"This is a brand-new record that no one's ever heard before ... ever," she said while seated at one of her signature deconstructed pianos and wearing a bedazzled black bra and panties with black boots. "And I've never, ever played it live, ever."
On her Twitter, she described "You and I" as a "new song ... written in NY on the piano I grew up on."
She wasn't kidding about the song having a rock edge, as the tune eschewed most of her dance flavor, right down to a rollicking barrelhouse piano solo, during which she stood up on the piano bench and bashed out some John-worthy runs on the black and whites. She finished the tune crouched on the bench, wailing, "You and I," while pumping her fist, before giving it a big finish that included kicking a heel up on the keyboard and lying across the piano bench with her head on the ground.
Gaga also took the stage in a wheelchair with her chest covered in fake blood and accompanied by an oiled-up male dancer for a run through "Alejandro," and she performed her ballad "Speechless." During the latter, John came out and joined her for a dueling-pianos showdown, trading off verses on the tune dedicated to Gaga's dad and then reprising their Grammys duet with a snippet of his hit "Your Song," during which he improvised the line, "I hope you don't mind that I wrote down in words/ How wonderful life is with Gaga in the world."
