ARTIST/SONG: Lady Gaga, “‘Til It Happens To You” (2016)
***TRIGGER WARNING!*** The following contains graphic content that may be emotionally unsettling, but reflects the reality of what is happening daily on college campuses. (Taken from the beginning of Lady Gaga’s video).
I heard this song and could instantly identify with both the video and the words. It came out in 2015/2016 and was included in the documentary, The Hunting Ground, which chronicles the lives of young people affected by rape, and which premiered in January 2015 at the Sundance Film Festival. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the song was donated to organizations helping survivors of sexual assault. It has been nominated for an Oscar at the 2016 Academy Awards, but sadly did not win.
When Lady Gaga sang the song, at the Academy Awards, she debuted her new tattoo (a design created by a sexual abuse survivor), called the Fire Rose Unity Survivor symbol. I actually caught that on TV, while I was still in active DV, and was so enamored and impressed by it. I did finally have it tattooed on my body in 2021. It is a simple outline of a rose on fire, designed to represent strength and unity. The two dozen sexual assault survivors who joined her on stage had all gotten the same tattoo. It was tremendously moving! #metoo
Lady Gaga, also known as Stefani Germanotta, was raped when she was 19, later resulting in pregnancy, by a male music producer, who had threatened to burn her music if she did not take her clothes off. She would later have a mental breakdown, after admitting to the rape in 2014 and trying to process her trauma.
LYRICS (Courtesy of LyricFind)
“”Til It Happens To You”
You tell me it gets better, it gets better in time
You say I’ll pull myself together, pull it together
You’ll be fine
Tell me what the hell do you know
What do you know
Tell me how the hell could you know
How could you know
‘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 it feels
You tell me hold your head up
Hold your head up and be strong
‘Cause when you fall, you gotta get up
You gotta get up and move on
Tell me, how the hell could you talk
How could you talk?
‘Cause until you walk where I walk
It’s just all talk
‘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 (how could you know?)
No it won’t be real (how could you know?)
Won’t know how I feel
‘Til your world burns and crashes
‘Til you’re at the end, the end of your rope
‘Til you’re standing in my shoes, I don’t wanna hear nothing from you
From you, from you, ’cause you don’t know
‘Til it happens to you, you don’t know
How I feel
How I feel
How I feel
‘Til it happens to you, you won’t know
It won’t be real (how could you know?)
No it won’t be real (how could you know?)
Won’t know how it feels
‘Til it happens to you, happens to you
Happens to you
Happens to you, happens to you
Happens to you (how could you know?)
‘Til it happens to you, you won’t know how I feel
Video Here:
