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How Bad Do U Want Me
2025 song by Lady Gaga From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"How Bad Do U Want Me" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga from her studio album Mayhem. Interscope Records released it as the album's ninth track on March 7, 2025.[1][2] It was written and produced by Gaga, Andrew Watt, and Cirkut, with additional songwriting contributions from Michael Polansky. Music critics described the song as synth-pop, drawing comparisons to the pop-oriented work of Taylor Swift. Gaga performed "How Bad Do U Want Me" live on multiple occasions throughout 2025, including as the encore during her Mayhem Ball tour (2025–2026).
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Background and release
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In an interview for Las Culturistas, Lady Gaga admitted that she started writing "How Bad Do U Want Me" on her own in home, before being joined by her fiancé Michael Polansky. Polansky was interested in the song's lyrical content, asking whether she is singing about him, which she denied.[3] The two finished the track with Andrew Watt and Cirkut, who both additionally produced it alongside Gaga.[4] Paul Lamalfa recorded the track at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California and Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles; Marco Sonzini provided additional engineering, while Tyler Harris and Tommy Turner worked as assistant engineers. The song was mixed by Serban Ghenea at Mixstar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and mastered by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound Studios in Edgewater, New Jersey. Gaga additionally played keyboards; Watt played drums, electric guitar, and keyboards; and Cirkut played synthesizer and keyboards and provided drum and bass programming. Bryce Bordone worked as the assistant mixing engineer, and Marc VanGool served as the studio technician.[5]
Gaga announced her studio album Mayhem on January 27, 2025, setting its release date on March 7.[6] Next month, she unveiled the track listing, featuring "How Bad Do U Want Me" as the album's ninth track.[7] Gaga admitted that she almost scrapped the song from the track listing,[8] stating that she gets anxious about her "super pop" tracks, pointing out that she almost removed "Just Dance" from The Fame (2008) for the same reason.[9]
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Composition
"How Bad Do U Want Me" is a 1980s-inspired "dreamy" synth-pop song.[10][11] The Independent's Adam White believed "How Bad Do U Want Me" is "built around a Yazoo sample (or at least a very good soundalike)".[12] According to Vulture's Kristen S. Hé, the track explores Gaga's internal conflict between her personal identity and her public persona. The song portrays her struggle to separate Stefani (her real self) from the constructed image of Lady Gaga, which influences how others, including her partner, perceive and desire her. The chorus of "How Bad Do U Want Me" suggests she is not merely asking how much she is wanted, but rather questioning how much of a "bad girl" she is expected to be.[13]
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Reception
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DIY's Ben Tipple called "How Bad Do U Want Me" a straightforward yet unmistakably Gaga track, "brimming with her distinctive energy," and praised its chorus as "another example of Gaga's skills for unfiltered earworms."[14] Thomas Stremfel of Spectrum Culture believed the song aligns more closely with Carly Rae Jepsen's melodic and thematic style than with Mayhem's lead single, "Disease"–previously the only clue to the record's potential sound–, ultimately emerging as a standout track thanks to its "big sing-along" chorus ("She's on your mind like all the time / But I got a tattoo for us last week").[15] Clash's Robin Murray felt "the electronic erotica of 'How Bad Do U Want Me' is ready to induce heart palpitations across the globe."[16] Beats Per Minute praised the track for "amping up the inherent kitschiness of the era" with its "euphoric chorus" and highlighted Gaga's charm in playing a "cheeky eighties pop star who is not quite as innocent as her sweet voice suggests."[17]
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Various fans and music critics noted strong resemblance between "How Bad Do U Want Me" and Taylor Swift's pop songs.[18][19][20] Comparisons were made mainly to Swift's fifth studio album, 1989 (2014),[18][10][21][22] and the song "Gorgeous" from the following album, Reputation (2017).[4][23][24][25][26] Some listeners also drew the parallels to the Midnights (2022) tracks "Snow on the Beach" and "Hits Different"–the former gathered comparisons due to similarly distant backing vocals,[20] while RTL's Aymeric Parthonnaud likened "How Bad Do U Want Me" sonicscape to the latter one's.[4] Her Campus writer Makalah Wright, said that "How Bad Do U Want Me" and "Gorgeous" sound alike, however lyrically they are completely different.[20] In a deep analysis, KTLA writer Russell Falcon opined that, in his interpretation, Gaga is "evoking her musical spirit for an artistic purpose." He wrote: "Lady Gaga is being haunted by Taylor Swift," arguing Gaga perhaps sees Swift's pop music omnipresence as a reminder of where, at one point, Gaga's own career appeared to be headed and how it might feel to live with that.[27]
Stephen Daw of Billboard found it to be the worst song of the album, thinking it "falls flat with its power-pop leanings." He compared its lyrics and instrumental to those from Swift's discography, elaborating that the song "feels like one of the only songs that doesn't fit her vision".[28] MusicOMH's Donovan Livesey also saw "How Bad Do U Want Me" as the album's weakest point; while enjoying it as well-produced and engaging, he found the chorus overly influenced by Swift, making Gaga seem less original than usual.[29] Dakota West Foss of Sputnikmusic felt "How Bad Do U Want Me" is "a tongue-in-cheek attempt" at the "modern (bad) iteration of Taylor Swift's lifeless synthpop that is every bit the knockout that Gaga dropping a weight class would be – there's even a stratospheric bridge that calls 'Cruel Summer' to mind."[30]
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Live performances
Gaga first performed "How Bad Do U Want Me" live at her 2025 promotional concerts for Mayhem, which included a headlining set at Coachella 2025, wearing lace-up stiletto boots reminiscent of those she wore in the music video for "Rain on Me" (2020).[31] On May 13, 2025, Gaga performed the track during a five-song set at the YouTube Brandcast event, held at the Geffen Hall in New York City. The performance featured cinematic staging and opened the showcase.[32] Gaga performed "How Bad Do U Want Me" as the closing song during her Mayhem Ball (2025–2026), as part of the encore.[33]
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Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Mayhem.[5]
- Lady Gaga – songwriter, producer, lead vocals, background vocals, keyboards
- Andrew Watt – songwriter, producer, drums, electric guitar, keyboards
- Cirkut – songwriter, producer, synthesizer, keyboards, drum programming, bass programming
- Michael Polansky – songwriter
- Paul Lamalfa – recording engineer
- Serban Ghenea – mixing engineer
- Randy Merrill – mastering engineer
- Marco Sonzini – additional engineer
- Tyler Harris – assistant engineer
- Tommy Turner – assistant engineer
- Bryce Bordone – assistant mixing engineer
- Marc VanGool – studio technician
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References
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