"Sexxx Dreams" (censored as "X Dreams") is a song by American singer
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
from her third studio album, ''
Artpop
''Artpop'' (stylized in all caps) is the third studio album by American singer Lady Gaga. It was released on November 6, 2013, by Streamline and Interscope Records. Gaga began planning the project in 2011, shortly after the launch of her second ...
'' (2013). The song was written by Gaga,
Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair,
Martin Bresso, and
William Grigahcine, and produced by Blair, Gaga,
Nick Monson
Nick Monson is a producer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, based in Los Angeles, CA.
Monson is known for his collaborations with Lady Gaga, beginning with ''Artpop,'' in which he co-produced 9 songs'','' including the lead single "Applause", w ...
, and Dino Zisis. Inspired by Gaga's erotic fantasies and dreams, the song went through a number of changes to make it understandable for the singer's team, while keeping a constant chorus. A
synthpop song, Gaga promoted the title by using a number of
hashtags
A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generat ...
involving the name in her social media accounts, and at one point was considered for a single release from ''Artpop''.
Critics received the song favorably, complimenting the composition, the futuristic sound, the lyrical insights into Gaga's life, and compared it to the music of singers
Janet Jackson,
Paula Abdul and
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
. It debuted at number 41 in the
Gaon Chart of South Korea, selling 3,414 copies during the release week of ''Artpop''. "Sexxx Dreams" was one of several album tracks included in Gaga's 2013 concert at the
iTunes Festival in London. It was also present on the set list of Gaga's
residency show at Roseland Ballroom and
ArtRave: The Artpop Ball tour.
Writing and composition
![DJ Snake](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/DJ_Snake.jpg)
Development of Lady Gaga's third studio album, ''
Artpop
''Artpop'' (stylized in all caps) is the third studio album by American singer Lady Gaga. It was released on November 6, 2013, by Streamline and Interscope Records. Gaga began planning the project in 2011, shortly after the launch of her second ...
'', began shortly after the release of her second one, ''
Born This Way'' (2011), and by the following year, the album's concepts were "beginning to flourish" as Gaga collaborated with producers
Fernando Garibay
Fernando Garibay (;) is an American record producer, songwriter, DJ, academic and entrepreneur.
Artistic career
He was the official musical director of Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball and the producer of her '' Born This Way'' album. Fernando ...
and DJ White Shadow.
However, while on tour for the
Born This Way Ball
The Born This Way Ball was the third concert tour by American singer Lady Gaga, in support of her second studio album '' Born This Way'' (2011). The tour visited all continents, except Antarctica, and was ranked as the fifth highest-grossing to ...
, Gaga had to undergo a hip surgery in February 2013 which forced the singer into a six month hiatus, and this rehabilitation became one of the inspirations behind the album.
"Sexxx Dreams" was written by Gaga,
Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair,
Martin Bresso, and
William Grigahcine, and produced by Blair, Gaga,
Nick Monson
Nick Monson is a producer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, based in Los Angeles, CA.
Monson is known for his collaborations with Lady Gaga, beginning with ''Artpop,'' in which he co-produced 9 songs'','' including the lead single "Applause", w ...
, and Dino Zisis. Its lyrics propose a sexual encounter with a lover whose boyfriend is gone for the weekend. Gaga was inspired to write the song from her "mucky" fantasies. She said in an interview with the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...
'':
In November 2013, during a special iHeartRadio Album Release Party broadcast on more than 150 Clear Channel stations to promote ''Artpop'', Gaga revealed to
Ryan Seacrest that "sexy sculptures" appear in her "crazy" and "really bizarre" dreams. She introduced the song as "something really erotic and exotic", allowing fans to "experience what it's like to be me".
Gaga and her team spent a lot of time creating the rhythm of the song. At first people involved in the production were not sure of Gaga's idea behind the composition, and hence it went through a lot of changes, but kept the chorus as constant since Gaga was against changing it.
Gaga explained that the dialogue exchange in the lyrics alternate between singing to one person, and speaking to another, which reverses from
verse to verse. Here the people she converses with in the song are her imaginary boyfriend and girlfriend.
Jason Lipshutz of ''
Billboard'' said the song is one in which Gaga "balances a disintegrating relationship and a lustful fantasy" and "juggles a pastel-colored 80's aesthetic and R-rated breakdown of unspoken desire".
MTV's Brenna Ehrlich described it as a "sweaty, sultry jam about touching oneself".
[ According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, "Sexxx Dreams" is set in ]common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...
with a moderate dance tempo
In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
of 120 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major.
The C natural minor scale is:
:
Cha ...
with Gaga's vocals spanning from G3 to F5. The song has a basic sequence of G–Cm–G–Cm during the verses and Cm–A–G–Cm in the chorus.
Production and promotion
In August 2013, Gaga released a preview of "Sexxx Dreams" prior to her performance of September 1, 2013 at the iTunes Festival in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. In the video, she sings "When I lay in bed I touch myself and I think of you". The video then shows Gaga rehearsing for the festival and displays in pink font, "We wanna give you #sexdreams'". Gaga also promoted the song on social media by posting song lyrics ("Last night damn, you were in my #SexDreams doing really nasty things"), and encouraging use of a hashtag containing lyrics (#).
On September 3, 2013, after debuting several tracks from ''Artpop'' at the festival, Gaga polled her fans about how to promote the album, asking: "OK MONSTERS! Now that you've seen some of ARTPOP Live, what would be YOUR pick for 2nd Single?" Fans could choose between "Aura", "Manicure" and "Sexxx Dreams". At one point, the latter was in the lead by nearly 10,000 votes. However, the song was never selected as an official single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
.
Later that month, Rihanna tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
: "Just left the studio... Recorded a #monster hook for one of my favorite artists! And that's all I can give you... #NavyShit", then posted a separate message, "Lastnight.... YOU were in my sex dreams!!" Her tease, followed by Gaga's response, "@rihanna doing really NASTY THINGS *dancing gaga*", lead to rumors that Rihanna would be collaborating on the version that would appear on ''Artpop''. However, Rihanna's vocals do not appear on the album.
Critical reception
"Sexxx Dreams" received generally positive reviews and drew comparisons to the work of Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson and Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
. ''The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' Spencer Kornhaber said the song "doses Prince's 'Little Red Corvette' with some dread and Gaga using lust as therapy". In his review of ''Artpop'' for ''Billboard'', Lipshutz called the song "seductive" and said it marks where the "sexuality and synth-pop pleasures of he album
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
fully bloom."[ Robert Cospey of Digital Spy said the track highlights Gaga "doing her best Janet Jackson impression, and she does it very well."
'']The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' Michael Cragg described "Sexxx Dreams" as a "Vanity 6
Vanity 6 was a short lived American female vocal trio that gained popularity in the early 1980s. They were protégés of musician Prince. Led by singer Vanity, they are known for their song " Nasty Girl."
History
Formation
In 1981, Prince, hi ...
-esque strut", and dubbed it and "Do What U Want
"Do What U Want" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga, featuring guest vocals from R. Kelly. The song was released on October 21, 2013, as the second single from Gaga's third studio album ''Artpop'' (2013). The singers wrote the song with DJ ...
", as "futuristic, electro-tooled R&B slow jams with delicious choruses". Robbie Daw of Idolator
An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry.
Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books
*''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music
* Idolator (website), an American music blog
* ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
called the "not so subtle" and "randy" song one of the album's "standouts", and recommended it for use as a single. MTV's John Walker said of the song, "There's something so goofily erotic about telling someone 'you were in my sex dreams.' It's such a cumbersome phrase, yet Gaga somehow makes it one of the most erotic lines you'll heard all year. The half-giggled 'I really shouldn't be telling you this' line at the song's climax — no pun intended — really seals the deal." Walker humorously rated the song 5 out of 5 "vaguely vaginal Georgia O'Keeffe orchids".
Bradley Stern of MuuMuse said the song is "all sorts of throwback '80's-R&B ferociousness, blending dirty-minded temptation with a seriously fierce strut a la Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul — and a bit of Divinyls
Divinyls () were an Australian rock band that were formed in Sydney in 1980. The band primarily consisted of vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Amphlett garnered widespread attention for performing on stage in a school uni ...
' 'I Touch Myself
"I Touch Myself" is a song recorded by the Australian rock band Divinyls and written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg with Christine Amphlett and Mark McEntee of the Divinyls. It was released in November 1990 as the lead single from their f ...
'." In his album review, he described the song as "a purely Prince/Vanity 6-inspired production, seductively sauntering into the speakers across a nasty, smutty slap of a beat". Stern considered the track one of the album's best moments and wrote, "there's no part of 'Sexxx Dreams' that isn't purely aural sex". Two lyrics from the song were included in ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'' list of the eleven most suggestive lyrics from ''Artpop''.
Some reviewers commented on the part in which Gaga says she's "had a couple of drinks". Lipshutz wrote that Gaga sounded "loose and light-hearted, letting her audience twirl around on the dance floor".[ Cragg said it sounded as though her vocals had been "covertly recorded during a drunken game of truth or dare".][
]
Live performances
"Sexxx Dreams" was one of several ''Artpop'' tracks included in Gaga's 2013 concert at the iTunes Festival in London. Ashley Percival of ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' wrote of her performance: "'Sex Dreams' made 2009's 'LoveGame' with its disco stick look like a nursery rhyme, as she delivered its racy and oh-so-Gaga lyrics." Reviewing Gaga's live performance, Gil Kaufman of MTV described the song as "theatrical, throbbing pop", with Gaga channeling "Prince, Madonna and anyone else who writhed on, humped or thrusted into a stage in the 1980s while sharing their most intimate, detailed nighttime desires."
In November 2013, Gaga performed "Sexxx Dreams" at ArtRave
ArtRave (stylized as artRAVE) was a two-day event hosted by Lady Gaga from November 10–11, 2013, as part of the promotional campaign for her third studio album, ''Artpop'' (2013). The event, held in a large warehouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yar ...
, a two-day promotional event for ''Artpop'', held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...
in New York. In their review of the event, ''Billboard'' contributors Andrew Hampp and Jason Lipshutz wrote that her performance of the song was "presented with colorful choreography but paled in comparison" to the studio version.[
Gaga included the song in the set list for her March–April 2014 residency at Roseland Ballroom, showing off her "flirty side".] In his review of her opening night performance, Jon Caramanica of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' described "Sexxx Dreams" as a song about fantasy and noted how Gaga "pinballed back and forth" between a male and female dancer.[ Gaga performed the song during her ArtRave: The Artpop Ball tour, accompanied by backup dancers dressed in fetish clothing. Kitty Empire from '']The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' refrained that "the latex'n'lasers section, where Gaga sings 'Sexxx Dreams', finds no new take on the dry-humping of chaises-longues." In 2017, Gaga performed the song at the Coachella Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert ...
.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desc ...
of ''Artpop''.
Management
*Recorded at Record Plant Studios
The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...
, Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
and CRC Studios, Chicago, Illinois
*Mixed at Record Plant Studios, Hollywood, California and Heard IT! Studios, North Hollywood, California
*Sony/ATV Songs, LLC/ House of Gaga Publishing, LLC / GloJoe Music Inc. (BMI), Maxwell and Carter Publishing, LLC (ASCAP), Etrange Fruit (SACEM), Fuzion (SACEM) administered by Get Familiar Music (ASCAP)
Personnel
*Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
– songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
, lead vocals, producer, guitars
* Paul "DJ White Shadow" Blair – songwriter, producer
*Dino Zisis – additional production
*Nick Monson
Nick Monson is a producer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, based in Los Angeles, CA.
Monson is known for his collaborations with Lady Gaga, beginning with ''Artpop,'' in which he co-produced 9 songs'','' including the lead single "Applause", w ...
– additional production, guitars
* Martin Bresso – songwriter
* William Grigahcine – songwriter
*Dave Russell – recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
, mixing
*Bill Malina – recording
*Benjamin Rice – recording and mixing assistant
*Daniel Zaidenstadt – recording assistant
*Andrew Robertson – recording assistant
*Austin Thomas – recording assistant
*Ghazi Hourani – additional recording, mixing assistant
*Tim Stewart – guitars for Haus of Gaga
*Donnie Lyle – bass guitar
*Rick Pearl – additional programming
*Ivy Skoff – union contract administrator
*Gene Grimaldi – mastering
Charts
Following the release of ''Artpop'', "Sexxx Dreams" debuted at number 53 in the Gaon International Digital Chart of South Korea, selling 3,414 copies.
References
External links
*
Yanis Marshall Returns w/ High-Heeled Lady Gaga 'Sexxx Dreams' Performance
by Nigel Campbell (November 18, 2013), '' Instinct''
{{Lady Gaga songs
2013 songs
American synth-pop songs
Lady Gaga songs
Song recordings produced by Lady Gaga
Songs about dreams
Songs written by DJ Snake
Songs written by DJ White Shadow
Songs written by Lady Gaga
Songs written by Tchami