"Garden of Eden" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga. It was released on March 7, 2025, through Interscope Records, as the third track from Gaga's studio album, Mayhem (2025). It was written and produced jointly by Gaga, Andrew Watt, Cirkut, and Gesaffelstein. "Garden of Eden" is an electro, electroclash, synth-pop, and dance-pop track whose lyrics describe a one-night adventure at a rave, using the Garden of Eden as a reference to paradise.
The song received a generally favorable response from critics, who highlighted it as one of the strongest tracks on Mayhem and praised its production, also noting influences from The Fame (2008). Gaga performed it as part of her Mayhem promotional concerts and included it in the Mayhem Ball tour.
Background and release
Following the announcement of her studio album Mayhem, Lady Gaga revealed the song title as part of the tracklist on February 18, 2025.[1] Lyrics from the song circulated a day earlier on her official website in a string of cryptic teasers.[2] On March 5, she previewed the song through an ESPN commercial that features the song over clips and montages of Formula One racing.[3]
Composition
"Garden of Eden" was written by Gaga, Andrew Watt, Cirkut, and Gesaffelstein and produced by all four. Gaga performed lead vocals and played synthesizers, while Watt contributed bass, drums, guitars, percussion, and synthesizers. Cirkut handled drums, programming, synthesizers, and keyboards, and Gesaffelstein provided programming. It was recorded at Shangri-La in Malibu, California, by Paul Lamalfa, with additional engineering by Marco Sonzini. Tommy Turner and Tyler Harris served as assistant recording engineers. The song was mixed by Serban Ghenea at Mixstar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with Bryce Bordone as assistant mixing engineer, and mastered by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound in Edgewater, New Jersey.[4]
"Garden of Eden" is an electro,[5]electroclash,[6]synth-pop,[3] and dance-pop[7] track that combines influences from some of her earlier works, including The Fame (2008),[5][8]Born This Way (2011) and Artpop (2013).[9] An "eclectic" club song, it sees the singer incorporating ideas from her "expansive career" as she "rushes into 2000s pop" with a request to follow her.[9] Lyrically, the song depicts a hedonistic one-night encounter set in a rave-like environment.[10][11] According to Pitchfork, the lyrics draw heavily on biblical imagery, reimagining the Garden of Eden as a contemporary dancefloor.[10] Writing for The i, Emily Bootle described the song as portraying a bacchanalian party in which Gaga depicts herself "falling over in my nine-inch heels" while seeking fleeting romantic connections.[11]
Critical reception
Gaga performing "Garden of Eden" during the Mayhem Ball tour
Upon release, "Garden of Eden" received positive reviews from music critics with many declaring the song a standout. In a ranking of all songs on the album for Billboard, Stephen Daw placed it second, calling the track an "A+ pop gem" as well as a conglomeration of "all the sounds that have helped make Gaga the icon that she is".[9]Alexis Petridis of The Guardian viewed the song as an example of "the fleeting clubland hook-up as balm for the soul".[12]Vogue editor Christian Allaire called it one of the album's two "sexy pop bangers certain to be hits in all the gay clubs".[13]
In a review for Pitchfork, Walden Green praised the track on which "Gaga invokes MDMA, nine-inch stilettos, and some good old-fashioned blasphemy, envisioning the site of original sin as a warehouse rave with God in the DJ booth."[10]Vulture called it "pure musical hedonism", and highlighted "the stuttering synths, pitch-shifted guitars, and the choral call-and-response — 'So hit the lights / Come on and hit me, come on!'" as examples of how the song "pushes it over the top" with its attention to detail.[14] Alexa Camp at Slant Magazine thought the track was "an attempt to revive the messy party-girl shtick" hailing from The Fame with a "shamelessness of someone half her age".[5]Variety's Steven J. Horowitz described the song as closely aligned with the aesthetic of Gaga's early work, noting that it would not be out of place on The Fame or The Fame Monster (2009).[8]
Commercial performance
"Garden of Eden" debuted at number 31 on the Billboard Global 200. In the United States, it reached number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 3 on the Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart. The song also charted in over 25 countries, including number 23 in the United Kingdom, number 31 in Ireland, and number 43 in Canada.
Live performances
Gaga first performed "Garden of Eden" live during her 2025 promotional concerts for Mayhem, which included a headlining set at Coachella. During the performance, the stage turned green as Gaga played the song on electric guitar, moving with her dancers toward the tip of the catwalk near the end of the track.[15][16][17]NME noted the track was "given an operatic revamp".[18] The song was later added to the Mayhem Ball tour (2025–2026), where Gaga reprised the same performance scene.[19]
↑"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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