John Wayne (song)
Gaga co-wrote and co-produced the track with Mark Ronson and BloodPop, with additional writing from Josh Homme who also played guitar.
It continues a storyline that started with the videos for singles "Perfect Illusion" and "Million Reasons", and portrays Gaga in different action-packed sequences.
The clip received positive feedback for hearkening back to Gaga's older videos, and taking inspiration from action films.
Gaga performed "John Wayne" as part of her set at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2016, the 2017 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and at the Joanne World Tour (2017–2018).
Gaga's vocals span the nodes of A4 to D6, and its chord progression follows a basic sequence of B5–A5–E–B5–A5.s [3] It is a pop rock song,[4] which has influences of other genres including country,[5] disco,[6] funk,[7] and house music.
[7] According to Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times, classifying the genre of the song is difficult as it combines "tinny Euro-house synths, slowed-down funk drums and a boot-scooting bass line straight out of Nashville".
Sabienna Bowman of Bustle magazine felt that although Wayne did not have any connection with Gaga, his films served as the "perfect metaphor" for the song's protagonist and her craving for wild men.
"[13][14] Andrew Unterberger of Billboard speculated that the lyrics, "He called, I cried, we broke," could relate to Gaga's breakup with her fiancé Taylor Kinney.
[16] While reviewing Joanne, The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber wrote that "John Wayne" was an indication of the musical direction the parent album could have gone, with Gaga's fascination with the Western genre.
[17] Similar thought was echoed by Andy Gill of The Independent, who found that the "more stolidly rockist fare" and "rock n' roll authenticity" that Gaga sought with Joanne, works best on "John Wayne" and "A-Yo".
[20] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine thought that "Gaga's fetishizing of blue-collar men as 'red-state treasure[s]' on 'John Wayne' is delivered with the same swagger she brandished on The Fame Monster's 'Teeth.
[24] Mic writer Mathew Rodriguez felt that the song was a rehash of "4x4" (2013) by Miley Cyrus that "exposes how uncomfortable Gaga feels in her new persona".
"[28] Serial Pictures production company created the video with Violaine Etienne as executive producer, assisted by Scott Pourroy and Michel Waxman.
Other personnel who worked on the video include: Par Ekberg as cinematographer, Emma Fairley as production designer, Matt Nee as the editor and Chimney Pot for the post-production scenes.
[35] Amy Phillips of Pitchfork wrote, "it's a return to the cheeky, fun maximalism of old Gaga videos", "there's a car chase, lots of fire, explosions, crazy costumes, and jokes.
"[27] Time magazine's Raisa Bruner described the video's content as "return to peak Gaga": "shocking costumes, uninhibited group choreography and over-the-top stunt work for maximum visual impact".
She gave the video's direction a positive review: "Gaga and Åkerlund aren't afraid to make the viewer uncomfortable and play with the destructive impacts of violence and passion, which is a good match for the masochism of the song.
"[5] Spin's Anna Gaca wrote in her review of the video: "This Jonas Åkerlund-directed acid horror Western is a hell-on-wheels bad trip, jam-packed with neon lighting, vampy looks, and 'professional driver on a closed course' stunts."
