly to this cheery tune. It may not hit the highs that other songs on Harlequin manage, but “Good Morning” provides a bright, necessary entrée to the album’s themes.

The mark of any great cover is when an artist can both honor the original intent of the song and still give their own, unique performance. That bar is easily met and surpassed on Gaga’s rollicking rendition of “Get Happy,” as the singer keeps in tact the bouncing spirit of the gospel-meets-jazz while adding her own stylish vocal flairs throughout the track. The addition of the bobbing hornline to the song’s chorus as well as Gaga’s effortless riffs make “Get Happy” the exact kind of song to chase all your cares away.

For all the talk of revamping a classic song to fit a specific artist’s style, Gaga’s straightforward, largely-unchanged cover of the Frank Sinatra hit “That’s Life” just works. The pop singer manages to evoke Ol’ Blue Eyes without straight-up copying him on this sumptuous cover, leaning into one of her most boisterous performances of Harlequin to bid listeners farewell. It’s a simple and exceedingly effective cover of a beloved song — and a perfect way to close out this chapter of her musical career.

If there is any song on Harlequin that perfectly embodies what a Lady Gaga reinvention has the ability to accomplish, it’s “The Joker.” Transforming this deep-cut track from the 1964 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, Gaga makes “The Joker” into a full-blown rock song, bringing in raging guitars and pounding drums while snarling at the audience that “They don’t care as long as there is a jester, just a fool/ As foolish as he can be.”

In a concept album about her manic characterization of Harley Quinn, Gaga offers the clearest sense of follow-through on the promise of Harlequin with “The Joker” — a delirious reinvention of an old-time classic in a way that only Gaga could pull off.

Lady Gaga is a skilled enough performer that she can make some of the most widely-recognized songs in music sound like her own original creations. But when those covers are placed next to a heart-wrenching, emotional power ballad written by Gaga and her longtime collaborator BloodPop, they just can’t compare.

“Happy Mistake” takes pieces of the multifarious performer’s ouevre and melds them into a stunning original composition. Remnants of the bluesy, singer-songwriter stylings of A Star Is Born‘s “Shallow” wander their way into the song’s verses before being banished away in its haunting chorus, as Gaga (or at this point, maybe Harley Quinn herself) relents the shattering of her own mind like “broken mirrors,” where she “can’t look away,” no matter how hard she tries. The sheer emotion and raw vocal talent Gaga displays on “Happy Mistake” sends it flying above the rest of Harlequin‘s flashy theatrics, making for a truly excellent Lady Gaga ballad in any given context.