Eric

Cross-posted from ERiC jost BLOG.

Lady Gaga’s new song, “Born This Way,” debuted to much fanfare this morning. The lead single off the album of the same name, which Gaga predicts will be the album of the decade, is a self-empowering anthem that speaks to her “little monsters” and tells them to embrace who they are.

Unfortunately, like much of what Gaga has done recently, the song has been met with mixed reactions and skeptical criticisms.

I was one of the first to purchase “Born This Way” when it was released on iTunes at 9am, and I also had a less than ecstatic reaction upon first listen (compared with my reaction when I first heard “Bad Romance”). I first feared the worst when Gaga released the heavy-handed lyrics on Twitter, but reserved judgment until I heard the song in its entirety. And now that I’ve listened to it repeatedly, my thoughts are similar to those I had towards Britney’s new single, “Hold It Against Me” — not my favorite song, but I accept it as the next step in her musical repertoire.

As I’ve been reading through music blogs, Facebook comments, and tweets, much has been made about the so-called similarities between “Born This Way” and Madonna’s 1989 empowerment anthem, “Express Yourself.” We heard similar rumblings when “Alejandro” came out last year, with Gaga decriers screaming that is was nothing more than “La Isla Bonita” redux.

I am an avid, even fanatic, Madonna aficionado. She remains ...