***UPDATE*** Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” has been nominated for an award at the 2023 Oscars (3.08.23)
After releasing the song in May, Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” has been extraordinarily well-received and has even gotten some early Oscar buzz. The song appears on the soundtrack to Top Gun: Maverick and the official music video has millions of views. The music captures the emotion taking place in the film which may lead to nominations during next year’s award season.
While Lady Gaga has created music in a variety of styles during her career, her rock-inspired tracks like the ones present on her album Joanne seem to work well with film. The music strikes a balance, it certainly has a top 40 sound quality, but the lyrics remain stronger than some of the most popular songs on the radio right now. As a result, the music can be heard casually or observed with intense focus. She knowns how to use music in order to place emphasis on the composition of other creative mediums.
The lyrics emphasizes the emotional journey taking place with the characters in the film. The vocals have a soft rock appeal with pop highlights. The instrumentation and performance blends together well and have become yet another song for the artist’s catalogue that sounds great on the radio and can also be displayed during live performance in a variety of ways (for example in smaller venues or performances in larger theaters). Lady Gaga applies what makes her voice and performances unique into the song, making it truly her own.
The song feels very personal when listening to it. The approach to crafting the lyrics and the music takes listeners on a journey that explores interpersonal relationships. Based on the pieces of film incorporated into the music video, there is a cinematic quality that promotes the idea of stepping into your own for the sake of yourself and the people you care about.
The original 1986 film featured “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin. It reached number one on the charts and won an Oscar. “Hold My Hand” has the opportunity to follow in its footsteps.
On Twitter Lady Gaga expressed, “When I wrote this song for Top Gun: Maverick, I didn’t even realize the multiple layers it spanned across the film’s heart, my own psyche, and the nature of the world we’ve been living in. I’ve been working on it for years, perfecting it, trying to make it ours,” her tweets explained. “I wanted to make music a song where we share our deep need to both be understood and try to understand each other-a longing to be close when we feel so far away and the ability to celebrate life’s heroes.”
She further expressed that the song is “a love letter to the world during and after a very hard time.” It is a good track to listen to as the world continues to recover from the global pandemic.