Lady Gaga performs at the 2015 Copenhagen Jazz Festival.
Lady Gaga’s first release of the year is a powerful song about “painful life experiences” which is accompanied with a harrowing music video.
The pop star has shared the dramatic 5 minute clip for "Til It Happens To You," which depicts various examples of violence against young women and how the survivors cope with their ordeals. In one shocking scene, a pair of young women are drugged and sexually assaulted at a college party.
Gaga collaborated with songwriting legend Diane Warren on "Til It Happens To You,” which featured in The Hunting Ground, a documentary about college campus sexual which debuted in January.
Gaga tweeted to her 50 million-plus followers overnight that her song was made for “people all over the world who suffer from painful life experiences.”
She added, “We hope u feel our love&solidarity through the song & perhaps find some peace in knowing u r not alone through this film #TilItHappensToYou.”
The video was written and shot by Catherine Hardwicke, who directed 2003's Thirteen and 2008's Twilight. Near its conclusion, the clip carries the message, “1 in 5 college women will be sexually assaulted this year unless something changes“ and points its viewers to the Facebook page for The Hunting Ground and Itsonus.org, the White House’s support Website for men and women who’ve endured sexual crime.
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"I heard about [the film] and it just really touched me," Warren told Billboard earlier this year in her first interview since The Hunting Ground premiered at Sundance, "and she had stuff in her life that she could relate to. Gaga is one of the most talented artists I have worked with in my life and I'm excited about doing more with her."
A portion of proceeds from the sale of the song will benefit organizations supporting sexual assault survivors. Watch the clip below.