" Telephone " is a song by American pop singer Lady Gaga from her second studio album, The Fame Monster (2009). The song features American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles . Initially offered to singer Britney Spears , the inspiration behind the song was Gaga's fear of suffocation and the fact that she seldom found time to have fun.
The lyrics portray the singer as preferring the dancefloor rather than answer her lover's phone calls. Gaga explained that the telephone adressed in the lyrics of the song, is in reality a person telling her to continue working harder.