Angel Down (song)

Influenced by the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012, it was written by Gaga and her long-time collaborator RedOne, during the initial recording sessions of the album in 2015; he also produced its work tape version.

Critical reception towards "Angel Down" was mixed – some journalists found the track a beautiful end to the album and appreciated its message, while others deemed it well-intentioned but otherwise a weak offering.

[2] Its acoustic version, officially released with the moniker "work tape",[note 2] was written and produced in 2015,[4] with Lady Gaga handling piano and vocals, while RedOne played on guitar and also programmed the track.

[8] Described as a torch song with a "lush sonic pallet",[9][8] it is a piano-driven ballad touching on subjects of religion and the US shootings,[2][10] featuring "backward loops and dreamy psychedelic flourishes".

[11] The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick wrote that it has "mournfully elegant melody and quasi-religious save-the-nation sentiments", referring to the lyric "I'm a believer / Where are leaders?

[19] Luke Winstanley of Clash described it as a "beautifully sombre closer",[8] while Kevin Fallon from The Daily Beast said it is a "solid torch song to wind down the album".

[22] In a review published by Spin, Rich Juzwiak contemplated that the track is an "oblique enough to avoid revealing itself as the Trayvon Martin tribute that it was conceived as", however according to him, it "could have been much heavier handed".

[24] Similarly, Billboard's Andrew Unterberger felt along with another Joanne track, "Come to Mama", Gaga's "well-intentioned anthems of social conscience [...] land somewhat flat".

[26] Jezebel writer Bobby Finger called "Angel Down" the "album's biggest problem", saying: "it's hard to listen to Gaga scorn those who did nothing after Martin's death four years after the fact.

It all feels like a vigil held too late — one populated by cardboard cutouts and battery-operated flickering lights, not grieving humans holding candles.

[29] After her main set was over, she climbed on the bar's roof to sing "Angel Down" and "Joanne" to the crowd who gathered outside, as they were unable to get in due to the limited capacity of the venue.

[29] Before singing the track at the Los Angeles stop of the tour, Gaga called for peace at a "tumultuous" time in American politics, referring to the 2016 United States presidential election.

[35] In 2022, Gaga embarked on The Chromatica Ball, where she sang "Angel Down" on select dates in North America and Japan, as the sole track from Joanne on the setlist.