Telephone (Lied)

"Telephone" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga from her second studio album The Fame Monster, featuring American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. The song was written by Gaga and Rodney Jerkins. The main inspiration of the song was Gaga's fear of not being able to enjoy herself because of her dedication to her career. The lyrics portray the singer as preferring the dance floor, rather than answering her lover's phone calls. Gaga explained that the telephone addressed in the lyrics of the song, is in reality a person telling her to continue working harder. Musically, the song consists of an expanded bridge, verse-rap and an epilogue where the line is disconnected. Knowles appears in the middle of the song, singing the verses in a rapid-fire way, accompanied by double beats.

"Telephone" was appreciated by contemporary critics who frequently noted it as a stand-out track from The Fame Monster. The song charted in a number of countries due to digital sales, namely in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and Hungary, following the album's release. The song has been particularly successful in Europe, reaching the top of the charts in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom. She performed an acoustic rendition of "Telephone" mixed with "Dance In The Dark" at the 2010 BRIT Awards in memory of Alexander McQueen. It was also added to the setlist of the European leg of The Monster Ball Tour.

Gaga explained that the music video is a continuation of the video for "Paparazzi", and is also shot as a short film. The video features Gaga in a prison, from where she gets bailed out by Beyoncé. They go to a diner where, after a series of events, they kill the guests having breakfast. It ends with Gaga and Beyoncé escaping from the police. Paying homage to Quentin Tarantino and his films Kill Bill (2003–2004) and Pulp Fiction (1994) and Callie Khouri's Thelma & Louise, the video was positively received by critics.

Background

Gaga originally wrote "Telephone", with Rodney Jerkins, for Britney Spears. However, Spears' label rejected it and Gaga recorded the song as a collaboration with Beyoncé Knowles for The Fame Monster. Gaga said, "I wrote it for her a long time ago and she just didn't use it for her album. It's fine because I love the song and I get to perform it now." Additionally, the guest vocalist was originally going to be Spears, but for an unknown reason, Gaga made Knowles the featured vocalist instead. The main inspiration behind the song was Gaga's fear of suffocation as she felt that she seldom found time to just let loose and have fun. She further clarified,

"Fear of suffocation—something that I have or fear is never being able to enjoy myself, [...] 'Cause I love my work so much, I find it really hard to go out and have a good time. [...] "I don't go to nightclubs, [...] You don't see pictures of me falling out of a club drunk. I don't go—and that's because I usually go and then, you know, a whiskey and a half into it, I got to get back to work."

Composition

Vorlage:Listen "Telephone" was written by Lady Gaga, Rodney Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels, Lazonate Franklin and Knowles. Although constructed as a duet, the song features Knowles, first appearing in the middle verse and singing her lyrics through a brief interlude, and backs the chorus during the rest of the song. The song starts off unassumingly, with Gaga singing in a solemn voice over a harp melody, which changes immediately to a pounding beat. Essentially, Gaga's in a club and her boyfriend keeps ringing, but she could not talk as she was drinking and dancing to her favourite song. The chorus runs as follows: "Stop calling, stop calling, I don't want to talk anymore." "Telephone" consists of an expanded bridge, verse-rap and an epilogue where a voice announces that the telephone line is not reachable at that moment. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a tempo of 120 beats per minute. Gaga's vocals range from the low-note of F₃ to the high-note of C₅. It is set in the key of F minor and has a basic sequence of Fm–AVorlage:Music–BVorlage:Music–Fm as its chord progression.

The lyrics of "Telephone" relate to the singer preferring the dance floor to answering someone's call. The verses are sung in a rapid-fire way, accompanied by double beats. According to Gaga, the phone addressed in the lyrics of the song is not a physical phone, but a person in her head telling her to keep working harder and harder. Gaga explained, "That's my fear—that the phone's ringing and my head's ringing, [...] Whether it's a telephone or it's just the thoughts in your head, that's another fear."

Critical reception

The song has garnered positive reviews from music critics. Michael Hubbard from MusicOMH said that the song was "probably the best thing here [on The Fame Monster]." He also complimented the "brilliant bridge" and the ending of the song where the caller gets through to her voicemail. Popjustice gave the song a positive review: "It's a little bit like Gwen's 'What You Waiting For?' meets Timbaland's 'The Way I Are' meets about fifty other things....The structure's quite exciting [...] there is something tumultuously brilliant about Beyoncé's contribution that makes everything seem fine and as if it was the plan all along." Evan Sawdey from PopMatters said that "The much talked-about Beyoncé collaboration 'Telephone', which—with its double-time beat and rapid-fire verses—proves to be one of the most adrenaline-pumped songs that Gaga has yet crafted, the whole thing feeling like it's about to veer of [sic] the tracks at any moment simply due to the giddy excitement shared between the two divas, easily turning it into the unquestioned highlight of The Fame Monster".

Bill Lamb from About.com listed it among the top tracks on the album and said: "The Beyoncé assisted 'Telephone' is a club stomper that will draw in R&B and Hip Hop fans as well on the radio." In a separate review, he compared it to the "Just Dance" era and commented: "An odd track for a lot of reasons. Lyrically, it is a successor to 'Just Dance'. The lyrics involve Gaga talking about not wanting to use her phone in the club. Having a track like this, when it feels like 'Just Dance' was so long ago and a different Gaga, is a little awkward. Especially when it is a planned single...It's fun and disposable but there are better tracks on The Fame Monster to offer as singles". Mikael Woods from Los Angeles Times felt that "Telephone" is " a carefully considered meditation on how annoying it is when a dude keeps calling you while you're throwing down at the club."

Nicki Escuerdo from Phoenix New Times listed "Telephone" as a stand-out track from the album. Sarah Hajhbagheri from The Times was not impressed with the song and said "The appearance of Beyoncé’s vocal alongside ringtones on Telephone adds to the sense of utter chaos." Melanie Bertoldi from Billboard gave the song a positive review, stating "Much like Kesha's 'Blah Blah Blah', 'Telephone' sets out to silence bugaboos, with whom featured artist Beyoncé is all too familiar. [...] By the time "Telephone" surges through a wall of cellular bleeps to return to its simple introduction, Gaga and Beyoncé have left the listener with just one option: surrender to the dancefloor." Armond White, music and film critic for the New York Press, criticized the song saying that it "celebrates a heedless refusal to communicate; to mindlessly, heartlessly indulge pop culture—Tarantino style."

Chart performance

In November 2009 due to strong digital sales, the song charted in Ireland, Australia, and the United Kingdom, debuting at numbers twenty-six, twenty-nine, and thirty respectively. The song became the top debut on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 issue dated December 12, 2009, at number thirty, due to digital sales. After a few weeks fluctuating down the charts, "Telephone" has reached a peak of three on the chart, becoming Gaga's sixth consecutive top ten hit in the United States. The song peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart on the issue dated February 27, 2010. On March 15, 2010, Billboard announced that the song reached number one on the Pop Songs chart, thus becoming Gaga's sixth consecutive number-one on the chart, making her the only artist in history to do this. It also became Beyoncé's sixth number-one on Pop Songs. With this, Gaga and Beyoncé tied with Mariah Carey for most number-ones since the Nielsen BDS-based Top 40 airplay chart launched in 1992. The song has sold over two million digital downloads according to Nielsen Soundscan.

In Australia, the song has reached a peak of three. "Telephone" was certified Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 70,000 copies of the single. In New Zealand, the song debuted at thirty-one, becoming the highest debut of that week. On April 5, 2010, the song reached a peak of three on the chart. "Telephone" debuted at fourteen on the Canadian Hot 100 and moved to a peak of three, making it Gaga's sixth consecutive top three single there. The song has been certified three times platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for shipment of 120,000 digital downloads. "Telephone" debuted at thirty-three on the Swedish charts, and in the top-ten at number three on the Hungarian charts.

In the United Kingdom, after weeks of fluctuating on the chart, "Telephone" reached a new peak of twelve on the UK Singles Chart, on March 15, 2010. On March 21, "Telephone" topped the UK Singles Chart and became her fourth number-one in the UK and Beyoncé's seventh, including her solo and group singles. In Ireland, the song debuted at number twenty-six, and moved up to number two before reaching the summit of the chart the following week.

Music video

Development

The music video was filmed January 28, 2010 by director Jonas Åkerlund. New York magazine reported that the concept of the video involved Beyoncé bailing Gaga out of jail. Published photos from the set portrayed Gaga and Beyoncé shooting for scenes of the video in the car that Uma Thurman's character drove in Quentin Tarantino's 2003–04 film Kill Bill, called the "Pussy Wagon". Other concepts of the video involves scenes at a diner, a cameo from singer Tyrese Gibson, and a prison shower scene. Gaga and Beyoncé wore "destroyed denim pieces" by designers Frank Fernández and Oscar Olima. With E! Online, Gaga explained the deeper meaning behind the video.

"There was this really amazing quality in 'Paparazzi', where it kind of had this pure pop music quality but at the same time it was a commentary on fame culture. [...] I wanted to do the same thing with this video.. [...] There certainly is a Tarantino-inspired quality in the ['Telephone'] video, [...] His direct involvement in [it] came from him lending me the Pussy Wagon. We were having lunch one day in Los Angeles and I was telling him about my concept for the video and he loved it so much he said, 'You gotta use the Pussy Wagon.'"

On February 5, 2010, Gaga had an interview on KIIS-FM with Ryan Seacrest. She commented on the video saying, "What I like about it is it’s a real true pop event, and when I was younger, I was always excited when there was a big giant event happening in pop music and that’s what I wanted this to be." Semi Precious Weapons confirmed to MTV news that they have a cameo in the music video.

Synopsis

A blond woman sitting beside a brunette woman who is driving a yellow colored van. The blond woman wears a giant hat on her head. A pair of dice hangs from the rear-view mirror between them.

Lady Gaga and Beyonce in the Pussy Wagon.

The music video is over nine minutes long and begins where "Paparazzi" left off, Gaga was arrested for killing her boyfriend by poisoning his drink. She is taken to a women's prison, where she is led to her cell by two prison guards. She is stripped of her shoulder-padded dress and left standing nude, being mocked by the other prison inmates. One of the guards comments, "I told you she didn't have a dick", referring to the rumors that Gaga is intersex. For three minutes, the video shows Gaga's activities in the prison—including kissing another female prisoner in the exercise yard, wearing sunglasses made out of half-smoked cigarettes, and catfights in the commissary. It is also noteworthy that, during the scene in the exercise yard, extracts of Gaga's songs "Paper Gangsta" and "I Like It Rough" from her debut album, The Fame are played in the background. Gaga's sister, Natali Germanotta, makes a cameo in the commissary scene. After that, Gaga answers a call from Beyoncé, and begins to sing the song. She performs the first verse and chorus with other scantily-clad inmates, followed by a bridge featuring Gaga wearing only yellow "Caution" tape.

Gaga is bailed out and exits to find Beyoncé waiting for her in the "Pussy Wagon". Beyoncé is nicknamed Honey Bee, a reference to the character Honey Bunny in Tarantino's 1994 crime film Pulp Fiction. After an exchange of dialogues, they travel through a desert and pull over at a diner. Beyoncé sits opposite to Gibson, but tires of his stupidity and poisons him, but it doesn't kill him like she had hoped. The video then shifts to an intermediate sequence called "Let's Make a Sandwich". Gaga stands in a kitchen, wearing a folded-up telephone on her head, while dancers cavort behind her, wielding salad tongs and assorted cutlery. Ultimately, she prepares a sandwich and eats it, after a dance sequence. In the meantime, she mixes poison into all of the dishes she is preparing for the unsuspecting customers causing Gibson and everybody else, including characters played by Semi Precious Weapons and her Great Dane, Lava to die. Gaga and Beyoncé do another dance sequence, wearing American flag inspired garments and shredded denims, while strutting around the dead bodies. They then leave in the "Pussy Wagon" and travel on a highway as news reporter (played by Jai Rodriguez) reports the murders. The last shots show Gaga and Beyoncé travelling through a desert with police sirens wailing in the background. The video ends with the line "To Be Continued..."

Release and reception

On February 15, 2010, three film stills from the music video were posted on Gaga's website. The stills depicted Gaga in three separate scenes: a kitchen scene where she wears a plastic chef's hat and a telephone made entirely of hair on her head, a scene in a diner with her dancers, where she is seen wearing an American flag patterned bikini and bandana, and a black and white photo of Gaga wearing a hat made from multiple triangles and corded telephones. The video was originally slated to premiere in February 2010 but was pushed back to March 2010 instead. On March 9, 2010, more stills of the video were posted online. The video premiered on E! News and Vevo.com on March 11, 2010.

James Montogomery from MTV commented: "With 'Telephone', Gaga has entered the rarest of pop stratospheres, up there with the Madonnas and the Michael Jacksons." Matt Donnelly from Los Angeles Times said that "Telephone" music video is a "visual feast, packed with fantastic fashion, girl fights, poisoned diner food, an army of headpieces and lots of Gaga goodness." Amy Odell from New York magazine said "This is Gaga's video, but Beyoncé is the best part: she actually shows the angry, crazy side that we just knew lurked beneath her too-perfect facade." Monica Herrera from Billboard wrote: "[The video] more than measures up to the hype. [...] 'Telephone' clip is chock full of intrigue, prison fights, makeout scenes, mass poisoning and plenty of skin-baring versions of what you might call 'outfits'." Tanner Stransky from Entertainment Weekly said: "Is it as good as her epic 'Bad Romance' video? Sadly, I don’t think so. But it’s better than anything else out there." Bill Lamb from About.com said: "It would be nearly impossible for it to live up to the advanced hype, but the Lady Gaga video for 'Telephone' has arrived, and, to these eyes, it is worth watching." Sandy Rios, president of the Culture Campaign criticised the video on Fox News in an interview with Megyn Kelly, calling it "disgusting... poison for the minds of our kids". Critic Armond White, of the New York Press, described the video as "cruel and ugly" also stating that it "epitomizes the insanity of the contemporary pop mainstream" and pays "homage to Tarantino’s influence" in distorting "pop culture pleasure into nonsense".

Live performances

Gaga performing "Telephone" on The Monster Ball Tour

Gaga performed "Telephone" at the BRIT Awards on February 16, 2010, at Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The performance was inspired by the recent death of her friend, fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Initially she had planned a different version of the performance, but changed the concept at the last minute, since she wanted to pay tribute to McQueen. Hence she chose an acoustic version "Telephone" and a remix of "Dance in the Dark". Before the show, she posted a message on her Twitter account: "Tonight's performance is inspired by our friend. Mask by Phillip Treacy, Sculpture by Nick Knight, Music by Lady Gaga. We miss you." She started the performance by announcing "This is for Alexander McQueen." Gaga was dressed in a complete white outfit with a huge Marie-Antoinette style wig. The whole performance was low-key compared to her previous ones.

Gaga added the song in the setlist of The Monster Ball Tour, for the European leg. It was performed in the second act, titled "Subway". She was dressed in black and played a keytar, which she had previously debuted on the BRIT awards. The keytar, composed of a number of instruments was dubbed by her as "Emma". "Telephone", as well as "Brown Eyes" (from The Fame), was also performed on the British comedy chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, on March 3, 2010, for an episode that aired on March 5, 2010. Gaga performed "Telephone" on the Japanese television show Music Station on April 16, 2010. She wore a lace cat suit and a pair of plastic batwing shoulders, designed by Somarta and Yuima Nakazato respectively.

Other versions

On May 2, a supposed Britney Spears' demo of "Telephone" leaked onto the web. After suggestions that the demo may be a fake, the producer of the song, Rodney Jerkins, confirmed via twitter the authenticity of the song. Also, via Ustream, the producer said that the leaked version "was an early demo stage of the version [and that] it wasn't even a mixed version", moreover, denied leaking the song, arguing that, despite the fact that he has been asked to leak the full song, he did not do it. The musical style of the demo was compared with Spears' 2007 single "Piece of Me", and the song itself generated comparisons with Spears' sound in her fifth studio album Blackout. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone praised Spears' version, and commented that "Blackout may be the most influential pop album of the past five years". Other cover version recordings included ones by HelenaMaria, Aston, Bangin Productions, and Pomplamoose. X Factor winner Joe McElderry covered the song in the Live Lounge tent at Radio 1's Big Weekend.

Track listing and formats

• UK CD Single

1. "Telephone (feat. Beyoncé)" – 3:40
2. "Telephone" (Alphabeat Remix Edit) – 4:51

• UK iTunes digital single

1. "Telephone (feat. Beyoncé)" – 3:40
2. "Telephone" (Music Video) – 9:27

• UK/France/Italy digital downloads
  • "Telephone" (Alphabeat Extended Remix) – 6:41
  • "Telephone" (Crookers Vocal Remix) – 4:49
  • "Telephone" (DJ Dan Extended Vocal Remix) – 5:59 (UK only)
  • "Telephone" (Electrolightz Remix) – 4:26
  • "Telephone" (Kaskade Extended Remix) – 5:24
  • "Telephone" (Ming Extended Remix) – 4:31
  • "Telephone" (Passion Pit Remix) – 5:12
  • "Telephone" (Tom Neville's Ear Ringer Radio Remix) – 4:17

• UK 7" Vinyl

1. "Telephone (feat. Beyoncé)" – 3:40
2. "Telephone (feat. Beyoncé)" (Passion Pit Remix) – 5:13

• AUS/U.S. remix EP

1. "Telephone" (Alphabeat Extended Remix) – 6:41
2. "Telephone" (Crookers Vocal Remix) – 4:50
3. "Telephone" (DJ Dan Extended Vocal Remix) – 5:59
4. "Telephone" (DJ Dan Vocal Remix) – 3:28
   • Only included on the digital release
5. "Telephone" (Dr. Rosen Main Remix) – 6:25
6. "Telephone" (Electrolightz Remix) – 4:26
7. "Telephone" (Kaskade Extended Remix) – 5:24
8. "Telephone" (Ming Extended Remix) – 4:31
9. "Telephone" (Passion Pit Remix) – 5:13
10. "Telephone" (Tom Neville's Ear Ringer Remix) – 7:14

• "The DJ Remixes" digital EP

1. "Telephone" (Alphabeat Remix Edit) – 4:49
2. "Telephone" (Crookers Dub Remix) – 5:08
3. "Telephone" (DJ Dan Dub Remix) – 6:22
4. "Telephone" (Kaskade Dub Remix) – 4:40
5. "Telephone" (Kaskade Radio Remix) – 3:43
6. "Telephone" (Ming Dub Remix) – 4:03
7. "Telephone" (Ming Radio Remix) – 3:12
8. "Telephone" (Tom Neville's Ear Ringer Radio Remix) – 4:18
9. "Bad Romance" (DJ Paulo's Gaga Oh La-La Remix) – 9:41

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from The Fame Monster liner notes.

• Lady Gaga – co-production, songwriting, vocals
• Beyoncé Knowles – songwriting, vocals
• LaShawn Daniels – songwriting
• Lazonate Franklin – songwriting
• Hisashi Mizoguchi – recording (Knowles' vocals)
• Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
• Mike "Handz" Donaldson – recording, special effects
• Paul Foley – recording
• Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins – songwriting, composition, mixing, production

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2009–2010)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	3
Austrian Singles Chart	3
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)	1
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)	1
Brazilian Hot 100 Airplay	85
Bulgarian Airplay Charts	2
Canadian Hot 100	3
Czech Airplay Chart	9
Danish Singles Chart	1
Dutch Top 40	6
European Hot 100 Singles	1
Finnish Singles Chart	7
French Singles Chart	3
German Singles Chart	3
Hungarian Singles Chart	3
Irish Singles Chart	1
Italian Singles Chart	2
Japan Hot 100	21
New Zealand Singles Chart	3
Norwegian Singles Chart	1
Polish Airplay Chart	2
Slovak Airplay Chart	6
Spanish Singles Chart	5
Russian Singles Chart	3
Swedish Singles Chart	2
Swiss Singles Chart	4
UK Singles Chart	1
US Billboard Hot 100	3
US Adult Contemporary	25
US Hot Latin Songs	23
US Hot Dance Club Songs	1
US Mainstream Top 40	1

Certifications

Country	Certifications (sales thresholds)
Australia	2× Platinum
Belgium	Gold
Canada	3× Platinum
Denmark	Gold
New Zealand	Gold

Release history and Radio add dates

Region	Date	Format
United States	January 26, 2010	Top 40, Rhythmic, Urban, Hot AC
France	February 15, 2010	Digital download
United States	March 2, 2010	The Remixes EP – Digital Download
United Kingdom
Canada
France
Denmark
Sweden
Switzeland
Belgium
Ireland
Netherlands
United Kingdom	March 15, 2010	CD single, 7", Digital download
United States	March 30, 2010	The Remixes EP – CD Single
Germany	April 2, 2010	CD single
France	April 5, 2010	Digital Download
	April 6, 2010	CD single

External links

• Official music video on "Vevo" auf YouTube