"The category is: dance or die" is Lady Gaga's opening line for the music video of her new single, Abracadabra.
Ever since the song and video aired on February 2 during a commercial break at the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards, fans have been enthralled by Abracadabra's energetic beat and catchy chorus, as well as with its esoteric symbolism and mystical imagery. Not only that, but, Little Monsters (as Gaga fans have been dubbed) are perhaps the most excited to find out that both the track and its accompanying music video bear a resemblance to previous versions of the singer's artistry (her first two studio albums in particular: The Fame (2008) and Born This Way (2011)). What might the release of Abracadabra have to do with the current Saturn-Neptune alignment (2024-2027)? Keep reading to find out.
While many have been talking about a "recession pop" renaissance for about a year, especially since a surge in pleasure-seeking pop music became mainstream in 2024: Charli XCX's Brat, Sabrina Carpenter's Short n' Sweet and Chappell Roan's The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (to name a few), this year, Lady Gaga proves once again that she's a master at the escapist pop formula (back in the day, she was one of those stars delivering perfect pop songs during the Great Recession—remember "Just Dance"?).
Interestingly, both of these times–the Great Recession and the current moment– have the Saturn-Neptune alignment in common. The Great Recession coincided with the Saturn-Neptune opposition (180º) of 2005 to 2008. The Saturn-Neptune conjunction (0º) occurring today began its alignment in March of 2024, which coincides perfectly with the re-emergence of the "recession pop" trend. Around that time, both Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter were coming out with their singles for albums they were set to release later that summer, Brat and Short n' Sweet, respectively (both becoming major successes). Then, in April, Chappell Roan released her latest single, Good Luck Babe, made her debut at Coachella, and became an international pop star almost overnight. In the midst of the political and economic anxieties of the U.S. presidential election, "Brat Summer" showed up to offer a very much-needed escape. This mirrors how Lady Gaga ascended the pop throne during the Great Recession with her first studio album, The Fame. Just Dance, one of the songs in the album, perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the "recession pop" phenomenon. Its infamous chorus line, "Just dance/Gonna be okay," invites us into a hopeful escape through the power of music.
While we are not in a recession per se in 2025, signs of economic turmoil surely appear to be clear: inflation continues to rise, grocery prices soar to new heights and a stock market crash is slowly unfolding. Not to mention that America in 2025 is downright disorienting (think of the Los Angeles wildfires or Taylor Swift getting booed at the Super Bowl). Saturn-Neptune eras are, after all, known to not be the happiest of times. On the Saturn-Neptune alignment, Richard Tarnas writes in Cosmos and Psyche, "there is also a tendency during Saturn-Neptune eras to experience a subtle but pervasive darkening of the collective consciousness, sometimes as a diffuse and difficult-to-diagnose social malaise, at other times as a direct response to deeply discouraging or tragic events." While one would not immediately associate carefree party anthems with the more muted and, at times, depressive archetype of Saturn-Neptune, it is exactly because Saturn-Neptune eras are often some of the most psychologically and spiritually challenging that we tend to gravitate towards a kind of music that allows us to escape the depressing times. In fact, a tendency towards escapism is one of the characteristic qualities of this planetary combination. The principle associated with difficulty (Saturn) is combined with the principle associated with escapism, intoxication and addiction (Neptune). All in all, we can find a double-edged sword in Saturn-Neptune times: difficult moods and circumstances, matched with banging pop music to escape into.
Gaga has a documented history of releasing excellent music that serves as an antidote during times of hardship. Not only did she do this with The Fame (2008) during The Great Recession, but, when gay rights were under attack in America, she came out with the impassioned The Fame Monster (2009) (which perfectly coincides with the Uranus-Pluto square (90º) that was occurring during that time at the time). Nine years later, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (and at the peak of a Saturn-Pluto conjunction), she came through again with Chromatica (2020). By the looks of Abracadabra, Disease and Die with a Smile, the three singles she has released in 2024 and 2025 so far, it seems like MAYHEM (her upcoming album) will be no exception.
What is so special about Abracadabra is that it seems to be all about perseverance. "The song is about facing the challenge of life and the challenge of the night and finding the magic in it all," Gaga says to Elle. She elaborates that, by "challenge of the night," she means: "when you have to face the world, the people around you, your life, your unique circumstances, your unique fabric in the world," The archetypal complex of Saturn-Neptune can be one of disillusionment, dark nights of the soul, depression, tragic loss, melancholy, hopelessness, addiction, etc. (you get the picture). Ultimately, when the planet linked to the problematic side of existence, to all that is grave and difficult (Saturn), is combined with the planet associated with sensitivity, escapism, deception, illusion, delusion and intoxication, it is easy to see how there would be a potential for challenges when it comes to this archetypal complex.
In the music video for Abracadabra, there is a dance battle between the light side and the dark side of Gaga, represented by Gaga in white (the light side) and Gaga in red (the dark side). "The lady in red is all of you that puts you to the test. Your internal monologue. 'Can you do it? Can you do it? Will you do it? Are you good enough? Can you handle it?' In a lot of ways, the song is about dealing with that challenge to yourself and very often the world around us can reflect it back to us as well," Gaga says to Elle. This opposition between light and dark, I find, could also be seen through the eyes of Saturn-Neptune. While all archetypes can be experienced as either positive or problematic, Saturn is typically seen as one of the more difficult planets (if not the most difficult), being categorized as the "greater malefic" in traditional astrology. Saturn can certainly be a teacher, and even grant us with wisdom and achievement, but that is usually only the case after it has forced us to endure a significant amount of suffering and hard labor. While Neptune, on the other hand, can manifest in both confluent and challenging manners, it is, at its best, perhaps the most noble of planets (not in any worldly manner as in granting status or wealth (which would be more associated with Jupiter), but in an otherworldly, transcendental one). Neptune rules all that is heavenly. It is associated with all deities of mystical union, universal love, artistic and spiritual inspiration, and transcendent beauty. It is also that which allows for healing and wholeness. In this way, it can be said that Neptune represents (when it comes to its positive qualities, of course) the lightest of lights. Returning to the theme of Abracadabra, we can thus think of the dark side of Gaga embodying Saturn (the greater malefic, the Grim Reaper, the one who devours his sons, restrictions, problems, darkness, deprivation, melancholy, etc.) and the light side of Gaga embodying Neptune (the spiritual, the ideal, art and inspiration, universal compassion, dreams and aspirations, healing, wholeness, etc.).
This theme of light vs. dark in Abracadabra takes a step further when Gaga casts a spell in the chorus, singing "abracadabra, amor-oo-na-na, abracadabra, morta-oo-ga-ga." The words "amor" and "morta" stem from Latin and mean "love" and "death" respectively, and is also revealed in the last line 0f the chorus: "in her tongue she said, death or love tonight." Interestingly, the word "amor" is "roma" backwards, which may or may not be a reference to the spells in Bad Romance ("roma, roma-ma, gaga, ooh, la, la"). I find that this theme of love and death could also be seen as an expression of Saturn-Neptune. As the furthest planet visible to the naked eye, Saturn represents the endings of things and, therefore, death. Saturn reminds us of the inevitability of death, Memento Mori. After all, Saturn is the principle of time, Chronos. It is all about the inevitable fall (aging, for example). And, as the higher octave of Venus (the planet of love), Neptune represents universal love and compassion. In this sense, Christ, Mary and Buddha are Neptunian figures.
When Saturn and Neptune come together in alignment, we are dared to reconcile with an interesting dichotomy between the burdens of "the real" and the inspiration of "the ideal." In fact, one of the main themes of the Saturn-Neptune complex is that of making one's dreams a reality, as well as the challenges that it entails. "Pay the toll to the angels," sings Gaga, reminding us that there is always a cost we have to pay for transcendence. With this song, Gaga wanted to explore the metaphor of perseverance on the dance floor: "The dance floor is - for me, anyway - it has always been the place where I try to improve myself as a human being," she says to Elle. With Abracadabra, Gaga reminds us that we either "dance or die," create or remain stagnant, choose to love in spite of difficulty or fail to do so out of fear. "On a first listen of Abracadabra, you might go 'What is this about? It's fun to listen to, but what does it mean?' And to me, when you see the video it should become clearer that it just means we have to keep going," Gaga says to Elle. I believe that, in the end, this is what the Saturn-Neptune complex is all about. Whether we have it in our natal chart, experience it as a personal transit or as a world transit (as we are all doing so right now, and will continue to until 2027), it never fails to bring us tragedy (either tangible or psychological). But it also challenges us to keep going in spite of the suffering and, most importantly, to keep our faith, even when it feels impossible to do so. Since The Fame, Gaga's music has been here to help us "dance our worries away." But with this new record, "dancing" seems to take on a new meaning: not to escape but to face the challenge, "the challenge of life and the challenge of the night and find magic in it all," as Gaga says. It's either dance or die.