Applause

The lead single from ARTPOP was penned by Gaga with the Chicago producer DJ White Shadow, who also worked with the singer on Born This Way. The song was originally scheduled to be released on August 19, 2013 but the singer's label was forced drop it a week earlier following a series of online leaks. Gaga debuted the tune live at the MTV Video Music Awards on August 25, 2013.

Gaga sings on the song of living for her fans' applause - the way they cheer and scream for her. "In my heart of hearts as I was writing, I knew that if I asked [the fans] to cheer for me before I sang or if I alluded to the fact that they would cheer for me before I sang," said Gaga to Women's Wear Daily. "They do that all the time for me; before I even open my mouth, the fans start cheering for me. And so this exclamation, 'Give me that thing that I love. Give it to me. I'm ready, start the music.' I'm from New York. I've worked since I was a five-year-old to be a performer. All my life. I deserve to be here. I'm ready."

Speaking with Ryan Seacrest on his radio show, Gaga spoke about how her failing hip influenced this song. "When I was finishing the [Born This Way] tour, I was physically breaking," she said. "I was in a lot of pain, but didn't know where really. I have a strong threshold for pain, so I kept slapping myself saying, 'Get it together.' The only thing that kept me going was the applause. And I was able to drown out the pain and finish the show." Gaga was diagnosed with a labral tear of her right hip, and was forced to take a break for surgery. The singer told Seacrest how she put all of her energy in to making her third album while she was recovering from her injury. "ARTPOP is a celebration and a poetic musical journey through my friends and I hanging out and enjoying being Pop stars," she explained. "And that's what really inspired the record is that time off."