Lady Gaga truly enjoys singing in foreign languages, even if it’s only a couple of lines. Spanish happened to be one of them, but is she capable of holding a conversation in this language?
Lady Gaga doesn’t speak Spanish. Her song “Americano” included several Spanish lines, but she doesn’t have advanced knowledge of this language and only learned a couple of basic phrases to impress her fans.
Keep reading to learn more about Lady Gaga’s use of Spanish and several other languages in her songs.
Speaking Spanish in “Americano”
Lady Gaga made people wonder if she’s a Spanish speaker after releasing 2011 track “Americano”. This song was featured on her second studio album Born This Way, and she wrote it in response to the California Proposition 8, which opposed same-sex marriage.
Struggles of Mexican immigrants living in the US also served as an inspiration for this track. Lady Gaga described it as a “big mariachi techno-house record”, where she’s singing about immigration law, gay marriage, and other issues facing disenfranchised communities.
“Americano” featured several lines in Spanish, most notably in the first verse. “Mis canciones son de la revolución, mi corazón me duele por mi generación” can be translated as “My songs are about the revolution, my heart aches for my generation.”
Shortly before releasing this song, Lady Gaga spoke against anti-immigration law in Arizona but refused to cancel her shows in this state. The singer told her fans that she’ll “actively protest prejudice and injustice” by showing up and speaking her truth.
“I will not cancel my show. I will yell, and I will scream louder, and I will hold you, and we will hold each other, and we will peaceably protest this state. Do not be afraid, because if it wasn’t for all of you immigrants, this country wouldn’t have s-it,” Lady Gaga said at the time.
Other Spanish Songs?
“Americano” is Lady Gaga’s only song that features Spanish lyrics but not the first with elements of Latin music. The same can be said about her hit single “Alejandro”, which featured three names that are common in Spanish-speaking countries. Lady Gaga addressed the men named Alejandro, Fernando, and Roberto in this track but didn’t include any lyrics in Spanish.
The Grammy-winning singer made a habit of including foreign words in her songs, and Spanish is only the tip of the iceberg. Some of her hits also include the lines in French (“Bad Romance” and “Bloody Mary”), Italian (“Born This Way”), German (“Bloody Mary” and “Scheiße”) – and even Swedish (“Paparazzi”).
Some people struggled to understand Lady Gaga’s use of foreign languages in her music, but Amber L. Davisson perfectly summed it up in her book Lady Gaga and the Remaking of Celebrity Culture. She explained that “speaking multiple languages places Gaga in multiple communities” and “communicates her desire to be understood as an international superstar”.
Is Lady Gaga Multilingual?
Lady Gaga doesn’t shy away from singing in foreign languages but is she actually fluent in any of them? The answer to this question is tricky, but Spanish certainly isn’t one of the languages she speaks fluently.
One of the singer’s fans put together a video that shows her speaking Spanish, and her grasp of this language is pretty basic. Lady Gaga learned a couple of simple phrases so she could interact with fans during live shows, but struggled to form complete sentences in Spanish.
The “Poker Face” singer learned how to say ¡Hola! (Hello), ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?), ¡Dios mío! (My God!), but these phrases usually seemed rehearsed, and she was completely lost when she had to repeat a longer line on live air.
The same goes for her speaking skills in Swedish, German, and Italian – despite the fact she comes from a family with strong Italian roots. French is the only foreign language she can speak with confidence, but it’s unclear if she’s 100% fluent.