Lady Gaga's "Perfect Celebrity" Lyrics Explore The Dark Side Of Fame

Lady Gaga wanted to be famous so much that she named her Grammy-winning debut album The Fame. But over 15 years later, she’s changed her tune. In her new song “Perfect Celebrity,” from her seventh studio album Mayhem, Gaga confronts the dark side of fame like never before.

Over a ’90s-inspired electro-grunge groove, Gaga analyzes the emotional impact of her success, calling herself a “notorious being,” while sardonically embracing the business side with biting sarcasm. “You make me money, I'll make you laugh,” she sings on the aggressive chorus.

She even makes a subtle reference to the late Princess Diana, nodding to how the public treats even the most beloved celebrities. “Choke on the fame and hope it gets you high,” she sings. “Sit in the front row, watch the princess die.”

“Perfect Celebrity” expands on a theme she explored in “Plastic Doll,” from her 2020 album Chromatica, where Gaga pretends to conform to being the perfect pop star before railing against the expectations that fame has put upon her. She even nods to this track on the opening lyric, “I’m made of plastic like a human doll.”

In a new interview with Apple Music, Gaga revealed that “Perfect Celebrity” was sonically inspired by The Cure. She described it as “the most angry” — but also “hilarious” — song on Mayhem. In fact, it was so influential to her recording process that Perfect Celebrity was the working title for the whole album, and she wanted every song to mirror its electro-grunge sound at one point.

“After I made that song, I was like, ‘We need to change all the production,’” she said. “Then I went back and said, ‘No, we shouldn’t change everything’ ... I actually thought that that was boring and not at all what Mayhem is all about. The true chaos of who I am is that I am actually a lot more than these concepts, I am so many concepts at once.”

Lady Gaga’s “Perfect Celebrity” Lyrics

Read the full lyrics of Gaga’s new song below.

I'm made of plastic like a human doll

You push and pull me, I don't hurt at all

I talk in circles, 'cause my brain, it aches

You say “I love you,” I disintegrate

I've become a notorious being

Find my clone, she's asleep on the ceiling now

Can't get me down, you love to hate me

I'm the perfect celebrity

So rip up my face on this photograph (Perfect celebrity)

You make me money, I'll make you laugh (Perfect celebrity)

Show me your prеtty, I'll show you mine

You love to hate mе, I’m the perfect celebrity

I look so hungry, but I look so good

Tap on my vein, suck on my diamond blood

Choke on the fame and hope it gets you high

Sit in the front row, watch the princess die

I've become a notorious being

Find my clone, she's asleep on the ceiling now

Can't get me down, you love to hate me

I'm the perfect celebrity

So rip up my face on this photograph (Perfect celebrity)

You make me money, I'll make you laugh (Perfect celebrity)

Show me your pretty, I'll show you mine

You love to hate me, I'm the perfect celebrity

Na-na, na-na, na (Perfect celebrity)

Na-na, na-na, na (Perfect celebrity)

Ah-ah, na-na, na-na, na (Perfect celebrity)

Na-na, na-na, na

Catch me as I rebound (Let all the stuff)

Save me, I'm underground (I can't be found)

Hollywood’s a ghost town

You love to hate me, I'm the perfect celebrity

So rip up the face of this photograph (Perfect celebrity)

You make me money, I'll make you laugh (Perfect celebrity)

Show me your pretty, I'll show you mine

You love to hate me, you love to hate me

(Na-na, na-na, na, perfect celebrity) You hate me

(Na-na, na-na, na, perfect celebrity)

Show me your pretty, I'll show you mine

You love to hate me

I'm the, ah, perfect celebrity

Ah-ah( I've become a notorious being)