“Born This Way” arrived after a full season of inspirational be-yourself anthems jammed up the charts, with Kesha’s “We R Who We R,” Pink’s “Raise Your Glass,” and Katy Perry’s “Firework” all landing at #1 in quick succession. All of those songs have subtextual gay-rights themes, but none of them come out and address those themes concretely. Gaga later claimed that she wrote “Born This Way” in 10 minutes, but she was very clear about what she wanted to say with the song. Talking to Billboard shortly after the song’s release, Gaga described those goals, and her words are worth quoting at length:

I said, “I want to write my freedom record. I want to write my this-is-who-the-fuck-I-am anthem,” but I don’t want it to be hidden in poetic wizardry and metaphors. I want it to be an attack, an assault on the issue because I think, especially in today’s music, everything gets kind of washy sometimes, and the message gets hidden in the lyrical play.

Harkening back to the early ’90s, when Madonna, En Vogue, Whitney Houston, and TLC were making very empowering music for women and the gay community and all kind of disenfranchised communities, the lyrics and the melodies were very poignant and very gospel and very spiritual. And I said, “That’s the kind of record I need to make.” That’s the record that’s going to shake up the industry. It’s not about the track. It’s not about the production. It’s about the song. Anyone could sing “Born This Way.” It could’ve been anyone.

More than “Firework” and those other predecessors, “Born This Way” is a message record. Lady Gaga didn’t just want to tell people to feel good about themselves; she wanted to identify the people she was working to uplift. Years later, it’s almost weird to think that all these other pop stars weren’t using words like “gay” on their tracks. Gaga made it plain, shouting out different communities. There are only so many ways to read the line “don’t be a drag, just be a queen.” I don’t remember the word “transgender” even being in the mainstream lexicon before Gaga shouted it out on “Born This Way.”

Link