Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, (bor… Read Full Bio ↴Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, (born March 28, 1986 in New York, NY) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenager, singing at open mic nights and acting in school plays. She studied at Collaborative Arts Project 21, through the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, before dropping out to pursue a career in music. After Def Jam Recordings canceled her contract, she worked as a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing, where she signed a joint deal with Interscope Records and KonLive Distribution, in 2007. Gaga had her breakthrough the following year with her debut studio album, The Fame, and its chart-topping singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". The album was later reissued to include the EP The Fame Monster (2009), which yielded the successful singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro".

Gaga's five succeeding studio albums all debuted atop the US Billboard 200. Her second full-length album, Born This Way (2011), explored electronic rock and techno-pop and sold more than one million copies in its first week. The title track became the fastest-selling song on the iTunes Store, with over one million downloads in less than a week. Following her EDM-influenced third album, Artpop (2013), and its lead single "Applause", Gaga released the jazz album Cheek to Cheek (2014) with Tony Bennett, and the soft rock album Joanne (2016). She ventured into acting, winning awards for her leading roles in the miniseries American Horror Story: Hotel (2015–2016) and the musical film A Star Is Born (2018). Her contributions to the latter's soundtrack, which spawned the chart-topping single "Shallow", made her the first woman to win an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and Grammy Award in one year. Gaga returned to dance-pop with her sixth studio album, Chromatica (2020), which yielded the number-one single "Rain on Me". She followed this with her second collaborative album with Bennett, Love for Sale, and a starring role in the biopic House of Gucci, both in 2021.

Having sold an estimated 170 million records, Gaga is one of the world's best-selling music artists and the only female artist to achieve four singles that each sold at least 10 million copies globally. Her accolades include 13 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, 18 MTV Video Music Awards, awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and recognition as Billboard's Artist of the Year (2010) and Woman of the Year (2015). She has also been included in several Forbes' power rankings and ranked fourth on VH1's Greatest Women in Music (2012). Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010 and 2019 and placed her on their All-Time 100 Fashion Icons list. Her philanthropy and activism focus on mental health awareness and LGBTQ+ rights; she has her own non-profit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which supports the wellness of young people. Gaga's business ventures include Haus Labs, a vegan cosmetics brand launched in 2019.

Black Eyes
Lady Gaga Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Black eyes open wide
It's time to testify
There's no room for life
And everyone's waiting for you

And I'm gone, sitting by the phone
And I'm all alone by the wayside
And I'm gone, sitting by the phone

And I'm all alone by the wayside

By the wayside
I'm by the wayside
I'm by the wayside

Too far gone and I'm by the phone
And I'm all alone and I'm off alone
By the wayside
By the wayside
I'm by the wayside
I'm by the wayside
I'm by the wayside
I'm by the wayside
By the wayside

I'm by the wayside
I'm by the wayside
I'm by the wayside

Black eyes open wide
It's time to testify
There's no room for life
And everyone's waiting for you
Everyone's looking at you
Everyone's looking at you

Everyone's looking for you
Everyone's waiting for you

Overall Meaning

The opening lines of Lady Gaga's song "Black Eyes" create a vision of a courtroom where the witness is preparing to testify. The witness has to testify about something that has left no room for life, which could be about something tragic or unfortunate. The song is almost like a warning to anyone who has witnessed or been a part of something that could become a big scandal. And when someone is going through such a difficult time, they might feel like they are all alone and they are struggling to understand what to do next. That's what the lyrics "too far gone and I'm by the phone, and I'm all alone" imply.

The chorus repeats the lyrics "By the wayside, I'm by the wayside" a few times, which suggests that the person is lost and has lost their way in life. The use of the word "wayside" represents a place where someone can pause to reflect on where they've been and where they're headed. It's almost like a crossroad where someone has to choose which path to take. Everyone's waiting for the witness to testify, but the witness is struggling to figure out which path to take. The song could be interpreted as suggesting that sometimes when you are unsure which way to go, it's important to take a break and reflect on your experiences before proceeding.

Line by Line Meaning

Black eyes open wide
Eyes wide open with anticipation and maybe fear

It's time to testify
It's time to speak up about something

There's no room for life
There's no space for a normal, happy existence

And everyone's waiting for you
There's pressure to perform and deliver

And I'm gone, sitting by the phone
The artist feels abandoned and ignored

And I'm all alone by the wayside
The singer is isolated and forgotten

By the wayside
Forgotten or abandoned

Too far gone and I'm by the phone
The artist feels too far away from what's happening

And I'm all alone and I'm off alone
Feeling isolated once again

Everyone's looking at you
There's a lot of attention and scrutiny

Everyone's looking for you
There's pressure to be found and to show up