Co-writers Andrew Watt (left) and Henry Walter, also known as Cirkut (right)
In an interview for Las Culturistas with Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, Lady Gaga admitted that she started to write "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 also served as its producers 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]
Lady Gaga announced her eighth studio album on January 27, 2025, by revealing its title and cover art, setting its release date on March 7.[6] Next month, she unveiled the track listing, including "How Bad Do U Want Me" as the project's ninth track.[7] Following the album's release, the singer admitted that she almost scrapped "How Bad Do U Want Me" from the track listing.[8] Gaga said that when she creates "super pop" songs, she gets anxious about them, pointing out that she almost removed "Just Dance" from The Fame (2008) for the same reason.[9]
Composition
"How Bad Do U Want Me" is a 1980s-inspired "dreamy" synth-pop song.[10][11]The Independent believed "How Bad Do U Want Me" is "built around a Yazoo sample (or at least a very good soundalike)".[12]
According to Vulture, the track explores Lady 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 adds a layered meaning, suggesting she is not merely asking how much she is wanted, but rather questioning how much of a bad girl she is expected to be, highlighting the pressures of conforming to a hypersexualized or performative role.[13]
Reception
Journalists compared the song to the works of Taylor Swift (pictured).
Following Mayhem's release, various fans and music critics noted strong resemblance between "How Bad Do U Want Me" and Taylor Swift's input, with some fans theorizing that the latter recorded backing vocals to the track.[14][15][16] Comparisons were made mainly to Swift's fifth studio album 1989 (2014)[14][10][17][18] and "Gorgeous" from the following album, Reputation (2017).[4][19][20][21][22] Some listeners also drew the parallels to Midnights (2022) tracks "Snow on the Beach" and "Hits Different"–the former gathered comparisions due to similarly distant backing vocals, which Lana Del Rey provided to "Snow on the Beach",[16] while RTL 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.[16] In a deep analysis, KTLA writer Russell Falcon opined that, in his interpretation, Gaga is "evoking her musical spirit for an artistic purpose." He writes: "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.[23]
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 Taylor Swift's discography, elaborating that the song "feels like one of the only songs that doesn't fit her vision".[24]MusicOMH's Donovan Livesey also saw "How Bad Do U Want Me" as the album’s weakest point. While it starts strong with an '80s synth-pop vibe, he found the chorus to feel overly influenced by Taylor Swift, making Gaga seem less original than usual. He however still found the song well-produced and engaging.[25]
Live performances
Gaga first performed "How Bad Do U Want Me" live during her headlining set at Coachella 2025, wearing lace-up stiletto boots reminiscent of those she wore in the music video for "Rain on Me" (2020).[26] On May 13, 2025, Gaga performed “How Bad Do U Want Me” 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. Variety's Clayton Davis described it as “high-energy”.[27]
^"Top Singles (Week 11, 2025)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on March 18, 2025. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
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