Lady Gaga’s ‘Hold My Hand,’ from ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ Struggles to Take Flight

Lady Gaga has dropped her new single, “Hold My Hand,” from the upcoming film Top Gun: Maverick, the unfashionably late sequel to the 1986 blockbuster starring Tom Cruise. The original film famously spawned Berlin’s iconic hit single “Take My Breath Away,” for which Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock won the Oscar for best original song.

Produced by frequent collaborator BloodPop, with additional production by Benjamin Rice, “Hold My Hand” attempts to capture the sweeping pathos of the Berlin song. A plodding midtempo ballad with reverb-soaked vocals, booming drums, and electric guitar solo, the track also recalls ’80s-era arena-pop and Gaga’s 2011 hit “The Edge of Glory.” But for a song the artist claims she’s been perfecting “for years,” “Hold My Hand” struggles to take flight.

The “911” singer calls the song “a love letter to the world during and after a very hard time,” presumably referring to the pandemic that’s wrought chaos on the world over the last two years. “Hold my hand/I’ll be right here, hold my hand,” goes the reassuring, if overly simplistic, refrain.

Listen below:

Top Gun: Maverickis set to hit theaters on May 27th.

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