Lady Gaga’s music has offered plenty to chew on in the 17 years since “Just Dance” first dropped. But if there’s one recurring constant in her songs, it’s Gaga’s penchant for venting her myriad emotions and passions on the dance floor. And so it is again with her latest hit, “The Dead Dance,” which is Lady Gaga’s 29th Top 40 hit.
Lady Gaga teamed up with Netflix for this track, which is featured in the seventh episode of Wednesday Season 2. Specifically, it serves as the musical backdrop for Enid and Agnes’ dance performance at Nevermore’s annual Venetian Gala.
Also worth noting: The grimly macabre video (more on that below) was directed by none other than pop-horror maestro Tim Burton.
As we’ve seen throughout her career, Lady Gaga finds meaning and purpose in music. This time around, it seems to have revived her, metaphorically speaking, in the wake of a traumatic relationship: “‘Cause when you killed me inside, that’s when I came alive/Yeah, the music’s gonna bring me back from death.”
Lady Gaga sees and experiences music in a restorative way, and she believes that music (and dancing, of course) throws her a lifeline in tough moments.
That said, music’s ability to bring anyone back from death is, necessarily, a metaphor and not something to be taken literally. Still, Lady Gaga doubles down on the notion that dancing and music are primary ways we experience life and hold on to hope when death-like disappointments overwhelm us. “I’m dancin’ until I’m dead,” she insists before adding a bit later, “But I’m alive on the dance floor.” And elsewhere in the song, we also hear this frequent repetition: “Do the dead dance/The dead dance.”
Really, that’s about it for lyrical content here. As for the song’s accompanying video, it has that unmistakably Tim Burton macabre thing going on. We watch as Gaga, who’s made up to look like a vintage porcelain doll, awakens jerkily amid other abandoned, rotting and decidedly creepy dolls. The video is grimmer than the song itself is, as Gaga’s dancing here feels a bit like Frankenstein meets Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
Lady Gaga unpacked this song’s meaning in an interview for Netflix’s promotional website Tudum. She said, “The inspiration for ‘The Dead Dance’ was a breakup, and it was all about the way that we sometimes feel when it’s over; how a relationship ending can kill our ability to feel hopeful about love. It’s got this really cool, funky beat underneath it. And that is when the song becomes not just about the relationship; it becomes about having fun with your friends when you’ve been through something tough and amazing.”
So there you have it. A bad breakup might make your heart feel like it’s dying. But heading out to the club, according to the dance floor gospel of Lady Gaga, will bring it back to life.
I get where Lady Gaga is coming from. Listening to our favorite songs—and dancing to them—can indeed help us endure painful moments and maybe even restore a bit of hope and joy.
But as much as we might enjoy music, we ultimately need a hope that goes deeper than the temporary uplift that a night of dancing to our favorite beats might provide. We need a bedrock hope anchored in something unshakeable. And we find that anchor for our soul in Christ alone, the One who can truly bring our deadened souls and hearts back to life when we feel emotionally overwhelmed.
After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.
