What message is Lady Gaga trying to impart in Judas?

Will the group protesting against Lady Gaga’s concert tonight and tomorrow night at the newly-constructed Mall Of Asia (MOA) Arena (which Lady Gaga is formally opening) really charge the controversial singer for a crime said to be punishable with an imprisonment of six weeks to six years (pero bailable naman)?

That is, if Lady Gaga include in her repertoire the controversial song Judas.

For the enlightenment of everybody, the “anti-Gaga” included, Funfare Update is putting out the lyrics of the song and Lady Gaga’s explanation in an interview taken from Popjustice, which Funfare Update has found in the Internet. Also, some explanations from those who apparently understand the lyrics for what they really mean.

Judas

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I’m in love with Judas, Judas

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I’m in love with Judas, Judas

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Gaga

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Gaga

When he comes to me, I am ready

I’ll wash his feet with my hair if he needs

Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain

Even after three times, he betrays me

Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh

I’ll bring him down, bring him down, down

Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh

A king with no crown, king with no crown

I’m just a holy fool, oh baby he’s so cruel

But I’m still in love with Judas, baby

I’m just a holy fool, oh baby he’s so cruel

But I’m still in love with Judas, baby

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I’m in love with Judas, Judas

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I’m in love with Judas, Judas

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Gaga

I couldn’t love a man so purely

Even prophets forgave his crooked way

I’ve learned love is like a brick, you can

Build a house or sink a dead body

Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh

I’ll bring him down, bring him down, down

Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh

A king with no crown, king with no crown

I’m just a holy fool, oh baby he’s so cruel

But I’m still in love with Judas, baby

I’m just a holy fool, oh baby he’s so cruel

But I’m still in love with Judas, baby

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I’m in love with Judas, Judas

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I’m in love with Judas, Judas

EW

In the most Biblical sense

I am beyond repentance

Fame hooker

Prostitute wench

Vomits her mind

But in the cultural sense

I just speak in future tense

Judas kiss me if offenced

Or wear an ear condom next time

I wanna love you

But something’s pulling me away from you

Jesus is my virtue

Judas is the demon I cling to

I cling to

I’m just a holy fool, oh baby he’s so cruel

But I’m still in love with Judas, baby

I’m just a holy fool, oh baby he’s so cruel

But I’m still in love with Judas, baby

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I’m in love with Judas, Judas

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I’m in love with Judas, Judas

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Juda-ah-ah

Judas, Gaga

And here are the ways by which Lady Gaga and other people explain the lyrics:

= According to an interview taken from Popjustice, this was Lady Gaga’s explanation about the song:

The first time Lady Gaga played us the tune she told us that in broad terms it was about being in love with the worst guy you’ve ever met, but as you might expect there’s more to it than that. “It’s about leaving your darkness behind in order to come into the light,” she added the other day. “I have a lot of things that have haunted me from my past - choices, men, drug abuse, being afraid to go back to New York, confronting old romances - and Judas represents, for me, something that is bad for me that I can’t escape. I keep going back and forth between the darkness and the light in order to understand who I am.

= Another explanation also culled from the Internet:

Well, it most definitely does not mean she worships the devil. Not at all. All of her songs have deep meanings, such as Telephone and Alejandro. You may think that Telephone is about her not answering her boyfriend because she wants to party, but it isn’t that broad. In the verse “can call all you want but there’s no one home and you’re not going to reach my telephone” is a metaphoric phrase. The “telephone” is a metaphor for her mind. And the song is about not being able to enjoy herself because of her dedication to her career. So that verse means that everybody can call to her all that they want, but they are not going to stop her from her career. (She even explained this in an interview).

So, back to Judas. The verse “In the most biblical sense, I am beyond repentance. Fame hooker, prostitute wench, vomits her mind. But in the cultural sense, I just speak in future tense, Judas kiss me if offenced, or wear an ear condom next time” means that she has committed a lot of sins, but in society, she is just trying to change to future by explaining her mind, and if you take offense to it, then just don’t listen to her. It is just like Telephone and Alejandro. It has metaphors that are used to represent different things.

= And another explanation also from the Internet:

It’s basically about how she has a lover whom she knows is evil and bad, but she can’t pry herself away from him and be good. 

Here are part of the lyrics:

I wanna love you,

But something’s pulling me away from you

Jesus is my virtue,

Judas is the demon I cling to

Anyway, as with poetry, one of the properties of music is “ambiguity,” which simply means that different people can interpret words and lyrics in ways that may be entirely different from that of the author.

Remember back then when self-appointed guardians of public morality read meanings in Hey Jude that the Beatles probably didn’t intend to put in the lyrics?

You know:

So you let out and let it in, hey Jude, begin

You’re waiting for someone to perform with

And don’t you know that it’s just you, hey Jude, you’ll do

The movement you need is on your shoulder…

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