Creation Processes
How I recorded a cover of Lady Gaga's "Stupid Love"
I recorded Lady Gaga's "Stupid Love" with guitar, piano, and strings. See how the limitations of one day shaped the arrangement, mixing, and video of the cover.
In this article
When Lady Gaga released Stupid Love, On February 28, 2020, I listened to the track repeatedly. The danceable pulse and layers of synthesizers caught my attention; in the music video, intense colors, costumes, and choreography amplify this energy. I wanted to discover what would happen if I took the song to a more acoustic arrangement.
The challenge was to maintain the composition's flow with different timbres and a short production time. I arranged, recorded the music, and edited the video in one day. This limitation guided simple choices and left marks that I can now hear more clearly. See the result:
From danceable pop to acoustic arrangements
I replaced some of the electronic texture with guitar, piano, violin, and layers of strings. I thought about the balance of... country pop and in the density of baroque pop, without attempting to reproduce the original arrangement. The test was to see if the melody would remain recognizable as the atmosphere changed.
In the mix, I emphasized the high notes of the voice more than I intended. Today I hear that as a limitation of the result, not as a choice I would repeat. Even so, the contrast between that more exposed voice and the acoustic accompaniment opened up a more intimate, sometimes melancholic, interpretation of the same melody. Recreating a song is also about understanding what each decision gains and loses.
Building the video
I filmed the shots with a camera and tripod, using the natural light in my living room; I also shot a scene in my office. The visual concept followed the arrangement: fewer elements, attention to the face, hands, and colors available in the environment. The short time frame required deciding beforehand what was essential to show.
I used the rule of thirds in some shots, but I accepted cuts with abrupt changes in position between shots. This break in continuity can draw attention to the editing. Here, it reinforces the experimental nature of the video; in a production with a different rhythm, I would test smoother transitions.
I assembled the video primarily using sharp cuts and color adjustments to highlight the setting and costumes. This straightforward editing helped me complete the music and visuals on the same day. The cost of this speed is having less room to test alternatives—a limitation that is part of the narrative of this cover.
The original music video also uses an intense color palette, but on a different scale. It's worth watching both videos to compare how color and movement change the feeling of the same song:
I see in the video of Stupid Love References to pop culture from other decades. In my cover, I maintained the desire for color, but I traded the scale of fantasy for a home recording. The comparison shows that reinterpretation also involves choosing what to leave out.
Would you like to hear other interpretations of the album? Chromatica? I met My covers of songs from the album are in this article..