After revealing she recorded a song for the new documentary The Hunting Ground last month, Lady Gaga’s “Till It Happens to You” has surfaced. The exposé-style film, detailing the rise in rape cases in American colleges, premiered last night. Lucky for us, a sneaky Little Monster found a way to record and post the track.
In the same vein of biting Gaga ballads like “Dope” and “Speechless,” this one spotlights Mother Monster’s voice among classical production, keeping the focus on the message of the lyrics. The poignant chorus goes, “Til it happens to you / You don’t know how it feels, how it feels / Til it happens to you, you won’t know, it won’t be real / No, it won’t be real, won’t know how I feel.”
It’s a powerful message. Gaga, who has spoken about being sexually assaulted herself, offers empathy to rape survivors with her opening lines: “You tell me, ‘Hold your head up, hold your head up and be strong / When you fall you gotta get up, you gotta get up and move on’ / Tell me how the hell would you know?”
Veteran songwriter and seven-time Academy Award nominee Diane Warren, who worked on the track with Gaga, recently said she hopes she’ll get “lucky” and win an Oscar for “Til It Happen to You” next year.
