Critics noted the video's references to the work of Madonna, Michael Jackson and fashion designer Alexander McQueen, as well as Greek mythology and surrealism.

Supplementing this announcement came a black-and-white photograph in which Gaga, according to Jocelyn Vena from MTV, is "nude from the waist down, with her hair blowing about, and sporting a jacket with 'Born This Way' emblazoned in what looks like bedazzled jewels.

[23] The electropop and house[24][25][26] song begins with Gaga's voice uttering the line "It doesn't matter if you love him or capital H-I-M" on a loop, backed by a rumbling synth sound and a humming bass.

[27][28] As the synths change into a beat, Gaga belts out the song's first verse, followed by the bass dropping off and the percussion-backed chorus, "I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes; I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way", which Jocelyn Vena from MTV likened as being "meant to be heard in a big space.

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that the interlude is a mixture of the music from American television show, Glee, and the song "There But For the Grace of God Go I" by Machine.

[34] Radio stations in Malaysia chose to censor the part of the lyrics dealing with the acceptance of the LGBT community, due to censorship in the country of content that may be deemed offensive.

[35] In response, Gaga urged her Malaysian fans, who wanted the uncensored version to be played, to take action by stating: "It is your job and it is your duty as young people to have your voices heard.

[28] Alison Schwartz from People added that "the club-ready anthem, complete with a few a cappella chants and Italian lyrics, shows off Gaga's powerhouse vocal chords—and knack for powerful songwriting.

[30] Meghan Casserly of Forbes expected "Born This Way" to be the biggest gay anthem ever, since, according to her, it was written with that purpose in mind, and she also points out that it is "the next girl power song".

He added that seeing the hype surrounding the project, he expected Gaga to release a song "as epic and instantly classic as the Beatles' 'A Day in the Life' or Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

[51] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone acknowledged the influences of Madonna but pointed out that they would not overshadow the song, as it "[summed] up all the complex Gaga mythos, all her politics and Catholic angst and smeared lipstick, in one brilliant pop blast.

"[61] In a 2021 review of Born This Way The Tenth Anniversary, Owen Myers of Pitchfork stated that, "of the whole record, it's the song that has aged least well, both for its essentialist message and dated electropop."

[91] Choreographer Laurieann Gibson told MTV News that the video would be "shocking" and one can expect the execution of the highest level of vocal music art and dance.

[92] Hollywoodlife.com reported that Gaga spent the first week of February editing the video at the Greenwich Hotel, New York, working during the night as she had to spend the morning rehearsing for her upcoming Grammy Awards performance.

Media reports suggested that the singer might play the character of Jo Calderone, the male model she had portrayed in the September issue of Japanese Vogue Hommes.

In the opening sequence of the video, Gaga wore a head accessory by Alexis Bittar, a diamond neckpiece by Erickson Beamon with earrings by Pamela Love, and a stained-glass dress by Petra Storrs.

As Bernard Herrmann's prelude to the 1958 film Vertigo plays,[102] Gaga tells the story of the creation of an extraterrestrial race that "bears no prejudice, no judgment, but boundless freedom."

Gaga, with shoulder and facial protrusions (prosthetic makeup mimicking subdermal implants) walks in a seemingly endless black space, where people are on their hands and knees in an organized pattern.

Makeup artist Rick Baker explained to Allure that: "I thought it didn't make sense for [Jolie] to have bones like [Gaga's], but she really liked the idea of something under her skin showing a ridge.

[122] Soraya Roberts from New York Daily News was disappointed with the "highly expected" performance, feeling that it had copied Madonna and her Blond Ambition World Tour choreography.

[127] Matthew Perpetua from Rolling Stone concurred that "It should come as no surprise that Lady Gaga's performance of her new single 'Born This Way' was the evening's most visually stunning and bizarre spectacle.

He added that "reinterpretation of the single, which was far more Laura Nyro than Madonna, was such an improvement over the mechanized, tricked-out hit version that it was hard not to wish she could get back to the studio and re-cut it before the album comes out.

Sitting atop a high stool, Gaga—in a red leather blazer, a floppy mask-like hat and see-through leopard bodysuit—played a piano made out of a wire high-heel structure.

[135] During a promotional visit in Europe in June 2011, piano versions of the song was performed on the final show of the sixth season of Germany's Next Topmodel,[136] and at the EuroPride 2011 in Rome.

After finishing performing "The Edge of Glory", she sneaked around the stage, and climbed some stairs to reach her piano—which was decked up to look like a giant spider—before launching into an acoustic version of "Born This Way".

[142][143] In July 2016, Gaga visited an orphanage in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where she sang an acoustic version of the song described as "emotional" by Megan McCluskey from Time.

"[154] A stripped-down version of the song was also performed during Gaga's live-streamed concert on September 30, 2021, which was in celebration of her second collaborative album with Tony Bennett, called Love for Sale.

[155][156] In 2022, Gaga performed "Born This Way" at The Chromatica Ball stadium tour, where she started with just a spotlight and a piano, before switching to the original version of the song after the first verse and chorus.

[162] Fellow American singer Katy Perry performed a stripped-down version of "Born This Way", on the March 7, 2011, date of her California Dreams Tour, in Paris.

[177] On May 20, 2012, a video leaked from rehearsals of Madonna's the MDNA Tour (2012) showed the singer incorporating "Born This Way" into "Express Yourself" followed by a performance of "She's Not Me" from her 2008 album Hard Candy.