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"The Edge of Glory" is a song written by Lady Gaga, Fernando Garibay and DJ White Shadow for Born This Way. On May 5th, 2011, radio station 96.1 KISS announced that they would receive and play "The Edge of Glory" on Monday, the May 9th.[1] It is the first promotional single to be released from the album as part of the iTunes Countdown for Born This Way. The song premiered on the radio one hour before the release on iTunes. Radios played a shortened version (4:20) sent by Interscope Records. The song was registered on BMI as simply "Edge of Glory" on May 17th, 2011.

On May 11th, 2011, Gaga announced the song to be the official third single from the album after it topped download charts worldwide shortly after it's release on iTunes. The song was sent to US radios on May 17th. The song was also featured on a Google Chrome commercial featuring Lady Gaga that debuted on Saturday, May 22nd, 2011, during Saturday Night Live featuring Gaga. On May 24th, it was announced that Gaga would perform the song along with saxophonist, Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band, on the American Idol season finale. The song peaked at #3, making it Lady Gaga's 10th top 10 hit.

Background[]

During the Musicians@Google Presents: Google Goes Gaga interview, Lady Gaga revealed that the song is about "your last moment on Earth, the moment of truth, the moment before you leave earth." In the same interview, Gaga stated that she wrote "The Edge of Glory" after the death of her grandfather. The song title was revealed by Stephen G. Hill through a tweet on January 24th, 2011.

And the Lady GaGa...aural energy that had my speakers gasping for water afterwards. The joint "Edge of Glory"...phenomenal!
Stephen G. Hill via Twitter Web Client

Prior to the release of the song title, Lady Gaga tweeted some lyrics of the song on September 25th, 2010.

I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm counting on a moment of truth. I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm counting on a moment with you.
Lady Gaga via Twitter for BlackBerry®

During the interview Musicians@Google Presents: Google Goes Gaga Lady Gaga explained

One of the songs on the album that is truly one of my favorites, it's called 'Edge of Glory' and it's kind of a sad story. Sorry to be a downer. But my grandpa died about five months ago, and my dad and I were going to say goodbye to him at the hospice, and I got out a big thing of agave tequila and my dad sat next to me at the piano and we started to doing shots back and fourth, and I wrote 'Edge of Glory' on the piano and my dad and I cried. The song's about your last moment on Earth, the moment of truth, the edge of glory is that moment right before you leave the Earth. So that song can be played on the piano, but it's actually set to this giant, huge, techno rock, Springsteen-esque dance beat. I actually had Clarence Clemons from the E Street Band come in and play saxophone on it. It's fucking beautiful.

Lady Gaga on Musicians@Google Presents: Google Goes Gaga

During her interview with NME magazine, Lady Gaga stated that “[She's] perpetually unhappy with what [she creates]. Even though [she] might tell you that 'Edge Of Glory' is a pop masterpiece, when it's all said and finished there will be things [she dreads], and every time [she listens] to it [she'll] hear them.

During her interview with E! News, Gaga said that "The song is about, how when I watch my grandpa die, I believe that he looks my grandmother and I realize that he was a champion in the life and that's when he's able to go to the edge of glory that represents being on the edge of that glorious moment."

Fernando Garibay discussed the song with The Hollywood Reporter stating

[Lady Gaga] and her family are massive Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band fans. She wanted sax on "Edge of Glory" and asked, "Do you think we can get Clarence Clemons?" I was like, "Dude, you're Lady Gaga, you can get anybody you want. So we set it up, and it was amazing, because this was right after her grandpa passed away and it was truly moving. Clarence came into the small studio in a wheelchair, we played him this musical break in the song, he found his pocket and just started soloing in that section. We kept the first take.

Fernando Garibay on The Hollywood Reporter[2]

During her performance of the song on Howard Stern, Lady Gaga explained that the song as follows:

It's about knowing in your heart you may never reach that glorious moment until you die, so live life on the edge half way between heaven and hell, and let's all dance in the middle in purgatory.

Lady Gaga on Howard Stern

During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga said that she wrote "The Edge of Glory" on the eve of her grandfather's passing, which means the song was written on September 24th, 2010.

Composition[]

"The Edge of Glory" is an upbeat song of dance-pop and electro-pop tendencies. It is notable for the use of synthesizers executed in a manner highly influenced by smooth jazz, as well as the inclusion of a saxophone solo by Clarence Clemons.

Commercial release[]

Physical releases[]

Germany[]

TEOG-Single-CD Label: Labels
Format: Slimase
Released: July 8, 2011
Barcode: 602527771441
Photography: Nick Knight
Design: N/A

Digital releases[]

The Remixes[]

TEOG-TheRemixes Label: Interscope
Format: Digital
Released: July 12, 2011
Barcode: N/A
Photography: Nick Knight
Design: N/A

Remixes[]

  • Bare Noize Remix — 3:47
  • Cahill Club Remix — 7:26
  • Cahill Major Radio Mix — 3:26
  • Cahill Minor Club Mix — 7:27
  • Chew Fu Glorified Fix (feat. A-Clay) — 2:46
  • Desi Hits! Bollywood Remix — 4:26
  • Electrolightz Remix — 3:46
  • Foster The People Remix — 6:10
  • Funkagenda Remix — 7:52
  • Porter Robinson Remix — 6:39
  • Sultan & Ned Shepard Remix — 6:33

Performances[]

Dates Location Country

Dates Location Station Country

Certifications[]

On June 23rd, 2011, "The Edge of Glory" reached platinum status in the United States where it had sold over 1 million copies since its release.

Lyrics[]

There ain't no reason you and me should be alone
Tonight, yeah, baby
Tonight, yeah, baby
But I got a reason that you-hoo should take me home tonight
I need a man that thinks it right when it's so wrong
Tonight, yeah baby
Tonight, yeah baby
Right on the limit's where we know we both belong tonight

It's hot to feel the rush
To brush the dangerous
I'm gonna run right to, to the edge with you
Where we can both fall far in love

I'm on the edge of glory
And I'm hangin' on a moment of truth
I'm on the edge of glory
And I'm hangin' on a moment with you
I'm on the edge
The edge, the edge, the edge
The edge, the edge, the edge
I'm on the edge of glory
And I'm hangin' on a moment with you
I'm on the edge with you

Another shot, before we kiss the other side
Tonight, yeah, baby
Tonight, yeah, baby
I'm on the edge of something final we call life, tonight
(Alright! Alright!)
Put on your shades, 'cause I'll be dancing in the flames
Tonight, yeah, baby
Tonight, yeah, baby
It isn't hell if everybody knows my name tonight
(Alright! Alright!)

It's hot to feel the rush
To brush the dangerous
I'm gonna run right to, to the edge with you
Where we can both fall far in love

I'm on the edge of glory
And I'm hangin' on a moment of truth
I'm on the edge of glory
And I'm hangin' on a moment with you
I'm on the edge
The edge, the edge, the edge
The edge, the edge, the edge
I'm on the edge of glory
And I'm hangin' on a moment with you
I'm on the edge with you

I'm on the edge with you
I'm on the edge with you

I'm on the edge of glory
And I'm hangin' on a moment of truth
Out on the edge of glory
And I'm hangin' on a moment with you
I'm on the edge
The edge, the edge, the edge
The edge, the edge, the edge
I'm on the edge of glory
And I'm hangin' on a moment with you
I’m on the edge with you, with you, with you, with you, with you
I'm on the edge with you, with you, with you, with you, with you
I'm on the edge with you, with you, with you, with you, with you
I'm on the edge with you, with you, with you, with you, with you

Google Chrome[]

For more, see this page.

The film was shot in New York City on May 8th with Laurieann Gibson as director. Within hours of the release of her new single "Edge of Glory" on May 9th, fans began uploading videos on YouTube, making the song their own by dancing to it, singing it and playing it on all kinds of instruments. Lady Gaga then posted a message on her website asking for more videos to be used in the film project. Fans responded within minutes and uploaded hundreds more videos. Back in the editing room, in real time as fan videos streamed in, editors were putting them into the film. The film was completed on May 18th in time to air during Lady Gaga's performance on the season finale of Saturday Night Live, and to also live on the web.

Music video[]

The_Edge_Of_Glory
Premiere date June 16, 2011
Director(s) Haus of Gaga
Fashion director Nicola Formichetti at Haus of Gaga
Choreographer
Director of photography

Background[]

On May 17th, 2011, Laurieann Gibson revealed to Rap-UpTV that the music video of Gaga's third single to Born This Way, would be filmed very soon. She also gave a hint - "We'll be very fishy..." On May 22nd, 2011, Gaga tweeted to a fan that she will begin shooting "The Edge" video in one week and that she has already written the treatments for it. On May 27th, E! News managed to get a casting call notice for the video. The casting notice asks for a "Puerto Rican or Dominican type badass" who "must be willing to kiss Lady Gaga", "Couture Doctors" who will wear smocks and black gloves", a "male or female on-air reporter", and a group of military men to hold M16 rifles."

The music video was shot May 28th-29th, 2011. Originally, Joseph Kahn had been hired to direct the music video for the three days shoot. After rumors of an argument between Gaga and Kahn, Laurieann Gibson said on Twitter that there had been issues on the set and Kahn was no longer involved in the production. Interscope Records confirmed that Gaga then became the director of the clip along with the Haus of Gaga as collaborative directors. The footage shot on the second day featuring Gaga with Clarence Clemons were the only footage used to make the music video which was released on June 16th So You Think You Can Dance. During a press conference in Singapore, Gaga's revealed what happened on the set: "I had this whole elaborate setup for ‘The Edge of Glory’, but once I got on that fire escape in that one outfit, I realized that it was time to just have a moment of acknowledgement for myself as a 25-year-old who has been working so hard from the bottom up my whole life."

The music video was filmed on a Brownstone set [1] just off New York Street on the Metropolitan Sets backlot and a tenement fire escape behind the gas station on Courthouse Square set [2] at Universal Studios Hollywood.

In an interview with My Celeb MTV, recorded on July 8th, 2011, Lady Gaga talked about her collaboration with Clarence Clemons and the meaning behind the red and blue windows of the apartment on the set.

I went on set to shoot this video with the amazing Clarence Clemons. He is by far one of the most influential people since my childhood. His saxophone on all of Bruce Springsteen's music was the soundtrack to many nights with my mom and dad. Shooting this video together was a turning point for me and my life and my career. And in this video I'm dancing on the fire escape of my apartment. Now that fire escape looks exactly like the one that I used to dance on all the time when living in New York City. We let one window red and one window blue. So, those windows: the blue represents the beginning and the red represents the end. And I am there dancing in between, somewhere in between life and death, somewhere in between heaven and hell in the Purgatory of life... on the edge... with you... [smiles].

Lady Gaga on My Celeb MTV

Synopsis[]

It begins with Lady Gaga slowly appearing from behind a building on a deserted street corner. When the first verse of the song begins, Gaga emerges from the window of an apartment onto the fire escape while smoke begins to billow out of the building. The video is mostly comprised of interchanging shots of Gaga dancing and singing on the street, on the fire escape, and on the steps in front of the apartment building with Clarence Clemons. Near the end of the video, after Clemons's saxophone solo, Gaga crouches in front of the building's steps and kisses the sidewalk. The video concludes with Gaga reentering the window into her smokey apartment.

During her Inside the Outside interview, Gaga said that she missed New York and that after the releases of the previous two projects, she felt so empty that the only way that she would know New York again is to "fuck herself up and lick the streets," which is expressed in the scene where she kisses the sidewalk.

Lady Gaga wears a vest top, a shirt, boots, a vintage necklace, sunglasses, a beret, and a belt by Versace, custom panties by JerMajesty x Joshua Canady, and custom gloves by Nina Peter Hautnah x Gregor Pirouzi x L.A. Roxx with studs by AND_i.

Images[]

Photography by Meeno Peluce.

Date May 29, 2011
Location Universal Studios Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA Us
Camera EOS-1Ds Mark III by Canon
Fashion direction Nicola Formichetti at Haus of Gaga
Stylist Anna Trevelyan and Brandon Maxwell at Haus of Gaga
Hair Stylist Frederic Aspiras at Haus of Gaga
Nails Aya Fukuda
5-29-11 Meeno 002

Lady Gaga wears outfits by Versace, and gloves by Nina Peter Hautnah and Gregor Pirouzi with studs by Andreas Eberharter for LA Roxx.

Original concept[]

Three stills from the set of the original music video concept were confirmed by Khan's on-set editor, Chancler Haynes.[3]

Credits[]

Song[]

The album credits erroneously credited Gene Grimaldi as the mastering engineer (at Oasis Mastering) for this track. It was fixed for The Tenth Anniversary edition.

Personnel

Publishing

  • Sony/ATV Songs LLC / House of Gaga Publishing LLC (BMI)
  • Sony/ATV Songs LLC / Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./ Garibay Music Publishing (BMI)
    All rights on behalf of itself and Garibay Music Publishing administered by WB Music Corp.
  • Maxwell and Carter Publishing, LLC (ASCAP), administered by Universal Music Publishing Group

Music video[]

References[]

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