Yoü and I was just announced as the upcoming fourth single off Lady Gaga’s newest album “Born This Way.”

The song continues in the sound departure Lady Gaga has set for herself this era: more Edge of Glory than Judas, if you want – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The soulful, piano-driven, 80’s rock-influenced ballad is about going back to see an old love and not wanting to let that love go. It starts: “It’s been a long time since I came around. It’s been a long time but I’m back in town and this time I’m not leaving without you.”

The lyrics leave nothing to the imagination. It is a highly personal song. Lady Gaga’s fans can easily name the person to whom this song is dedicated: her nebraska guy, who has a bar in New York. “Something, something about this place. Something about lonely nights, and my lipstick on your face. Something, something about my cool Nebraska guy.”

The song is the story of a relationship that started with a long chase: “Something, something about the chase
(Six whole years).” And ended with Lady Gaga not wanting to let him go but had to. Now, two years later, she’s back to her hometown and she’s not leaving without him, despite the relationship being tumultuous. However, she can’t get over the small gestures she loved: “On my birthday you sang me a heart of gold with a guitar humming and no clothes.”

Lady Gaga’s vocal performance on this song is one of her best. She injects the lyrics and melody with energy that takes the whole song to another level. The song could have easily been monotonous, but her nuances and injections here and there elevate it into a breathy and easy-to-listen to track.

The interesting thing about the choice of Yoü and I as a single is that, even though the album has other electropop songs that would become faster and surer hits on radio, Lady Gaga chose this “unconventional” song for pop radio. It could be that seeing the runaway success Adele is currently having, Lady Gaga has realized the electropop age is fading and is slowly trying to get listeners to get accustomed to her new intended sound. If that’s the case, I have hope her upcoming music releases would be even better and show true artistry, not just flashy gimmicks to grab attention.

Deviating away from trends is Lady Gaga’s niche. Yoü and I continues this trend and this time, it just works. The song is great. Whether radio embraces it and turns it into a big hit is another matter entirely. But it’s Lady Gaga so you know the hype will be big. And at the end of the day, a true artist knows they have a clear path to self-expression. I’m glad Lady Gaga is not worried about the risks that her path involves. But the fact of the matter is, Yoü and I wasn’t the only song off Born This Way to go top 10 on iTunes without being a single for no reason. There’s a lot of appeal behind it. Hopefully it will translate into a successful single that will continue in steering Lady Gaga in this direction.

Listen to Yoü and I: