Lyric Breakdown: (Free As My) Hair

Lady Gaga is such an incomparable talent… that even her underrated or forgotten songs became gems. 💎

True fans know about more obscure jams like “Road to Love” and “Paper Gangster.” But she has truly spanned the gambit here.

Being only 3 months older than me, we matured together. And she was there for me during my early love journeys!

So, it was incredibly difficult to choose just one song to write about. But, of those whose lyrics aren’t already imprinted on hundreds of millions of brains worldwide… this one stands out.

“Whenever I'm dressed cool, my parents put up a fight/(Uh-huh, uh-huh) And if I'm a hot shot, mom will cut my hair at night/ (Uh-huh, uh-huh) And in the morning, I'm short of my identity/ (Uh-huh, uh-huh) I scream, "Mom and Dad, why can't I be who I wanna be?’”

So, she harkens back to her middle and high school days, it sounds like. It reminds us how important it was not just to “fit in,” (which depends solely on others), but to express ourselves.

Depending on when and how we grew up, we can probably relate to butting heads with our parents like this. Hopefully none of them went so far as to cut our hair while sleeping, though.

When we’re young especially, our hair and/or fashion is the crux of our identity. So I’m sure if it did happen this way, that line is not at all an exaggeration.

And her physical expression was so tied in that she even says “why can’t I be who I wanna be.” Her parents likely weren’t trying to restrict who she is at the core, but to her they might as well have been.

“I just wanna be myself/ And I want you to love me for who I am/ I just wanna be myself and I want you to know/ I am my hair.”

Again she drives home the point that this is not just about how she looks, but who she is. Like all children — like all of us — she want to be loved just as she is. And, as usual for her, it’s a poignant message about the LGBT community also.

And again, it’s not that she has her hair… it’s that she IS her hair.

“I’ve had enough/ This is my prayer/ That I’ll die living just as free as my hair!/ I’ve had enough/ I’m not a freak/ I just keep fighting to stay school on these streets./ I’ve had enough, enough/ I swear/ I’m as free as my hair./ I’m as free as my hair!”

Here she even addresses the criticism of her (at least early on) that she’s too “freakish.” First of all, what’s the criteria for that? Especially in the mid-to-late 2000’s… everything was changing fast.

But interesting that she says it’s really “to stay cool on these streets.” One way to take that is she still has pressure to conform, just in a different way. I suspect though that by the streets she really means with the people… with the fans.

When I first heard this, I thought this part was different. But, realizing the real words it changed the song completely… and me along with it.

Of all the things to pray for, it’s about her essence, her longevity… most importantly, her freedom.

What a revolutionary line, if you think about it! Even to say “I’ll die living” is striking, as it illustrates you’ll live every moment until the end. Reminds me of Ariana Grande singing “I only wanna die alive, never by the hands of a broken heart.”

And then the even stronger bit, “die living as free as my hair.” So she’d be living truly free until the end as well.

🌠🌎💜🌌

I knew then I wanted to be that free as well. She was speaking to me, and the billion+ of us feeling weighed down by this world. It’s prayer not just for her… but all our beautiful liberty!