“Poker Face” Lyrics & Meaning (Lady Gaga)

Lady Gaga has had a long, successful career with many hits.

But Poker Face remains her biggest hit ever.

It was the second single from her debut album and it is the song that introduced most of us the the singer.

The Poker Face lyrics meaning clearly mixes sex and gambling metaphors.

But is there more to it than that?

There is. But it still has to do with sex.

Keep reading to find out exactly what Lady Gaga was singing about back in her early 20s. It is part of the reason she has become such a huge icon to the LGBTQ+ community.

 

Poker Face Lyrics And Meaning

Poker Face was released on September 23, 2008, as the second single from Lady Gaga’s album, The Fame. Poker Face was the best-selling single of 2009 worldwide, with almost 10 million sales, and is one of the best-selling singles of all time, having sold over 14 million copies in total.

The main theme of the song is bisexuality. It was written as a tribute to Lady Gaga’s rock and roll boyfriends, with the song’s lyrics featuring various sexual innuendos. Here are the complete lyrics. Below, we will get a bit more into the meaning.

 

Poker Face Lyrics

Verse 1

I wanna hold ’em like they do in Texas, please (Woo)
Fold ’em, let ’em hit me, raise it, baby, stay with me (I love it)
LoveGame intuition, play the cards with spades to start
And after he’s been hooked, I’ll play the one that’s on his heart

Pre-Chorus

Oh, woah-oh, oh, oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I’ll get him hot, show him what I’ve got
Oh, woah-oh, oh, oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I’ll get him hot, show him what I’ve got

Chorus

Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, he can’t read my poker face
(She’s got me like nobody)
Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, he can’t read my poker face
(She’s got me like nobody)

Post-Chorus

P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face
(Mum mum mum mah)
P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face
(Mum mum mum mah)

Verse 2

I wanna roll with him, a hard pair we will be (Woo)
A little gamblin’ is fun when you’re with me (I love it, woo)
Russian roulette is not the same without a gun
And baby, when it’s love, if it’s not rough, it isn’t fun, fun

Pre-Chorus

Oh, woah-oh, oh, oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I’ll get him hot, show him what I’ve got
Oh, woah-oh, oh, oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I’ll get him hot, show him what I’ve got

Chorus

Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, he can’t read my poker face
(She’s got me like nobody)
Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, he can’t read my poker face
(She’s got me like nobody)

Post-Chorus

P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face
(Mum mum mum mah)
P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face
(Mum mum mum mah)
(Mum mum mum mah)
(Mum mum mum mah)

Bridge

I won’t tell you that I love you
Kiss or hug you
‘Cause I’m bluffin’ with my muffin
I’m not lyin’, I’m just stunnin’ with my love-glue-gunnin’
Just like a chick in the casino
Take your bank before I pay you out
I promise this, promise this
Check this hand ’cause I’m marvelous

Chorus

Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, he can’t read my poker face
(She’s got me like nobody)
Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, he can’t read my poker face
(She’s got me like nobody)
Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, he can’t read my poker face
(She’s got me like nobody)
Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, he can’t read my poker face
(She’s got me like nobody)
Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, he can’t read my poker face
(She’s got me like nobody)
Can’t read my, can’t read my
No, he can’t read my poker face
(She’s got me like nobody)

Post-Chorus

P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face
P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face
(She’s got me like nobody)
P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face
(Mum mum mum mah)
P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face
(Mum mum mum mah)
P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face
(Mum mum mum mah)
P-p-p-poker face, f-f-fuck her face
(Mum mum mum mah)

 

Poker Face Meaning

Lady Gaga wrote Poker Face together with Moroccan singer and songwriter RedOne. Lady Gaga stated in an interview with the Fox News channel that she wrote the song as a tribute to her “rock ‘n’ roll boyfriends.”

Gaga also stated that the main ideas behind the song were sex and gambling. Poker Face was inspired by her past sexual experiences as a bisexual.

In the lyrics, Gaga sings about being with a man while fantasizing about being with a woman, and the man needs to read her ‘poker face’ in order to understand her true desires.

When asked about the meaning of the song while touring in London in 2013, Lady Gaga stated “You know this song is actually about when I was making love to this guy that I was dating a long time ago. I was thinking about chicks every time we had sex. And I just didn’t want him to figure it out because I felt so bad. But I don’t anymore because I wrote a song about it.”

Perhaps I should have included Poker Face in my list of songs about secret love. Sounds like Lady Gaga certainly had one (or a few), even if she never acted on it.

The song’s lyrics are interspersed with sexual innuendo and gambling metaphors. When Lady Gaga was asked by Rolling Stone magazine about the meaning of the line “bluffin’ with my muffin,” Lady Gaga explained that it really was a metaphor for her vulva.

She stated that “it’s my pussy’s poker face!” She added that it came from the lyric “Blueberry kisses, the muffin man misses them kisses” from an unreleased track called “Blueberry Kisses,” in which a girl wants her boyfriend to perform cunnilingus on her.

 

Additional Info About Poker Face

Next, we will answer a few common questions about the song Poker Face and the performer Lady Gaga in general. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments below.

How old was Lady Gaga when Poker Face came out?

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known as Lady Gaga, was 22 years old when she released this song.

What movie is Lady Gaga’s Poker Face in?

The song was used during the promotions for the movie Easy A. The movie is an teen romantic comedy from 2010, starring Emma Stone, Stanley Tucci, Thomas Haden Church, Amanda Bynes, Lisa Kudrow, and Aly Michalka among others. It was inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter and is considered one of the better high school movies from the era.

Is Lady Gaga Italian?

Lady Gaga was born on March 28 1986, into an Italian American family in New York City.

What does the slang term ‘poker face’ mean?

‘Poker face’ refers to an expression on someone’s face that does not show what he or she is really thinking or feeling. The term comes from poker players trying not to reveal to their opponents whether or not they have a good hand.

 

Poker Face Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts

Lady Gaga has become a huge icon for the LGBTQ+ community and the Poker Face lyrics meaning has a lot to do with that. The singer herself has explained that it is a song about bisexuality.

She had many musician boyfriends and she recalls one in particular, where every time they had sex, she would be fantasizing about women. Perhaps she overshared a bit by turning that into a song for everyone to listen to, but we are all glad she did. It is one of the most successful songs of all time.

It is obvious that the relationship in this song has a very limited lifespan ahead of it. For the exact opposite, i.e. an eternal relationship, check out our analysis of the lyrics and meaning of A Thousand Years by Christina Perri.

For another song about sex, in this case a specific sex act, check out our look at the lyrics and meaning of All My Life by Foo Fighters.

You should also check out our analysis of the The Stroke lyrics and their meaning. It seems obvious there is a sexual double meaning, but songwriter Billy Squier vehemently denies it.

Finally, if you want more from Lady Gaga, we also have an article discussing the meaning of the Bloody Mary lyrics.