Don’t feel bad if you didn’t understand the concept behind Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video. “There’s certainly always a hidden message in my music videos,” Gaga tells “E! News.” “I’m always trying to convolute everyone’s idea of what a pop music video should be.”

According to the megastar, the Quentin Tarantino-inspired clip is a commentary on American culture. “I wanted to do the same thing [as ‘Paparazzi’] with this video. Take a decidedly pop song, which on the surface has a quite shallow meaning, and turn it into something deeper; the idea that America is full of young people that are inundated with information and technology, and turn it into something that was more of a commentary on the kind of country that we are.”

She also had something to say about her partner in crime Beyoncé, who she shares screen time with for the second time. “I was very excited to be working with Beyoncé again. It just sort of works out because we both like women.”