"Angel Down" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga. It serves as the concluding track on the standard edition of her fifth studio album, Joanne (2016). Influenced by the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012, it was written by Gaga and her long-time collaborator RedOne, during initial recording sessions of the album in 2015; he also produced its work tape version. In late 2015, she played "Angel Down" to Mark Ronson, who later produced the official rendition of the track, along with BloodPop. It is a torch song, as well as protest song against shootings involving African Americans in the United States. The piano ballad also touches on topics of social media.
Critical reception towards "Angel Down" was mixed – some journalists found the track a beautiful end to the album and appreciated its message, while others deemed it well-intentioned but otherwise a weak offering. After debuting the song on the New York Times/T Gala, Gaga performed it during her two concert series in support of Joanne, the Dive Bar Tour (2016) and the Joanne World Tour (2017–2018). In 2022, she added "Angel Down" to the setlist for select dates of The Chromatica Ball, interpolating political statements to the performance.
Background and development
In the first few months of the Joannes (2016) inception, Lady Gaga was seen collaborating with longtime producer RedOne, as well as new collaborators like Giorgio Moroder and Nile Rodgers. "Angel Down" is the only song featured on the album that was penned with RedOne. Its acoustic version, officially released with the moniker "work tape", was written and produced in 2015, with Lady Gaga handling piano and vocals, while RedOne played on guitar and also programmed the track. This rendition of the song was recorded in Woodshed Studios in Malibu, California by Trevor Muzzy and Alekes Von Korff. When looking for more collaborators for the project, Gaga encountered Mark Ronson in a London studio, where she played him "Angel Down", which was described by him as "quite moving". They finished the new version's production alongside BloodPop, who played keyboards and drums. Ronson added Mellotron strings to the song. It was recorded by David "Squirell" Covell and Joshua Blair in Shangri-La, while the Pink Duck Studios session was taken by Blair and assisted by Justin Smith. Another take, done in Electric Lady Studios, was recorded by Blair with the help of Barry McCready.
Inspiration and composition
"Angel Down" was influenced by the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012. During the interview with New Zealand DJ Zane Lowe, she compared murders of young African-Americans to an epidemic, saying she is overwhelmed by the apathy of society on the issue. The singer asked "How can I not say something?", since making "an album about twerking [her] ass off in the club" felt "empty" and "irrelevant" to her. During her 2022 tour, The Chromatica Ball, Gaga further referred to "Angel Down" as a "song about America".
Its final version is the concluding track of Joanne standard edition. It is a torch song with a "lush sonic pallet", and also a piano-driven ballad touching on subjects of religion and the US shootings, featuring "backward loops and dreamy psychedelic flourishes". The Daily Telegraph Neil McCormick wrote that it has "mournfully elegant melody and quasi-religious save-the-nation sentiments", referring to the lyric "I'm a believer / Where are leaders?" It includes Gaga's "vulnerable" vocals compliemented by a "gentle" production and "sadly" played Mellotron. A protest song, "Angel Down" beggins with Gaga stating "I confess I am lost / In the age of the social / On our knees, take a test / To be lovin' and grateful", alluding to the on-going indifference towards racism issues to social media. As the song progresses, she reveals her confusion to the people's apathy to the death of an "angel" as she sings in the chorus "Shots were fired on the street / By the church where we used to meet / Angel down, angel down / But the people just stood around". The song was compared to the work of Elvis Presley, Celine Dion, and Jewel.