Lady Gaga Premieres 'Born This Way' Music Video

Ever since hatching on stage at the Grammy Awards earlier this month, Lady Gaga has been focused on themes of rebirth and renewal, and in the music video for her newest single, “Born This Way,” she finally gives birth to a new kind of life.

Following the precedent set by previous videos, “Bad Romance” and “Telephone,” “Born This Way” is epic, dramatic and full of loaded imagery. Directed by Nick Knight and choreographed by Laurieann Gibson, the seven-minute video begins with a spoken introduction to “Manifesto of Mother Monster,” a detailed birthing scene in outer space, which Gaga describes as the start of a new race. “Thus began the beginning of the new race. A race within the race of humanity, a race which bears no prejudice, no judgment, but boundless freedom.”

Once the music starts, the rest of the video feels more minimalistic—a bikini-clad Gaga amidst rows of dancers in muted colors—save for her tuxedo and skeleton mask look that have a Day of the Dead feel. But like everything Lady Gaga creates, this production has an eccentric appeal to it that is entirely her own. —EMILY EXTON