page_title: John Wayne (song)
section_title: Critical reception
hierarchical_section_title: John Wayne (song) / Critical reception
caption_attribution_description: English: Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, August 17, 2003
context_page_description: "John Wayne" is a song recorded by American singer Lady Gaga, for her fifth studio album, Joanne. Gaga co-wrote and co-produced the track with Mark Ronson and BloodPop, with additional writing from Josh Homme who also played guitar. "John Wayne" is a pop rock song that features elements of country, disco, funk, and house music. It derives its name from American actor John Wayne, who was known for his roles in Western films. The lyrics talk about Gaga's romantic craving for a wild, blue-collar man and smoking cannabis. Some critics felt that "John Wayne" might portray Gaga's relationship with her ex-fiancé Taylor Kinney.
  Reviewers noted the song's tongue-in-cheek lyrics, and some of them criticized its musical composition. The song had minor chart placements in Hungary and the United Kingdom. Jonas Åkerlund directed the song's accompanying music video released on February 8, 2017, through Apple Music. It continues a storyline that started with the videos for singles "Perfect Illusion" and "Million Reasons", and portrays Gaga in different action-packed sequences. The clip received positive feedback for hearkening back to Gaga's older videos, and taking inspiration from action films.
context_section_description: While reviewing Joanne, The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber wrote that "John Wayne" was an indication of the musical direction the parent album could have gone, with Gaga's fascination with the Western genre. "When she screams 'go FASTER!' in the song's intro, it's one of the album's few examples of Gaga doing what Gaga got famous for, glorifying the extreme," he added. Similar thought was echoed by Andy Gill of The Independent, who found that  the "more stolidly rockist fare" and "rock n' roll authenticity" that Gaga sought with Joanne, works best on "John Wayne" and "A-Yo". He believed Homme's "gritty riffing and imaginative lead lines," and "spiky but fluid breaks" made it one of the album highlights. Maeve McDermott of USA Today wrote that "Gaga proves she can still make pop songs that fit Joanne's twangier direction, nailing the balance" on "John Wayne", along with another song, "Diamond Heart", calling them "stadium-sized tracks that sound written with her huge Super Bowl halftime stage in mind".
  Daniel Welsh of HuffPost was positive in his review of the track. He called it "one of the more important moments of Joanne, and a welcome relief". Welsh further described "John Wayne" as a stand-out of the album, and complimented Gaga's tongue-in-cheek references in the lyrics. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine thought that "Gaga’s fetishizing of blue-collar men as 'red-state treasure[s]' on 'John Wayne' is delivered with the same swagger she brandished on The Fame Monster's 'Teeth.'"
  Mike Schiller of PopMatters had a negative view of "John Wayne" and gave it a 4/10 rating. He said the track has "lot of energy but [it] can't find a memorable melody to save its life". Scott Zuppardo of the same publication was dismissive of the song, writing, "Gaga makes more bubble gum pop, shocking!" Jezebel writer Bobby Finger called the song "silly", while Anna Gaca of Spin described it as "overstuffed". The Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot wrote that the song is an "embarrassing hoedown ... which piles on the bad-boy-goes-to-the-rodeo cliches". Mic writer Mathew Rodriguez felt that the song was a rehash of "4x4" (2013) by Miley Cyrus that "exposes how uncomfortable Gaga feels in her new persona". Time Out said that "John Wayne" took Joanne's country theme "too literally" and panned its title. Writing for Contactmusic.com, Eoin Hanlon said that "John Wayne" and another Joanne track, "Come to Mama", "are possibly some of the worst songs Gaga has ever released".
caption: "John Wayne" was co-written by Josh Homme, who also played drums and guitar on the track.
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