Claim: Lady Gaga is a dancer.

`` Alejandro '' is a song by American singer Lady Gaga . It was released as the third single from her third extended play -LRB- EP -RRB- and second major release , The Fame Monster -LRB- 2009 -RRB- . Co-written and produced by herself and RedOne , the song inspired by her `` Fear of Men Monster '' , the lyrics portray Gaga bidding farewell to her lovers . Musically , it is a mid-tempo synthpop song .   Contemporary critics predominantly gave `` Alejandro '' positive reviews and noted that it takes influence from the pop acts ABBA , Ace of Base and Madonna . The song charted in the United Kingdom and Hungary due to digital sales following the album 's release . Upon release , `` Alejandro '' charted again in the United Kingdom as well as in Australia , Canada , New Zealand , Sweden , and the United States while topping the Finnish , Polish , Russian , Bulgarian , and Romanian charts . `` Alejandro '' became Gaga 's seventh successive single to reach the top-ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 .   The accompanying music video was directed by fashion photographer Steven Klein and inspired by Gaga 's love for her gay friends and admiration of gay love . Within the video , Gaga dances with a group of soldiers in a cabaret , interspersed with scenes of Gaga as a nun swallowing a rosary and near-naked men holding machine guns . The music video was controversial and received mixed reviews . Critics complimented its idea and dark nature while the Catholic League criticized Gaga for alleged blasphemy , despite Klein dismissing the idea and claiming that the scene in question -LRB- the swallowing of Rosary beads -RRB- was Gaga 's `` desire to take in the Holy '' . Gaga performed the song on the ninth season of American Idol and has performed it on all dates of The Monster Ball Tour . The song was also included on her 2012 -- 13 tour The Born This Way Ball , as well as on her 2014 tour , ArtRave : The Artpop Ball .