Lady Gaga Reveals the True Meaning Behind 'Shallow'

The Oscar-winning song “Shallow” from A Star Is Born is a soul-stirring ballad that is about a complicated love story. The thing is, though, that the song is not about love at all. It’s actually about cell phones. Yeah, it’s true. After Lady Gaga’s epic performance at this year’s Oscars, she revealed the true meaning of the song, and everyone is confused. If you’re like us, you might have some questions. How did a tragic love story ballad become about cell phones? Lady Gaga explained to Cosmo magazine backstage at the Oscars.

“I really believe in my heart that the unfortunate truth is that our cell phones are becoming reality. It’s become reality for the world. And in this song we provide not just a conversation, but also a very poignant statement. I wish not to be in the shallow, but I am. I wish to dive off the deep end, but watch me do it. I think this is something that speaks to many people, and during, I think, a very shallow time, it’s a chance for us all to grab hands and dive into the water together and swim into the deepest depths of the water that we can.”

If you’ve been paying attention to everything Gaga, you’ll remember that in November of 2018 she told Variety magazine that “Shallow” is about a man and a woman connecting and listening to each other. Then in that same interview, she said it’s about men not listening to women. Art can have a lot of different meanings, so songs can mean something completely different from person to person. Lady Gaga did co-write the hit song, so her word is gold, right? Whatever your opinion is, we all can agree it’s an amazing song.