Lady Gaga and Elton John

Lady GaGa unveiled a new song, “You and I,” at Elton John’s annual White Tie & Tiara Ball.

Affecting a fake accent, she declared it was the first time she’s played the song live "evah." She also says it’s a “rock and roll tune,” which means “it most likely won’t ever get used as one of my singles, so I guess it’s okay if I play it tonight.”

The song reminds us a little bit of any number of 4 Non Blondes tunes and Katharine McPhee’s very underrated tune, “Had It All.”

The mid-tempo track is probably about as straight-ahead a love song as we’re going to get from Lady Gaga as she reminisces about a lost love that still has a bit of a hold on her as she strolls down memory lane. It’s a strong, though not exceptional song, and she’s probably right not to think of it as a first single, but we could certainly see if as a fourth or fifth single off her new album. The piano banging at the end is a nice little homage to Elton, with whom she’s become fast friends.

And here’s something else we’re wondering. This is fairly grainy footage seemingly taken by a fan, whose previous clips have no more than 25,000 hits or so, yet this one has already hit half a million thanks to a little help from Perez Hilton. It would seem Lady GaGa’s label is trying to start a viral campaign since they’re not trying to take down this or “Changing Skies,”  the other song that leaked last week.

We know we’re playing grammarian here, but even a fifth grader knows it’s “about you and me,” not “about you and I,” so that part is like a sharp poke with a stick every time we hear it. C’mon, Lady GaGa, you don’t want all your little monsters sounding like they don’t know their grammar, do you?

What do you think of "You and I?"