Lady Gaga’s ‘Disease’ battling Gigi Perez’s queer track ‘Sailor Song’ for UK Number One
Lady Gaga and Gigi Perez are locked in a super queer chart battle. (YouTube)
The battle for number one on the UK’s official music chart is getting gayer, as Lady Gaga’s “Disease” goes head-to-head with Gigi Perez’s queer love story, “Sailor Song”.
Lady Gaga’s twisted new track “Disease”, which critics have already dubbed one of her very best singles, could well be on its way to hitting the top spot, according to the Official Charts. It would become her seventh number one hit in the country, following on from 2020’s “Rain On Me”.
That said, it’s currently sat at number three, behind Bruno Mars and ROSÉ’s collaboration “APT.” at number two, while TikTok sensation “Sailor Song” by 24-year-old Florida-based star, Gigi Perez is holding strong at number one.
For those not in the know, Gigi Perez’s “Sailor Song” – and the artist herself – have been on the rise for quite some time. Initially starting out as a TikTok star, Perez was signed to Interscope (ironically, Lady Gaga’s label) in 2021 after her song “Sometimes (Backwood)” went viral.
Despite the internet fame, Perez’s success in the UK was limited – until now. “Sailor Song”, which was released back in July, has been gradually climbing the charts, beginning at number 53 upon its release.
At the beginning of October it entered the top 10 at number six, then rose to number three, and last week, to number two.
If Perez does manage to claim the number one spot, we doubt LGBTQ+ ally Gaga would mind: after all, “Sailor Song” is a fairly raunchy, folk ode to lesbian love, Perez’s relationship to religion, and women who look like Anne Hathaway. Mother Monster would be proud.
“I saw her in the rightest way, looking like Anne Hathaway,” goes the song’s opening lyrics, before getting a little more explicit.
“Laughing while she hit her pen and coughed, and coughed, and then she came up to my knees begging, ‘baby, would you please do the things you said you’d do to me, to me?’”
On the song’s touching chorus, Perez sings about her mum being worried about her being in a queer relationship and how it will impact God’s view of her, but Perez promises that being with a woman she loves is all the blessing she needs.
“Oh, won’t you kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor? And when you get a taste, can you tell me, what’s my flavour,” the song’s chorus goes.
“I don’t believe in God, but I believe that you’re my saviour. My mom says that she’s worried, but I’m covered in this favour, and when we’re getting dirty, I forget all that is wrong.”
The song’s lyric equating her partner to a “saviour” whipped up a storm with some right-wing Christian zealots, who demanded that she change the words.
Yet Perez stood her ground, explaining: “I never had to consider whether or not I was going to change my song cause it was never up for discussion.
“My songwriting is not a democracy, and that applies to every other artist’s work.
“I’m not changing the lyrics to ‘Sailor Song’. The piece is written the way that it is for a reason, and I put it in there exactly as it was meant to be written,” she continued.
“I’m really happy that it’s connected with so many people, and honestly, it’s up to you. It’s up to you what it means to you. I wrote it for what it means to me.”
Music lovers will be able to see how “Disease” and “Sailor Song” have fared on the UK charts this Friday, 1 November.
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