Can’t read my, can’t read my, no, he can’t read my poker face. And apparently, he can’t comprehend the lyrics either.
‘He’, in this instance, refers to every radio station that innocently played Lady Gaga’s hit track, unaware of an explicit lyric that slipped by unnoticed.
The song quickly resonated with fans after its 2008 release, naturally making its way to radio station playlists.
Listeners joyfully sang along with Gaga, but one station noticed an X-rated lyric and deemed it unsuitable for broadcast.
That station was KIIS FM, and the ‘Just Dance’ singer later commended them for being the only ones to catch the lyric.
She mentioned the song while speaking on stage at KIIS FM’s 2009 Wango Tango, telling the audience: “KIIS FM is the smartest radio station in the whole world, and I’ll tell you why.
“Because [Poker Face] got played all over the world in thousands and tens of thousands of radio stations, but KIIS FM is the only one that said I had to censor my lyric because they thought I might be saying something bad.”
She went on to reveal that of all the places that played the song, ‘KIIS FM is the only one that was right’.
If you’ve been running the song through your head trying to pinpoint the explicit lyric, allow me to clarify.
You’re likely familiar with the bridge where Gaga seems to repeatedly sing ‘p-p-p-poker face’ four times. It turns out she’s actually singing something else.
The actual lyrics are ‘p-p-p-poker face, f-f-f**k her face (mum-mum-mum-mah)’.
Clearly, it’s not suitable for radio.
Fans have been left stunned by this revelation, with the clip of Gaga discussing the song quickly going viral.
“Well I was today years old when I learned this and I’m 29,” wrote one astonished Gaga fan.
“I can’t unhear it now,” said another, while a third added: “My whole teenage existence is shaken.”
However, some fans insisted they’d known all along. One wrote: “I KNEW IT!!!!!” on TikTok.
“And people always told me I was crazy when I said that was the lyric. WELL GUESS WHO WAS RIGHT,” fumed another.
Let’s hope radio stations have updated their censored versions by now!