Alejandro (song)  "Alejandro" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga. It was released as the third single from her third EP, "The Fame Monster" (2009). Co-written and produced by Gaga and Nadir "RedOne" Khayat, it was inspired by her "Fear of Men Monster". The singer bids farewell to her lovers over mid-tempo synth-pop music with a Europop beat. Contemporary critics predominantly gave "Alejandro" positive reviews and noted that it takes influence from the pop acts ABBA and Ace of Base. The song charted in the United Kingdom and Hungary due to digital sales following the album's release. Upon release, "Alejandro" charted again in the United Kingdom as well as in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United States while topping the Czech, Finnish, Mexican, Venezuelan, Polish, Russian, Bulgarian, and Romanian charts. "Alejandro" became Gaga's seventh successive single to reach the top-ten of the US "Billboard" Hot 100. The accompanying music video was directed by fashion photographer Steven Klein and inspired by Gaga's love for her gay friends and admiration of gay love. Within the video, Gaga dances with a group of soldiers in a cabaret, interspersed with scenes of Gaga as a nun swallowing a rosary and near-naked men holding machine guns. The music video was controversial and received mixed reviews. Critics complimented its idea and dark nature while the Catholic League criticized Gaga for alleged blasphemy, despite Klein dismissing the idea and claiming that the scene in question (the swallowing of Rosary beads) was Gaga's "desire to take in the Holy". Gaga performed the song on the ninth season of "American Idol" and has performed it on all dates of The Monster Ball Tour and on all subsequent tours to date. Gaga co-wrote and co-produced "Alejandro" with RedOne. It was recorded at FC Walvisch Studios in Amsterdam. She told Fuse TV that the inspiration behind "Alejandro" was her "Fear of Men Monster". "Billboard" described "Alejandro" as a synth-pop song with a "stomping Euro-pop beat". The song is influenced by ABBA and Ace of Base, the latter being prominent in the beats of the song, the vocals, and the melody. The words are slurred in Gaga's vocal delivery while the composition consists of an uplifting melody. The song opens with the main melody from the Hungarian piece "Csárdás" by Italian composer Vittorio Monti played on violin, as a distressed Gaga (speaking in a Spanish accent) states: "I know that we are young, and I know that you may love me/But I just can't be with you like this anymore, Alejandro."