Lady Gaga’s “Happy Mistake” Lyrics Reveal The Pain Of The Performer

In Lady Gaga’s new song “Happy Mistake,” the singer reflects on her experiences with fame. The song is featured on her new album, Harlequin, out on Sept. 27, which is a companion album for her upcoming film Joker: Folie á Deux.

In “Happy Mistake,” which is the only song not also in the film, Gaga processes her past through the lens of her character, Lee. Over a haunting guitar arrangement, she sings about wrestling with sadness in the public eye and how desperately she wants to put herself back together and put on a show for fans.

“How’d I get so addicted to the love of the whole world?” she asks in the second verse. “I could try to hide behind the makeup, but the show must go on.”

Gaga announced Harlequin on Sept. 24 after days of mysterious Instagram teasers, which hinted at the concept album. The record contains many jazz standards featured in Joker: Folie á Deux, but sung from the perspective of Gaga’s character.

The Meaning Of “Happy Mistake”

At a Harlequin listening party in London on Sept. 25, Gaga spoke about writing “Happy Mistake.” She said the song was “a reflection [of] every album I’ve ever made and all the songs I’ve ever written” and singled out one line as a summary of her career: “a lonely disposition, portraits of a strung-out girl.”

“I feel like throughout my music and all of the art that I’ve made, there’s always been portraits of a broken girl,” she continued. “Playing a broken girl has been something that has not always served me well. This idea that darkness feels like it heals me is something that was really important to my character. I wrote ‘Happy Mistake’ as a reflection and celebration of all the darkness that has healed me and all the dual identities I’ve created.”

Lady Gaga’s “Happy Mistake” Lyrics

Read the full lyrics of Lady Gaga’s “Happy Mistake” below.

I'm acting in this play of

Comedy with tragic words

The audience was smilin’

Cheerin' on a scene absurd

I can try to hide behind the makeup, but the show must go on

I feel so crazy

My head is filled with broken mirrors

So many, I can't look away

I'm in a bad way

If I could fix the broken pieces

Then I'd have a happy mistake

A lonely disposition

Portraits of a strung-out girl

How'd I get so addicted

To the love of the whole world?

I could try to hide behind the makeup, but the show must go on

I feel so crazy

My head is filled with broken mirrors

So many, I can't look away

I'm in a bad way

If I could fix the broken pieces

Then I'd have a happy mistake

If I could bottle up a sunny day

So brilliantly

It'd wash away the sad mistakes

And I could hold my heart in a safe place

All I need to breathe

Is one happy mistake

Ooh ooh-ah

Make my happy mistake