Born This Way by Lady Gaga

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“Born This Way” is about self-liberation, and loving every part of yourself, no matter your race, gender, or sexuality; the song was released as the lead single from the album of the same name in February 2011. In it, Lady Gaga emphasizes that loving a human or a religious entity can both equally be considered expressions of worship, as many religious people claim the importance of loving humans to be an essential part of their religion. With her lyrics, GaGa addresses the persistent prejudice against many types of love, e.g. non-heterosexual love that is still wide-spread among many religious communities and societies. GaGa criticizes any stance based on religious prejudice: to her, worshipping God equals loving all “His” creatures just the way they are. The entire song is about internalizing this accepting point of view, learning who you are and loving that person. The song was a huge success upon release, charting atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 6 straight weeks (as the 1000th No. 1 song). Gaga’s anthem resembles Madonna’s 1989 hit “Express Yourself,” which was an (uncredited) homage to The Staple Singers‘ 1971 smash “Respect Yourself.” This song, as Rolling Stone points out, also bears similarities to Patrick Hernandez’s 1978 disco tune “Born to Be Alive.”