"Scheiße" (German for "shit") is a song by American singer Lady Gaga from her second studio album, Born This Way (2011). The song was written and produced by Lady Gaga and Nadir "RedOne" Khayat, and was recorded in Europe on the tour bus during the Monster Ball Tour. "Scheiße" was first introduced as a remix during a Thierry Mugler fashion show held on January 19, 2011. A dance-pop song with heavy, pounding synths, it also has a fast techno beat with electroclash and Eurodisco influences. Gaga speaks the first verse and parts of the chorus of the song in faux-German, as the name of the song is German. The lyrics have a feminist tone, speaking of female empowerment.
The song received positive reviews from contemporary critics, who complimented its heavy dance beat and catchy chorus, despite criticizing the faux-German lyrics and Gaga's accent. The song charted on the South Korean Gaon Music Chart and US Billboard dance charts, as well as entering the component charts in Canada, Germany, and the United States. "Scheiße" was performed in Gaga's concert tours Born This Way Ball (2012–2013), Joanne World Tour (2017–2018) and Las Vegas residency Enigma (2018–2020). It was also the opening number of her 2017 Coachella performance.
Background
The song was written and produced by Lady Gaga and RedOne. It was originally recorded on a tour bus in Europe in 2010, and was later remixed at Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, California by Trevor Muzzy. Gaga said that the song was inspired after a night of partying at the Laboratory nightclub in Berlin, Germany. The next day, she wrote "Scheiße", stating that she "meant [the song] like 'shit, it's good.' But I also meant it the other way; because this song is really about wanting to be a strong female without all the bullshit that comes along with. Anything that gets in your way from being brave. It's not the only word I know, I just like that word. It's sexy."
"Scheiße" was first introduced in a Thierry Mugler fashion show held on January 19, 2011 as a remix; the fashion show also featured Gaga on the runway. It featured a thumping dance beat with snippets of German words. The remix ended with the lyrics, "I'll take you out tonight/say whatever you like." On January 20, 2011, Mugler's creative director Nicola Formichetti premiered a short film featuring a remix of the song. Gaga commented on her website, Littlemonsters.com, that she wanted to release "Scheiße" as a single but her label did not want her to put it out. "Scheiße" was released as part of Gaga's second studio album, Born This Way, on May 23, 2011.
Composition
"Scheiße" is a dance-pop song with techno, electroclash, Eurodisco, and Eurodance influences. Andrew Unterberger of PopDust noted that the song was influenced by Madonna's music, notably "Justify My Love," which, like "Scheiße," has sections in which the artist speaks rather than sings. "Scheiße" has been described as "a strange mash up of digestible, American shopping mecca music and the thud of German nightclub electronica." The song features a "grimy" bass and so many "fizzing" synths that it produces a "keyboard assault on the senses."
The song's lyrics are of female empowerment. Although the theme of "Scheiße" is similar to the inspirational theme of other songs on Born This Way, The Village Voice questioned the sincerity of the feminist lyrics, after Gaga had once said, "I’m not a feminist. I hail men, I love men," but calls herself on the song a "blond high-heeled feminist enlisting femmes for this." "[Is this] someone who we’re watching evolve or someone who, at any given point, doesn’t really know what she’s talking about?" the article wrote of Gaga. The German word "scheiße", the title of the song and a word frequently used in the song, translates into "shit" into English. Gaga repeatedly speaks in German-sounding gibberish during the song, although in a French accent.