Shallow

If you didn’t already admire Lady Gaga for her original music and superstar past then I’m certain you’ll be won over by her performance in A Star Is Born. I won’t lie, I was tearing up at numerous points throughout this movie when I watched it on the plane, and it even inspired me to dig up some old songs I started writing and take steps towards finishing them. What I found most incredible about this film, was that the music was all performed live on set. The production piggy backed onto a couple of different festivals and gather some Gaga fans to shoot with real live audiences, recording real live performances. Not only that, Bradley Cooper had only learned to play guitar and sing about a year before production began!

Shallow was written by Lady Gaga along with Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt. As the movie’s production evolved, Lukas Nelson, son of Willie Nelson, was brought on with his band Promise of the Real to play the on screen band. When it came time to shoot, Bradley Cooper walked over from the director’s chair and delivered an uncanny performance as the broken and bruised rock star Jackson Maine. It’s truly a remarkable cast of multi-talented individuals and it came together beautifully.

The lyrics reflect a conversation between a man and a woman, as they ask one another if they’re truly happy with the lives they lead. It was originally intended as a solo song, until the team realized how useful it could be as a duet, the first chance for Ally to really shine on stage. Even though Shallow begins with a somber guitar part, it lends itself well to the piano, and as the song develops and the band comes in, so too does our arrangement. So dive in with Joe and see how far you can get from the Shallow. -Devon