Poker Face By Lady Gaga
Friday, 27. March 2009, 05:36:33
“Poker Face” is the title of a single in the debut album of Lady Gaga. It has done well with the critics and the public alike. It is on top of the charts everywhere. The up tempo dance song can be seen on YouTube and many other Internet portals.
Apart from the name the song has little to do with poker as such. But is does tell how much poker terminology has pervaded common language, especially in the context of sexual innuendo. The refrain line “No he can’t read my poker face” is not mischievous, but that is where the innocence is contained. Actually the song begins in an explosive manner with a barrage of poker terms leaving little to the imagination.
“ I wanna hold em like they do in Texas Plays
Fold em, let em hit me, raise it baby …”
The sexual double meaning is scattered throughout the song. Some examples are “a hard pair we will be”, “bluffin’ with my muffin” and “check this hand”. “bluffin’ with my muffin’ in particular conjures female players using their sexuality to advantage at the poker tables. The issue has split the female poker pros down the middle with one half averring that it is a fair tactic and the other claiming that they would much rather use their skills to kick ass.
The video enhances the sexual overtones of the lyrics. A blog on Pokerati says, “…you may feel a little weird looking at so many perky schoolgirls bouncing around in tight clothes and short skirts to a song about poker.” But the poker connection is there, although tenuous. There is a sequence of Gaga playing, what is apparently strip poker, with her friends. The sequence shows the girls holding cards and strewing poker chips on each other. On the whole the song is about a tough girl who beats a man at his own game. This has left the poster on Pokerati wondering whether the song will be an inspiration for “the next tough female pros or gold-digging railbirds”.
This is not the first time that poker terms have been used in a sexually provocative manner. Last year a poker themed musical was created by Tim Molyneux and Phil Hellmuth. This stage production actually replicated the drama of a WSOP final table. But the lyrics of the songs had much in common with Poker Face of Lady Gaga, in that they contained a sprinkling of poker terms with double entendre. Unlike Gaga’s song that has become a hit, “All In: The Poker Musical” flopped miserably.
Apart from the name the song has little to do with poker as such. But is does tell how much poker terminology has pervaded common language, especially in the context of sexual innuendo. The refrain line “No he can’t read my poker face” is not mischievous, but that is where the innocence is contained. Actually the song begins in an explosive manner with a barrage of poker terms leaving little to the imagination.
“ I wanna hold em like they do in Texas Plays
Fold em, let em hit me, raise it baby …”
The sexual double meaning is scattered throughout the song. Some examples are “a hard pair we will be”, “bluffin’ with my muffin” and “check this hand”. “bluffin’ with my muffin’ in particular conjures female players using their sexuality to advantage at the poker tables. The issue has split the female poker pros down the middle with one half averring that it is a fair tactic and the other claiming that they would much rather use their skills to kick ass.
The video enhances the sexual overtones of the lyrics. A blog on Pokerati says, “…you may feel a little weird looking at so many perky schoolgirls bouncing around in tight clothes and short skirts to a song about poker.” But the poker connection is there, although tenuous. There is a sequence of Gaga playing, what is apparently strip poker, with her friends. The sequence shows the girls holding cards and strewing poker chips on each other. On the whole the song is about a tough girl who beats a man at his own game. This has left the poster on Pokerati wondering whether the song will be an inspiration for “the next tough female pros or gold-digging railbirds”.
This is not the first time that poker terms have been used in a sexually provocative manner. Last year a poker themed musical was created by Tim Molyneux and Phil Hellmuth. This stage production actually replicated the drama of a WSOP final table. But the lyrics of the songs had much in common with Poker Face of Lady Gaga, in that they contained a sprinkling of poker terms with double entendre. Unlike Gaga’s song that has become a hit, “All In: The Poker Musical” flopped miserably.
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