Certified Queen of the Met Gala Lady Gaga was nowhere to be found in the vicinity of 5th Avenue on Monday night. Instead, she was busy teasing her new single, “Hold My Hand,” from the long-awaited Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick. After tweeting lyrics along with a countdown all night, Gaga released the song at midnight on Tuesday.
“Hold My Hand” is a soaring, rock-influenced anthem that has Gaga belting well before she hits the chorus. The lyrics are simple, inoffensive, and uplifting, so basically it’s guaranteed to be a hit. “If you decide to, I’ll ride in this life with you / I won’t let go ‘til the end,” she sings. I’ve listened to it twice and have already memorized all of the words. Hot tip: It’s a perfect singing-in-the-shower song.
The original Top Gun in 1986 featured the iconic song “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin. Known as the “Love Theme from Top Gun,” the ballad reached number one on the charts and won an Oscar.
“Hold My Hand” is a direct descendant of the ’80s power ballad genre. The sweeping guitars and violins backing the verses crescendo into an explosive chorus marked by a steady but booming drumbeat. The arena-ready song belongs on a playlist between “Open Arms” by Journey and “Alone” by Heart. At any moment, you can practically picture Gaga’s hair blowing dramatically in the wind as fireworks light up the sky behind her.
Gaga first announced that she wrote a song for Top Gun: Maverick in a tweet thread last week. “When I wrote this song for Top Gun: Maverick, I didn’t even realize the multiple layers it spanned across the film’s heart, my own psyche, and the nature of the world we’ve been living in. I’ve been working on it for years, perfecting it, trying to make it ours,” the “Bad Romance” singer wrote. “I wanted to make music a song where we share our deep need to both be understood and try to understand each other—a longing to be close when we feel so far away and an ability to celebrate life’s heroes.”
She added that the song is “a love letter to the world during and after a very hard time.” Gaga wrote and produced it with her longtime collaborator, BloodPop. Benjamin Rice also helped produce. Naturally, the song is already being discussed as an Academy Award contender, because this is Gaga’s world and we’re all just living in it.
Like “Hold My Hand,” Top Gun: Maverick has been many years in the making. Production was delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic since the first trailer dropped all the way back in 2019. It finally hits theaters on May 27.
While a movie about Tom Cruise jumping out of planes (that’s what happens in these movies, right?) is not necessarily at the top of my watchlist, I will probably listen to “Hold My Hand” no less than 200 times this month.
