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Lady Gaga is returning to chaos

Rebellion or nostalgia?

Lady Gaga is returning to chaos Rebellion or nostalgia?

Sometimes, when history folds back into conservatism, music, arts, cinema, and literature follow suit, reviving past patterns, returning to realism, and setting aside fantasies of deconstruction. In such cases, we speak of a return to order. In contemporary Art History, this usually refers to the period after the avant-garde movements, before and during the rise of Fascism and Nazism. It is happening again today. Just think of quiet luxury in fashion or the resurgence of country music. However, at the Grammys, this was not the case. On the contrary, Lady Gaga, who won an award and presented her new single Abracadabra along with its music video, decided to go against the trend and return to disorder. Apparently.

Lady Gaga: Abracadabra at the 2025 Grammys

Abracadabra clearly echoes Alejandro. In the video, we see the artist dressed in a burgundy latex studded outfit with a wide-brimmed hat, looking down at another Lady Gaga dressed in white, dancing wildly among a group of dancers, also dressed in white. The setting is black. The lyrics speak of devils and angels, magic, love and death, salvation. In short: we're back. Disease paved the way for this return, and the album title (Mayhem, releasing on March 7) gives us hope. Especially after Die With a Smile, an instant classic featuring the ever-charming Bruno Mars, which, however, was far from deconstructive—quite the opposite. But there’s a catch.

A Hint of Melancholy: Is There Something Beyond Nostalgia?

With nostalgia, comes a hint of melancholy. Especially for those who were there when Alejandro became the spring-summer anthem of that year (it was April 2010) and remember its impact, the controversies surrounding the video’s Catholic imagery, Lady Gaga’s looks. Now, all of that is gone. Because we’ve already seen it and done it, because fifteen (fifteen!) years ago, pop was something else entirely, and because—even though this operation of revival and self-reference is intriguing, even from a post-postmodern perspective—retreating into nostalgia, upon closer analysis, feels anything but brave, anything but challenging. In fact, it almost seems like throwing in the towel, a surrender to the past rather than an attempt to create something new. And from an artist who was the future for so long, we just didn’t see it coming. Let's hope for Mayhem.