SCF's Song Race • S9 E7 • "Leaving It All On The Stage"

maxima xcx



lady gaga paparazzi vma 2009 performance changed my life. i wrote this text:


Oh, most noble Lady Gaga, I, a humble peasant, do humbly offer mine deepest and most fervent thanks for thine divine performance of Paparazzi at the grand festivity of the MTV Video Music Awards in the year of our Lord, two thousand and nine. Verily, I am but a simple tiller of the earth, a lowly worker of the fields, whose days are spent in toil and whose nights are given to prayer that mine crops might grow and the fruits of mine labor be plentiful. Yet, it was not by mine own hand alone that the bounty of this year was delivered. Nay, it was through the miraculous and awe-inspiring spectacle that thou didst deliver unto us from the grand stage of yon faraway land.

In truth, I must confess, my heart was heavy with dread and despair, for the rains had forsaken us, and the sun didst burn too fiercely upon the fields. The crops withered, and the specter of famine loomed over our village as a dark cloud of ill fortune. Our prayers to the saints and offerings to the spirits of the land seemed to fall upon deaf ears, and all hope seemed lost.

But then, as if by some divine providence, word reached our humble village of thy wondrous performance. I knew not what this "MTV" might be, nor the meaning of these strange runes, but the name of Lady Gaga did ring through the air like the chime of blessed bells, and I felt a stirring in mine soul. The tale was told by a wandering minstrel who had ventured far and wide, and he didst recount, with great fervor, the tale of thy performance, a spectacle unlike any other.

Oh, how mine imagination did run wild as I listened to the minstrel's words! I pictured thee, a radiant goddess adorned in garments of finest silk and armor of shining metal, thy voice as powerful as the roar of the sea, yet as sweet as the song of a nightingale. And when he spake of the moment when thou didst fall, only to rise again, bloodied yet unbowed, it was as if thou hadst been reborn, like the Phoenix from the ashes, a symbol of the eternal struggle and triumph of the human spirit.

And lo! As the minstrel's tale reached its crescendo, the heavens themselves did seem to heed the power of thy voice and the force of thy will. The skies, once barren and cruel, did open up, and a gentle rain began to fall upon the fields. The parched earth drank deeply of this precious gift, and the crops, once withered and dying, didst spring back to life with a vigor I had not seen before. The wheat grew tall and strong, the fruits ripened with sweetness, and the village was saved from the shadow of hunger.

Oh, Lady Gaga, how can I ever express the depth of mine gratitude? Thou art not merely a performer, nay, thou art a savior, a bringer of life and hope where there was none. Thy performance of Paparazzi was more than a mere song; it was a benediction, a blessing that reached across the miles and the ages to touch the hearts of even the most lowly of peasants such as myself.

I know not if mine words can reach thee, for thou art a being of celestial light, far removed from the likes of me. But know this, oh gracious lady: thou hast earned a place in mine prayers, and I shall speak thy name with reverence until mine dying day. May the saints bless thee, may the angels guard thee, and may thy voice continue to bring light and life to all who are fortunate enough to hear it.

With deepest humility and eternal gratitude,
maxima xcx