Song

Shallow

Lady Gaga

Album:

A Star Is Born

Song meaning of Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, and what it is about and who wrote it

The lead song off the 2018 musical drama film A Star Is Born's soundtrack. Gaga produced "Shallow" with Benjamin Rice, co-writing the song with Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando, and Mark Ronson. The song appears three times in the movie, the most notable one coming in a scene where Gaga's character Ally and Cooper's character Jackson Maine are invited to perform it live together. At the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, the scene was recorded in front of a live crowd.

Since "Shallow" discusses the interactions between Ally and Jackson, it is a crucial scene in A Star Is Born. With the self-aware lyrics asking each other if they are happy being who they are, Gaga penned it from Ally's point of view.

The singer clarified on Beats 1 that the song was written from Ally's perspective and that this is why it contributes to their romantic relationship. "I had to imagine Ally as someone other than myself when I started writing the soundtrack for the movie. Even in the pop genre, I chose a sound for her that's different from anything I've ever released."

Commercially, the song entered the top ten in other nations and topped the charts in over twenty, including the US and the UK.

Shallow lyrics by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

[Bradley Cooper:]

Tell me somethin', girl

Are you happy in this modern world?

Or do you need more?

Is there somethin' else you're searchin' for?

I'm falling

In all the good times I find myself longin' for change

And, in the bad times, I fear myself

[Lady Gaga:]

Tell me something, boy