By,
Lawrence Waterhouse
The deserted island idea has been discussed within my household since I was a young child. “If you were stranded on a desert island with only three items, what would you bring”. This question has puzzled me for a century now since there are so many options and combinations of items to bring on this journey but in this project, I will be replacing the three items with only one album. Even though I have struggled with answering the original scenario, I intuitively knew the album I would be taking on this adventure. This essay will also be taken extremely literally, and environmental, mental, and physical factors will be considered. This will not be considered as a hypothetical situation, and I will dive deep into my mental state to clearly describe why I chose this album.
Chromatica I
Creating an intro should be a simple experience, listening to the songs within the album to find an inner feeling behind the words and chords. The feeling found from this self-exploration should be used to create the intro of an album. The listener can hear the purpose and meaning behind Chromatica I.
This song would surprisingly be one of the last songs I would listen to after my plane or boat crashes upon this island. I would not overwork the music that I already loved when I was living my life safely in the United States.
Alice
One of my favorite songs on the album is an aggressive piece of music that sets up the tone for the rest of the album. This song became a huge part of my life when I was in the rebellious phase of my life. I would use this song to feel superior to my siblings and friends, but little did I know I was more lost than any of them. This song would be my hunting song. While I’m gathering in the forest or stalking a small animal, I will have lady gaga in my ear helping me stay calm, agile, and ready for the kill.
Stupid Love
This is a song will be used as the “picture” or memory of my past life. The title may not show it , but this song is a sporadic time bomb of sound and emotion that vibrates through your very soul. The song shakes you while explaining the difficulties of everyday love. This is the music that I love. Stuff that is not completely linear and attacks different problems in your life at the same time. The lyric of this song reminds me of the stupid stress and agony I had when I was living my normal life, but not in a depressing way.
Rain on Me
This song I will not be listening to while I am on my journey to this deserted island. To be completely honest this is my least favorite song by Lady Gaga and even one of my least favorite songs ever. And let the record know Lady Gaga is my favorite artist. There is a large possibility that since I won’t be listening to this portion of the album frequently, I would develop a secret obsession. This would happen since I would grow tired from the other song that I would play on repeat.
Free Women
Free Women is a revolutionary song for this period of pop music and develop a new sound to electric dance music. The song follows Queen Gaga’s journey to self-discovery and inner peace. I have always been extremely attracted to Gaga’s beauty and intellect, but this song sent my love to another galaxy. I will use this song when I get lonely and struggle to understand why this terrible event happened to me and how I will survive here all alone.
Fun Tonight
This is the most depressing song for the album. Delves into the understanding that individuals try so hard to be “happy” within their life not understanding the key attributes that make them content with the decision they make.
This will be my funeral song, it’s scary to think about but if I was stranded on an island there would be a small chance of surviving since I’m a normal person living in a sheltered society. If I am unable to survive during this period of struggle, I will play this song and know I tried my absolute hardest to survive.
Chromatica II
This song is a notable example of an intermission within an album. This is considered the intermission of the album. A great Segway to a more depressing. I will not be spending a lot of time on this song since it is under a minute long. Most individuals skip over this song but deep down it shows the progression of the rest of the album, leading up to the third part.
911
A great beginning to the second half of the album. This song, like its name, reminds me of the rules and society that I left behind once I came to this island and shows me that not everything in my old life I supported or wanted to be around. Like her song Schube from an earlier album, it is difficult to find the meaning after your first 30 listens you really need to hear the words over and over to create your own meaning. This is a significant reason I chose this album for this project.
Plastic Doll
Plastic doll is my favorite song on this album and will be played most of my journey through this island. This song has changed me as an individual within our society and has developed a lot of my ideas on life. Taught me self-respect, love, and pain. I will not be listening to this song until I have a good lay of the land and understand that I will be able to stay on this island for enough time. Once I am comfortable with my surroundings, I will be able to relax slightly and spend time listening to this song on my solar powered record player.
Sine Form Above
Dang Elton John really knows how to write a song. This song was the finale of the album and was an amazing addition to the soundtrack. Gaga and Johns duet performs was hypnotic and psychedelic, everything that I love within a song. This song reminds me of the birth of an individual. Not a natural birth but the birth of someone becoming the person they always wanted to be. The moment I think I was truly born was after I made a traumatic mistake in my life, and I had to come clean to the people that I love. And once they forgave me and I forgave myself I was able to confront the person I was and love the person I am.
Although I doubt, I would be able to survive on an island for long but if I was able to brin an album Chromatica is an absolute no brainer. No matter the album I bring on this island I bet I would also get tired of listening to the same tracks over and over again, even if it is one of my favorite albums.
Musical writing 