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"Marry the Night" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga from her second studio album, Born This Way (2011). It was written and produced by Lady Gaga and Fernando Garibay, and was recorded on the tour bus during The Monster Ball Tour with Garibay. "Marry the Night" was inspired by the energy of Gaga's previous song "Dance in the Dark" and the love for her hometown, New York City, which gave her the courage to reject Hollywood. Gaga first mentioned the song on Ryan Seacrest's radio show, On Air with Ryan Seacrest, in February 2011. The song was released for promotion on Farmville, six days before the release of Born This Way.

"Marry the Night" is a dance-pop song, influenced by house music and electro-pop. The song features the sound of an electronic church bell, whose composition inspired Gaga to compose the lyrics. "Marry the Night" also features techno beats, handclaps and a funk-rock influenced breakdown. The lyrics are about Gaga's love of the night and partying, while serving as a homage to her hometown; it references her party days in the New York downtown music scene.

The song received mostly positive reviews from critics, with most of them describing it as a staple dance-floor song. Reviewers also found influences of Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder and American rock musician Bruce Springsteen in the song. After the release of Born This Way, "Marry the Night" charted in some nations due to digital sales from the parent album. The song debuted at 79 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and entered the Canadian Hot 100 at 91. It also charted in the Walloon region of Belgium, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

Background

"It's like Whitney, but imagine if Bruce Springsteen had a baby with Whitney Houston — that's what it is", she said. "And that was it! We made a baby. Finally. After all that fornication, miserably long and tedious, Fernando and I finally conceived."

"Marry the Night" was written by Lady Gaga and Fernando Garibay while on the road for The Monster Ball Tour, and was produced by both. It was first mentioned by Gaga as a track from her album, Born This Way, Ryan Seacrest's radio show, where she described it as one of her favorite songs from the album. Gaga and Garibay had worked previously on the song "Dance in the Dark" (2009), from Gaga's previous release, The Fame Monster. Before starting work on "Marry the Night", Gaga listened to "Dance in the Dark" and decided she wanted to top that song's energy with her new collaboration with Garibay. "I remember being backstage and hearing the concert start, so I go out there and hear 'Dance in the Dark' open up the whole concert, and I wanted to outdo that feeling. I wanted to outdo that moment that opens up the show. I'm just that way."

Wanting to have a new style of music, Gaga made it clear she did not want the song to sound anything like her previous work. She wanted to write a song that could define where she was with Born This Way and her life. As Gaga performed on The Monster Ball Tour, Garibay started working on the music of the song. After the show was over, Gaga came back to her studio bus and asked him about the progress. Garibay then explained that he had concocted a different kind of music for the song, and played the church-bell inspired music to Gaga. After first hearing it, the singer said that she started to cry, noticing the vastness of the music, and she started writing the lyrics for "Marry the Night". In an interview with NME, Gaga explained that the main inspiration behind the song was singer Whitney Houston and also added: "This song is about me going back to New York. I wrote this about the courage it took for me to say 'I hate Hollywood, I just wanna live in Brooklyn and make music'".

"Marry the Night" was initially going to be the lead single from Born This Way, but was cancelled in favor of the title track. Gaga first premiered "Marry the Night" on the HBO Monster Ball Special, which aired on May 7, 2011. While backstage, she sang a cappella: "I'm gonna marry the night/ I won't give up on my life/ I'm a warrior queen/ Live passionately tonight." During the promotional appearances for Born This Way, Gaga released "Marry the Night" to the online game Farmville on May 17, 2011. The song was released on Gagaville, a subdivision of Farmville that Gaga helped design with game promotion company Zynga.

Composition

"Marry the Night" was originally recorded on the Bus Studio in 2010, but was later mixed at The Mix Room in Burbank, California by Dave Russell, assisted by Paul Pavao. Gaga described the song as a "massive, gas-station, disco record", and she recorded it immediately after completing the lyrics. According to Garibay, Gaga meditated for a few minutes and then asked him to hand over a recording microphone to her, completing the process within an hour. "Marry the Night" is a dance-pop song with house and urban pop influences. The song starts out with electronic church bells and Gaga softly singing "I'm gonna marry the night/I won't give up on my life/I'm a warrior queen/Live passionately tonight." Soon the beat changes into a dance one, accompanied with techno beats, handclaps and funk music, and moves to the chorus, where Gaga stutters the line "Ma-ma-ma-marry/Ma-ma-ma-marry/Ma-ma-ma-marry the night". It was compared by Tim Jonze from The Guardian to the Eurodance song, "It's My Life" by Dr Alban, while Nicola James from MTV compared the chorus with Jennifer Lopez's 1999 single "Waiting for Tonight.

The chorus is followed by a funk-rock influenced breakdown, where Gaga sings the line: "Nothing's too cruel/To take me from you/New York is not just a tan that you'll never lose." According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Marry the Night" is written in the time signature of common time, with a slow tempo of 64 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of C Major with Gaga's vocal range spanning from G₃ to E₅. It follows a basic sequence of Am–Dm/A–F/A–G as its chord progression. The church bells in the song were meant to draw parallels betweens Gaga's fans ("Little Monsters") and members of a religion or a cult. The lyrics are about partying and wreaking havoc during the night, and serves as a homage to the New York City downtown music scene. Evan Sawdey from PopMatters described the lyrics as a "let's take the night' rallying cry."

Reception

"Marry the Night" has received mainly positive reviews from critics. Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic gave the song a positive review, saying it "glistens with a neon pulse". Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine named "Marry the Night" a stand-out track on the album and called it "a worthy successor to 'Dance in the Dark'". BBC Music's Mark Savage called "Marry the Night" as perfect as "a straightforward fist-pumping entry into a colossus can be." Christian Blauvelt of Entertainment Weekly compared the song with the work of Italian record producer Giorgio Moroder. Caryn Ganz of Spin was impressed with the track, calling it a "four-on-the-floor banger." Tim Jonze of The Guardian compared the chorus of the song "It's My Life" by Dr Alban and felt that it was easily forgotten compared to some of the bigger dance songs on the album. Rolling Stone's was impressed with the fact that "Marry the Night" just seemed to get "bigger, and bigger" to her, while listing pop and glam metal and artists like Pat Benatar, Bonnie Tyler and Bon Jovi as its influences.

Evan Sawdey from PopMatters gave the song a negative review, saying "Marry the Night' very much wants to be top-notch Justice knockoff, but by adding a bridge of upbeat platitudes and an utterly pointless instrumental section after the 3:30 mark, she ultimately winds up weakening the power of her 'let’s take the night' rallying cry". Kerri Mason from Billboard found influences of gothic rock in it, but went on to call it an "unapologetic disco-powered pop" that could have been a production number on Gaga's debut album, The Fame (2008). Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph gave an analogy with rock musician "Meat Loaf going to the disco", while describing the song. NME's Dan Martin felt that the song, although impressive, was conservative as the opening song of Born This Way. He further found similarities to the work of Moroder and influences of Bruce Springsteen's 1975 single, "Born to Run".

Following the release of Born This Way on May 23, 2011, "Marry the Night" debuted at number 57 on the United States Billboard Hot Digital Songs Chart with sales of 35,000 digital downloads, allowing it to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at number 79. It also entered at number 91 on the Canadian Hot 100, while debuting on the Canadian Digital Songs chart at number 50. "Marry the Night" attained its highest position on the Gaon Chart of South Korea, where it reached number eleven on the International Digital Download chart. Its other chart positions included reaching number 40 on the Ultratop 40 chart of Belgium's Walloon region, and outside the top 100 of the UK Singles Chart.

Credits and personnel

• Lady Gaga – songwriter, producer, and background vocals
• Fernando Garibay – songwriter, producer, programming, keyboard
• Dave Russell – recording, mixing
• DJ White Shadow – drum programming
• Gene Grimaldi – mastering
• Eric Morris – assistant
• Paul Pavao – assistant

Credits adapted from Born This Way album liner notes.

Charts

References

1. ^ "Lady Gaga 'Started To Cry' When She First Heard 'Marry The Night'". MTV (MTV Networks). 2011-05-27. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
2. Seacrest, Ryan (2011-02-14). "Lady Gaga: Whitney Houston Was My Vocal Idol Growing Up". On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
3. ^ Robinson, Peter (2011-04-23). "Freak Or Fraud? Lady Gaga: "I'm Not Full Of S**t. Are You?". NME. 43. London: IPC Media: 21–24. ISSN 0028-6362.
4. ^ Werde, Bill (2011-04-18). "Lady Gaga 'Born This Way' Cover Story". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
5. Vena, Jocelyn (2011-05-07). "Lady Gaga HBO Special Gives Fans A Taste Of 'Marry The Night'". MTV (MTV Networks). Retrieved 2011-06-05.
6. Seacrest, Ryan (2011-05-17). "Listen to Lady Gaga's first FarmVille-Released Track, "Marry the Night"". On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
7. ^ (Media notes). {{cite AV media notes}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Format= ignored (|format= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |PID= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Type= ignored (|type= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
8. ^ Germanotta, Stefani; Laursen, Jeppe (2011). "Digital Sheet Music – Lady Gaga – Marry the Night". Musicnotes.com. Sony/ATV Music Publishing. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
9. ^ McCormick, Neil (2011-05-23). "Lady Gaga's Born This Way: track-by-track review". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Ltd. Retrieved 2011-06-24.
10. ^ Herrera, Monica (2011-05-18). "Lady Gaga's 'Marry the Night' Premieres on FarmVille Game Spin-Off". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
11. ^ Jonze, Tim (2011-05-27). "Lady Gaga: Born This Way – review". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
12. James, Nicola (2011-05-17). "New Song: Lady Gaga, 'Marry The Night'". MTV (MTV Networks). Retrieved 2011-06-26.
13. ^ Rosen, Jody (2011-05-18). "Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way': A Track-by-Track Breakdown". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 2011-06-24.
14. Montgomery, James (2011-05-26). "Lady Gaga: Inside The Outside " Main". MTV (MTV Networks). Retrieved 2011-06-07.
15. ^ Sawdey, Evan (2011-05-27). "Lady Gaga: Born This Way < PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 2011-05-27.
16. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2011-05-23). "Born This Way – Lady Gaga". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-05-23. {{cite web}}: Text "AllMusic" ignored (help)
17. Cinquemani, Sal (2011-05-18). "Lady Gaga: Born This Way". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2011-05-21. {{cite web}}: Text "Music Review" ignored (help)
18. Savage, Mark (2011-05-21). "BBC – Review – Born This Way". BBC (BBC Online). Retrieved 2011-06-02.
19. Blauvelt, Christian (2011-05-18). "Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' album leaks in full: To listen or not to listen?". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
20. Ganz, Caryn (2011 ). "Lady Gaga, 'Born This Way'". Spin. Spin Media LLC. Retrieved 2 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
21. Mason, Kerri (2011-05-23). "Lady Gaga 'Born This Way': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
22. Martin, Dan (2011-05-18). "Lady Gaga, 'Born This Way' – Track-By-Track Album Review". NME. IPC Media. Archived from the original on 2011-06-26. Retrieved 2011-06-24.
23. Trust, Gary (2011-06-01). "'Idols' Scott McCreery & Laura Alaina Top Hot 100 Debuts, Adele Still No. 1". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
24. ^ "The Billboard Hot 100: Week Ending June 11, 2011". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011-06-03. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
25. ^ Tuch, Paul (2011-06-03). "Lady Gaga Scores Second No. 1 Album". Nielsen SoundScan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-03. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
26. ^ "에 대한 검색결과 입니다 – Digital Comprehensive charts" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
27. ^ "Ultratop.be – Lady Gaga – Marry the Night" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
28. ^ "The Official UK Singles Chart for the week ending May 1, 2011". ChartsPlus. Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)

External links

• Lady Gaga : Marry the Night : Lyrics Interscope Records

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• 2011 songs
• Lady Gaga songs
• English-language songs
• Songs written by Lady Gaga
• Songs produced by Fernando Garibay
• Songs written by Fernando Garibay