"Gypsy" is a song written by Lady Gaga and RedOne, produced by Madeon in 2012 for ARTPOP. She revealed the song title on Fun Radio interview. The song was registered on Gaga's BMI on February 14th, 2014.
Background
Lady Gaga talked about the creation and meaning of the song in the track-by-track ARTPOP commentary on Sirius XM.
| “ | I started writing "Gypsy" with RedOne, and then I finished writing it with DJ White Shadow and Madeon, and myself, obviously, and we finished the production together. I did a lot of the guitar parts on this song, it was sort of my main passion on this record, was getting some really exciting acoustic parts, and my buddy Tim, he plays guitar, he’s so so talented. And this song is about, you know, traveling the world, and sometimes feeling really really lonely, but being okay with being alone because I have my fans, and because, when I get to that different country everyday: they are my home, just for the day. And this record’s all about falling in love, but it’s also about what I think the key is to staying in love, and that’s not trying to stop the other person from being on their own journey, not trying to stop them from being who they are, or trying to change them. That’s really been the new success in my love life. It’s been in allowing the other person to be on their journey, and you be on yours, and that you just be really happy when you’re together and not try to change one another. | ” |
She said that her finding true love served as initial inspiration to the song.
Before performing "Gypsy" at ArtRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball on June 2nd, 2014, Lady Gaga revealed that the song was written about a guy she met in San Diego. Lady Gaga said she didn't have many friends and was very lonely at the time and this guy she met one night in San Diego introduced her to all his friends. It was something her ex would never do. He took her on the back of his motorcycle and went to Mission Beach where he told her he wanted see the world with Gaga and they made love all day. The lyrics to "Gypsy" are about their conversation they had that night.
Most likely, she was talking about Taylor Kinney. On the morning of September 8th, 2011, MTV reported that Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney were seen together "last weekend" (nearly on September 3rd-4th, 2011) at ‘The Sneak Joint’ beachside bar in San Diego, CA. A witness from the bar said, “I couldn’t tell it was her at first. It just looked like some hot couple making out, but then I realized it was Lady Gaga! [...] She was so sweet too. She even signed some autographs.” Another eye witness said, “Her hair was a little messy. It definitely seemed like a ‘morning after’ situation. They are obviously totally into each other!” Also, it is known that Taylor Kinney rides a motorcycle well. Besides, bing on the Mission Beach is referenced in the lyrics of the demo version of the song "But then we, we kissed all night at his Mission Beach party". The whole story is contradicted only by the fact that Gaga and Taylor met each other for the first time on the set for the "Yoü and I" music video back in July, 2011, in Nebraska, although during the concert in 2014 she said she first met that guy in San Diego.
On French radio Hit West, Madeon recalled that on September 22nd, 2012 he had gone to see Lady Gaga at her Born This Way Ball show at Paris' Stade de France. After the performance, Gaga took Madeon to her hotel room. He played her some chords he had been working on for sometime on the piano. Gaga immediately started singing the main melody of "Gypsy", and then the main song "flowed out", leading them to write a new demo the same night. Since Madeon had brought his computer with him, he recorded the ideas developed with Gaga so he would not forget them. For MTV News, Madeon further explained that he "had never heard the original track" made with RedOne prior to that night and that he "started playing new chords and we started writing a new song based on that song. So it's kind of a nice story on [how] two different takes on the same idea made a new song." Afterwards, the song went through various changes, and more musicians were added for the final version on the album in Los Angeles. Not much is known about the first version made with RedOne, only that is was made virtually as they couldn't book studio time together.
| “ | Madeon was mostly in charge of that track. Some of those things when we were doing them, it was a very, very genuine team effort. So it was like you'd do something somewhere, Madeon would come in and start taking it and running with it. Me and Nick and Dino, we'd all kind of separate and work on different things at different times. It was a real squad effort. | ” |
The line "Someday in Jakarta" refers to the cancellation of Lady Gaga's The Born This Way Ball soldout concert in Jakarta, Indonesia, which was supposed to take place on June 3rd, 2012, due to the inability of police to protect the visitors of the event from threats from Islamist religious groups. Lyrically, Lady Gaga hopes that one day she will be able to perform in Indonesia.
During a chat on Little Monsters site on Oct 29th, 2012, Lady Gaga revealed that there are 2 songs from ARTPOP which were inspired by Indonesian "conflict." One of them, apparently, is "Gypsy."
| “ | I love indonesian monsters, they inspired some songs on ARTPOP. Well, I was really inspired by the conflict we had with Indonesia. So, I wrote some songs about it but they are more metaphorical and conceptual about bringing people together. Both are dance songs: one song is a complextro masterpiece and the other is a hip-hop/j-pop/pop song. And it's not hip-hop in the way you know, it's more underground chicago gay club trap and it's very diffrent from Azealia Banks music because she's more 90's house. | ” |
—Lady Gaga via Little Monsters | ||
On October 20th, 2012, Lady Gaga teased some lyrics of the song on Instagram and Little Monsters by posting a selfie and adding "I love gypsy life" in the caption.[1][2]
Lady Gaga performed "Gypsy", an acoustic six-minute-long version of the track, in its entirety for the first time for guests at an exclusive listening party at Berlin's famed Berghain club on October 24th, 2013. Before attending the event, Lady Gaga wrote on her Twitter, "2day at AMPYA ARTPOP listening party in Germany I'll perform the world premiere of 'Gypsy' at the piano! Stream it tonight around the world!" Before singing a song she told the audience: "I wrote this song as I was travelling around the world… they say 'a Gypsy doesn't have a home.' But I do have a home. I have a home with you always."
There was a misconception about "Gypsy" being the next single after "Applause" when a photo starting spreading around the internet that said the album featured "Applause" and "Gypsy". However, on January 21, 2014, Interscope Records revealed that the song was to serve as the third single. A couple of weeks after the announcement, plans had shifted and the label settled on"G.U.Y." instead.
Performances
| Dates | Location | City | 
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| 2013 | |||
| October 24 | ARTPOP Listening Party | Berlin | 
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| November 10 | artRave | Brooklyn, NY | 
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| 2014 | |||
| March 13 | South by Southwest (SXSW) | Austin, TX |
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| Dates | Location | Channel |
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Lyrics
Sometimes a story has no end,
Sometimes I think that we could just be friends.
“Cause I’m a wandering man”, he said to me,
“And what about our future plans?
Does this thing we have even makes sense?
When I got the whole world in front of me?”
So I said
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I can be tonight
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I love gypsy life
I don’t wanna be alone forever, maybe we could see the world together
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I can be tonight!
Tonight!
So I just packed my baggage and
Said goodbye to family and friends
And took a road to nowhere on my own
Like Dorothy on a yellow brick
Hope my ruby shoes get us there quick
'Cause I left everyone I love at home
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I can be tonight
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I love gypsy life
I don’t wanna be alone forever, maybe we can see the world together
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I can be tonight!
Tonight!
'Cause I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
And then he asked me, he said
“Baby! Why do we love each other?”
I said, “Honey, it’s simple
It’s the way that you love and treat your mother.”
Thought that I would be alone forever
But I won’t be tonight
I’m a man without a home, but I think
With you, I could spend my life
And you’ll be my little gypsy princess
Pack your bags and we can chase the sunset
Bust the rear view and fire up the jets
'Cause it’s you and me!
Baby, for life!
(If you go with me)
For life!
(See the world with me)
'Cause I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
Russia, U.K, Paris
I’m Italian, Asian combined
Africa, India, I’m gypsy, gypsy, gypsy
I’m Latin-American
I don’t speak German, but I try
Someday in Jakarta
I’m American, I’m gypsy
I’m Bangkok, Australian, Malaysia
Just Sweden, Finland, Norway
Be my home just for the day
I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy, hey
Sometimes a story has no end,
Sometimes I think that I should settle down and
We could just be friends.
“Cause I’m a wandering man”, he said to me,
But then we, we kissed all night at his Mission Beach party
And I said
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I can be tonight
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I love gypsy life
I don’t wanna be alone forever, maybe we could see the world together
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I can be tonight!
Tonight!
I'm packing bags and making stacks
Like a good old-time American
And I'm just trying to show my mom and dad
There's such thing as a real good man
'Cause when he talks to me, you see the man that you're talking about
In his eyes I see
When he puts his hand over my bathing suit and says to me
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I can be tonight
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I love gypsy life
I don’t wanna be alone forever, maybe we can see the world together
I don’t wanna be alone forever, but I can be...
I can be tonight!
Tonight!
'Cause I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
And then he asked me, he said
“Baby! Why do we love each other?”
I said, “Honey, it’s simple
It’s the way that you love and treat your mother.”
Thought that I would be alone forever
But I won’t be tonight
I’m a man without a home, but I think
With you, I could spend my life
And you’ll be my little gypsy princess
Pack your bags and we can chase the sunset
Doesn't matter if your daddy gets pissed
It's you and me!
Baby, for life!
(If you go with me)
For life!
(See the world with me)
'Cause I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy I’m
Russia, U.K, Paris
I’m Italian, Asian combined
Africa, India, I’m gypsy, gypsy, gypsy
I’m Latin-American
I don’t speak German, but I try
Someday in Jakarta
I’m American, I’m gypsy
I’m Bangkok, Australian, Malaysia
Just Sweden, Finland, Norway
Be my home just for the day
I’m a gypsy, gypsy, gypsy, hey
Trivia
- The song references "Scheiße" in the line "I don't speak German but I try."
Credits
| Writers | Lady Gaga, RedOne and Madeon |
| Producers | Madeon and Lady Gaga |
| Recording by | Dave Russell, Bill Malina and Benjamin 'Ben' Rice at Record Plant, Hollywood, CA
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| Additional recording | Bill Malina at CRC Studios, Chicago, IL Ghazi Hourani at Record Plant, Hollywood, CA
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| Assistant recording | Benjamin Rice, Andrew Robertson and Daniel Zaidenstadt at Record Plant Steve Faye at CRC Studios |
| Guitar | Tim Stewart |
| Background vocal, guitar and piano arrangement | Lady Gaga |
| Background vocals | Nicole Ganther, Natalie Ganther and Lyon Gray |
| Union contractor administration | Ivy Skoff |
| Mixed by | Manny Marroquin at Larrabee North Studios Universal City, CA Madeon at Popcultur Studios, France 
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| Assistant mixers | Chris Galland and Delhert Bowers at Larrabee Studios |
| Mastering | Gene Grimaldi at Oasis Mastering, Burbank, CA
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| Publishing |
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References
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