Poker Face (Lady Gaga song)

Background

"Poker Face" was written by Gaga and RedOne, while production was handled also by RedOne. Gaga stated in an interview that "Poker Face" was written by her as a pop song and was a tribute to her "rock 'n' roll boyfriends". She also stated that the main idea behind the song was sex and gambling. In an interview with UK's Daily Star, Gaga noted of the song, "It's about a lot of different things. I gamble but I've also dated a lot of guys who are really into sex and booze and gambling, so I wanted to write a record my boyfriends would like too." In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, when asked about the meaning of the line "bluffin' with my muffin", Gaga explained that it really was a metaphor for her vulva.

"Obviously, it's my pussy's poker face! I took that line from another song I wrote but never released, called 'Blueberry Kisses.' It was about a girl singing to her boyfriend about how she wants him to go down on her, and I used the lyric. [Gaga sings] 'Blueberry kisses, the muffin man misses them kisses'."

During her Fame Ball Tour performance at Palm Springs, California, on April 11, 2009, Gaga explained to the crowd the true meaning behind the term "Poker Face" used in the song. She suggested that the song dealt with her personal experience with bisexuality. The idea behind the song was to be with a man but fantasizing about a woman, hence the man in the song needs to read her "Poker Face" to understand what is going through her mind.

Composition

"Poker Face" is a synthpop song, and follows the footsteps of Gaga's previous single "Just Dance". Whereas "Just Dance" was predominately electropop, "Poker Face" carries a dark sound with clear vocals on the chorus and a pop hook while combining the synths from "Just Dance" and the more dance-oriented beat of the next single "LoveGame". According to Kerri Mason of Billboard, the composition "carr[ies] the pleather-and-sequins vibe of the downtown New York scene out of the underground and onto the FM dial without losing its smut and sass."

Poker Face is set in a common time time signature, with a fast tempo of 120 beats per minute. It is written in the key of G ♯ minor with Gaga's vocal range spanning from the note G₃ to the note C₅. It begins with a medium tempo followed by electronic chord arrangement and the "Mum-mum-mum-mah" hook. The chords follow in this order: G ♯ m–E/G ♯–F ♯, and then for the chorus G ♯m–E–B–F♯. This is followed by the sound of dance music, produced by a powerful beat from the instruments, and a stuttering hook following the chorus.

Lyrically, "Poker Face" is all about sexual innuendo and teasing. According to Daily Star, the chorus repeats two alternating lyrics. After the hook "Can't read my Poker Face" the backup singer says "He's got me like nobody" and then in the next line says "She's got me like nobody". Gaga explained in an interview with them that the line carries a bit of an undertone of confusion about love and sex. However, the liner notes from the album booklet indicate both these lines only repeat "she's got me like nobody". According to BBC, the "Mum-mum-mum-mah" hook used in the song references Boney M.'s 1977 hit "Ma Baker".

Critical reception

Upon release, "Poker Face" received critical acclaim. Priya Elan from The Times, in a review for The Fame, said that "Poker Face" was one of the finest moments of the album with its "love-as-card-game cheek". BBC Music reviewed the "strut-tastic" single as "expressing her overwhelming desire for celebrity and fortune." Bill Lamb of About.com said, "'Poker Face' works well on pop radio, but with slight mixing alterations it would be equally at home in a dark, sweaty, late night party atmosphere. She has refreshed the pop world in the US and UK at one of the slowest times of the year. 'Poker Face' keeps the motors humming as everyone waits for the next step forward from Lady Gaga." Chris Williams of Billboard also gave a positive review of the song saying, "Once again, hooks are aplenty, with '80s-inspired synthesizers, robotic verses and a warm, sunny hook in the chorus, which is even more addictive than the previous single ('Just Dance')...With a focused artistic vision, a swagger in her interview style and above all, a fantastic collection of diverse pop nuggets, Gaga is playing her cards right—and "Poker" is another obvious ace."

Slant Magazine music reviewer Sal Cinquemani included "Poker Face" among the songs that work in The Fame, namely tracks like "Starstruck," "Paper Gangsta" and "Summerboy". Matthew Chisling from Allmusic called the song "infectious" and along with the title track "The Fame", complimented them for "rejuvenating the vibe on the album for its second half." Andy Downing from The Chicago Tribune called the song "jaunty" while reviewing Gaga's Fame Ball tour. Evan Sawdey from PopMatters.com felt that "Poker Face" along with the track "Paparazzi", duplicate much of the same "glitzy territory that previous single 'Just Dance' had covered, but never once does it feel like Gaga is deliberately repeating herself." Rolling Stone in a review for The Fame Ball Tour compared the live acoustic "bluesy" version of "Poker Face" with the music of singer Amy Winehouse. Erika Hobert from the New Times Broward-Palm Beach newspaper called the song "trashtastic Europop." The song was nominated for Grammy Awards in the categories for Song of The Year, Record of The Year, and Best Dance Recording, ultimately winning the last of these. Rolling Stone ranked it number ninety-six on their list of 100 Best Songs of the 2000s decade. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 103 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

Commercial performance

In the United States, the song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at ninety-two and reached number six on the issue dated March 7, 2009. The next week the song climbed another three places to reach a peak of three and stayed there for two additional weeks. On the Billboard issue dated April 11, 2009, the song topped the chart. "Poker Face" became Gaga's second consecutive number one song on the Hot 100, marking the first time a new artist has had their first two charting singles hit number one on the Hot 100 since Christina Aguilera did so with "Genie In a Bottle" and "What a Girl Wants" in 1999–2000. The song stayed on the Hot 100 for 40 weeks. "Poker Face" also peaked on both the Hot Dance Airplay and Hot Dance Club Play charts. It became the first single since Madonna's 2006 single "Sorry", to top all the three dance charts in a single week including the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart. The song has been certified ten times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and sold 7.3 million paid digital downloads in the United States as of April 2016, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Gaga is the first artist in digital history to top the six and seven million mark in paid downloads with two songs, the first being "Just Dance". "Poker Face" is Gaga's most digitally-sold track in the United States.

In Canada, the song debuted at number forty-one on the Canadian Hot 100. On the chart dated December 13, 2008, "Poker Face" ascended to the number one spot and then spent nine non-consecutive weeks at the top. The song was certified eight times platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for paid digital downloads of 320,000. "Poker Face" entered the Australian charts at number 26, and in its seventh week peaked at number one. "Poker Face" has shipped over 420,000 copies in Australia, earning six-times Platinum certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). It held the record for the longest-charting song in ARIA Chart history of 106 weeks until this was broken in May 2015 by Vance Joy's "Riptide". In New Zealand, the song debuted on the official chart at number twenty-one. In its sixth week, it peaked the chart spending ten consecutive weeks at number one. "Poker Face" was certified two times platinum after twenty-seven weeks on the chart, selling over 30,000 copies, according to the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ).

In the United Kingdom, "Poker Face" debuted at number thirty on the UK Singles Chart. After three weeks, it climbed to number one, thus giving Gaga her second consecutive British number one single. It was the biggest selling digital single in the United Kingdom, before being overtaken by "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas in June 2010. However, the song became the country's biggest-selling single of 2009, and was awarded The Record of the Year. As of January 2017, it has sold 1.18 million copies and has been streamed 8.27 million times according to the Official Charts Company, receiving a double platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). In Italy the song debuted at number nineteen and peaked at number two. The song has also reached the peak in a number of European countries including Austria, Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland. In Germany "Poker Face" became the most successful download single of all time and the first one to sell more than 500,000 downloads. The song also spent sixteen non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard European Hot 100 Singles chart. Worldwide, the song had sold 9.8 million copies by November 2009 according to IFPI. It has since gone on to sell over 13.4 million copies as of September 2013, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Music video

The music video for "Poker Face", directed by Ray Kay and aided by Anthony Mandler, was filmed at the luxury villa on bwin PokerIsland. bwin also provided the poker equipment and obtained product placements in return. The video premiered on October 22, 2008. It is set by a pool, as well as in a mansion. It begins with Gaga emerging from the pool wearing a mirror masquerade mask and a black sleeveless latex bodysuit with a jaged shoulder pad, with two Great Danes beside her. She throws the mask aside and the song begins with a facial shot of Gaga singing it. Gaga wears a metallic sticker on her left cheek in this shot. Featured in the video are scenes of Gaga in a mansion and dancing poolside with her dancers in a turquoise leotard. Gaga attends a wild party where every man and woman tries their luck on a strip poker game. The party gets wilder when all the party's guests strip down to their underwear, dance around, and share kisses with each other. The video also features several white mannequins on her swimming pool deck. During the musical interlude before the "I won't tell you that I love you" hook, Gaga is shown in her trademark "Pop Music Will Never Be Low Brow" sunglasses while sitting beside the pool. The video ends with the head shot of Gaga singing the Mum-mum-mum-ma hook.

Gaga explained in the nineteenth episode of her "Transmission Gagavision" series, the main idea behind the music video of "Poker Face". She said that "I knew I wanted it to be sexy, so I thought no pants, because that's sexy, [...]And I knew I wanted it to be futuristic, so I thought shoulder pads, because that's my thing." The music video premiered on MTV UK on February 17, 2009. In some versions of the song, the words "muffin" (being a slang term for the woman's vagina), "Russian Roulette" and "gun" are censored out (bleeped). On June 21, 2009, the video won the Best International Artist Video at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards. The video received four nominations at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, in the categories of Video of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female Video and Best Pop Video. Along with five other nominations for "Paparazzi", Gaga was tied with Beyoncé for most nominations each for that year.

In June 2010, Gaga held a reverse auction for one of the necklaces worn in the music video, designed by Brian Lichtenberg. All the proceeds from the auction went to the Lupus Foundation of America.

Live performances

"Poker Face" has been performed by Gaga at a number of shows including the AOL Sessions, the Cherrytree House of Interscope Records, and also the MTV sessions. The song was performed by Gaga both in the original version and the acoustic piano version in her headlining The Fame Ball tour. She performed the piano version wearing a dress made of plastic transparent bubbles and playing the glass piano with her stilletoes with a glowing mannequin, like the music video, standing in front of the stage. Gaga claimed that the transparent bubble filled piano was specifically made to match her dress. The actual version was performed by Gaga as the final song of the encore, after "Boys, Boys, Boys". She started the performance saying "Some say Lady Gaga is a lie, and they’re right: I am a lie, and every day I kill to make it true." Gaga wore a nude corseted leotard embellished with crystals and an admiral's hat during the performance. The hat as well as the fingerless gloves worn were decorated with the word Gaga on it.

On April 1, 2009, both the acoustic and normal version of "Poker Face" was performed live on Fox's American Idol. The performance started with Gaga sitting at a Plexiglass piano filled with bubbles and bathed in pink light. She started singing the second verse of "Poker Face" in a Bette Midler style accompanied by a violin player while wearing a shiny aluminum shoulder pad and platinum bleached blond wig. After the first chorus, the pace increased whence the original intro for the song started. Gaga got up from her seat and proceeded to perform the song in the middle of the stage. She wore a silvery leotard with a giant star on her shoulder and tassels. As the song progressed to the intermediate verse, the violist played a hoe-down version of the music and Gaga danced around frantically over the stage. The performance ended with Gaga staring towards the audience while revealing an open zipper, patched over her left eye. The performance was described an "alien-disco performance art." Cortney Harding of Billboard wrote, "[it was] Gaga's crowning TV moment ... show[ing] middle America that she was a bona fide pop star."

The acoustic version was performed by Gaga at BBC Live & In-Session on April 19, 2009. In the same day, she had her first appearance on Italian TV, on the TV program Quelli che... il Calcio. She also performed "Poker Face" in the United Kingdom on The Paul O'Grady Show. First she played an acoustic version first before going on to the normal version, and a rock version on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. On May 12, 2009, Gaga performed "Poker Face" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show while wearing a gyroscope on her head, designed by theatrical hat designer Nasir Mazhar and playing the piano while standing on the stool. Gaga referred to the gyroscope as her "Gaga barrier". It prevented Ellen DeGeneres from greeting her because of the size of the gear. A remixed version of "Poker Face" and "LoveGame" was performed at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards, during the indoor-outdoor streetside show. This performance, which included Gaga being trapped in a fake subway car surrounded by fake police officers, was billed as a tribute to New York City. Snippet of the song was performed by Gaga at the thirty-fifth season of American comedy show Saturday Night Live, while wearing a giant contraption ("The Orbit") of several metallic concentric rings that rotated around her.

It was also performed on Gaga's The Monster Ball Tour. The piano version was played by Gaga while balancing on the piano stool and holding one leg up in the air. Rapper Kid Cudi joined her then to perform his song "Make Her Say" which contains a sample of "Poker Face". The actual version was performed at the last segment of the show. Gaga wore a dress made of guns and during the performance she pumped her hands in the air. It was also performed at the 52nd Grammy Awards, where she opened the show with the song while standing on a pedestal. In the middle, she was then flung into the garbage chute of the Fame Factory set, before emerging seated at a piano, facing Elton John. In May 2011, Gaga performed the song during Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle, Cumbria. The song was included on the set list of her 2012 Born This Way Ball Tour in which she sports a modified version of her famous meat dress. At the end of the song Her dancers dump her down a giant meat grinder. On February 5, 2017, Gaga performed the song during the Super Bowl LI halftime show.

Cover versions and adaptations

Rock musician Chris Daughtry performed an acoustic version of the song while at a radio station in Germany. In 2009, a single by rapper Kid Cudi featuring Kanye West and Common titled "Make Her Say" was released; it contains a vocal sample of the acoustic version of "Poker Face" from The Cherrytree Sessions EP. The song was originally entitled "I Poke Her Face" but was changed to make it more acceptable for radio. It features Kanye West, who also produced the track, and Common, as well as scratches from DJ A-Trak. Actor Christopher Walken performed a special a capella rendition of "Poker Face" on BBC1's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross for Halloween 2009. The song was also covered by British singer Mika during his visit to the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. It was later released as a track on his single "Rain".

The song was also featured in the South Park episode titled "Whale Whores", sung by series character Eric Cartman. On March 16, 2010, South Park's version of "Poker Face" became available as a downloadable song for the video game Rock Band, in the same day a Lady Gaga track pack featuring the original song was released. On a live special Family Guy episode, the song was performed by Alex Borstein who was parodying Marlee Matlin who interrupted the performance in a guest stint. Lea Michele and Idina Menzel, in character as Rachel Berry and Shelby Corcoran respectively, covered an acoustic version of "Poker Face" in the "Theatricality" episode of Glee. Their version debuted at position 100 on the Billboard Hot 100, and moved up to a peak of 20 on the next week. It went on to become one of the show's most popular recordings; having sold 410,000 U.S. downloads, it remains the tenth best-selling song in the show's history. "Weird Al" Yankovic included the chorus in his polka medley "Polka Face" from his 2011 album Alpocalypse. During the end credits of the 2012 The Simpsons season-finale episode "Lisa Goes Gaga", Homer Simpson performed a parody version entitled "Homer Face".

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Fame.