2016Released
3:02

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Perfect Illusion. By Songfacts®.

The lead single from Lady Gaga's fifth album, the singer co-wrote and co-produced the dance-pop tune with Tame Impala singer Kevin Parker, Anglo-American producer Mark Ronson and BloodPop, who co-produced Justin Bieber's single "Sorry." Gaga explained on BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show that Parker flew to join her at Shangri La Studios, Malibu from Australia with the idea of a song called "Illusion." Gaga penned the lyrics on her Underwood typewriter, with the songwriters knocking it into shape in the studio.

Ronson said of working with Gaga: "I knew her from just before she got really massive. She came and worked on a Wale song I worked on called 'Chillin'.' We both grew up on the Upper West Side of New York. She's a muso at heart. She loves sitting at a piano and barking orders at a drummer. She's one of the great voices in pop."

Speaking on the Breakfast Show, Gaga explained the lyrics are a commentary about social media, how people try to create an idealized version of their lives and the need to accept most things we see on the Internet "aren't reality." "I believe many of us are wondering why there are so many fake things around us," she said. "How do we navigate through social media? How do we look through these images that we know are filtered and altered, and decipher what is reality and what is a perfect illusion? There are also a lot of things on the internet that are not reality. And I think people are pressured to keep that personal illusion going on in their real lives. So this song is about raging against it and letting it go. It's about wanting people to re-establish that human connection."

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Perfect Illusion.
C♯Key
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
125BPM

Album

The album Perfect Illusion is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Perfect Illusion.
Interscope
© 2016 Interscope Records
℗ 2016 Interscope Records

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