"Til It Happens to You" is a song produced and performed by American singer Lady Gaga. She co-wrote the song with Diane Warren for the 2015 documentary film The Hunting Ground, which deals with campus rape in the United States. The song had leaked onto the Internet through an unofficial recording made at the film's premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It was later released by Interscope Records to digital retailers on September 18, 2015. The director and producer of the film had looked for someone influential to write a song for it, and music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg contacted Warren, who was interested. She wrote the song with Gaga and producer Nile Rodgers accompanied them during the recording, providing his suggestions.
A universal song about any kind of loss in life, "Til It Happens to You" was placed during two sequences in the film, highlighting the pain of sexual assault. The song consists of an orchestral production with strings and an emotional vocal delivery from Gaga. Lyrically, it asks listeners to stand in a victim's position and try to understand the turmoil they go through. "Til It Happens to You" was later included as part of a public service announcement video directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The video depicts various instances of violence against women and sexual assaults. It ends with a cautionary note about the effects of such distress, and individuals finding solace with their close friends and relatives.
A portion of the proceeds from retail sales was donated to organizations supporting victims of sexual assault. Commercially, the song reached the top thirty in Finland, Greece, and Spain, and it peaked at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in March 2016. "Til It Happens to You" won an award at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and it was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards and for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards, along with numerous other awards. Such aforementioned nods make "Til It Happens to You" the first song in history to be nominated for a Grammy Award, Academy Award and an Emmy Award in the same year.
Background and release
"Til It Happens to You" was written by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga, and recorded by the latter for The Hunting Ground (2015), a documentary film about campus rape in the United States. Director Kirby Dick and producer Amy Ziering wanted someone with "major" influence to record a song for the film, believing it would generate publicity and promote the subject. They contacted executive producer Paul Blavin, explaining their idea and added that they did not have the resources to find someone. Blavin started searching and met with music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg, who introduced him to Warren. Warren was moved by the idea saying: "I cannot not write a song for you. And not only can I not not write a song for this movie, I'm going to gift it to you." She wrote the song after viewing scenes from the film almost a year before the track's release. Warren then called Gaga and played her a rough demo, but was unsure about her involvement. So she decided to fly to New York and try to work with Gaga; the latter accepted the song and decided to record it. Warren said of the song and Gaga's contributions:
"I heard about [the film] and it just really touched me, 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... There are a lot of levels to the song. There's something very vulnerable about it and something very defiant about it, especially the way [Gaga] sings it. The first verse is vulnerable—'You tell me it's going to get better?'—and the second verse comes in and it builds. 'Really? It gets better? No. You don't know until it happens to you...'"
Warren also added that the song's message was universal in nature and relatable to any loss faced in life. Gaga, who herself is a victim of rape, revealed during the Producers Guild of America Awards 2015, that the song's theme was important to her family as well. Her father's sister Joanne had been sexually assaulted while attending college, and the subsequent torment worsened her prevailing lupus, resulting in her death and profoundly affecting Gaga's family. The singer became involved with New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo's push for new legislation to help eradicate "rape culture" in American universities, signing a letter supporting it. Titled "Enough Is Enough", the legislation went into effect in July 2015.
A controversy over the song’s writing arose in January 2016 when songwriter/producer Linda Perry claimed on Twitter that Diane Warren wrote the track alone and only gave Lady Gaga a co-writing credit for promotional reasons. Warren quickly defended Lady Gaga, confirming it was a genuine collaboration that shaped the final vocals and arrangement, though often vocals and arranging are distinct from the songwriting process.
On Twitter, Perry wrote, “I have Diane’s original demo with her singing. The only line that has been changed ‘Till you’re at the end, the end of your rope. Originally was ’TIL YOU GOT A HOLE RIPPED IN YOUR SOUL.’ So I guess technically one line was changed so sure Gaga possibly ‘rewrote’ a line but chances are Diane still took part in rewriting that line which means Gaga contributed a few words. Is that writing? Not in my book.”
The documentary features two versions of the song, one during the body of the film and the second at its closing, and highlights the sequences of the pain of sexual assault. While the song played, the lead subject, an assault survivor, reminisced about the impact of rape while walking around a college campus. Ziering concluded that having Gaga sing the track fulfilled their need for publicity since she "[brought] a whole other demographic. Anyone who has that kind of platform to reach all sorts of people that maybe would not necessarily be inclined to be interested in your issue... it's incredible." "Til It Happens to You" leaked onto the Internet before it was officially released, through an unofficial recording made at the film's premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. In April 2015, Warren confirmed that the song would have an official release and was waiting for a final audio mixing by Gaga. It was later released as a digital download single on September 18, 2015.
Recording and composition
In an interview for a Billboard podcast, Nile Rodgers spoke about the song's recording sessions and working with Gaga and Warren. He had met Gaga at a party and she invited him to join them in the studio. During recording, Gaga was singing in a D note, over the F note of the music that was being played. Rodgers suggested to Warren that since the D vocals made the song sound like a country track, they could instead inverse the chords into thirteenth (an octave plus a sixth), thus serving a dominant function. Warren accepted the suggestion and the song was re-recorded. Gaga reportedly struggled while recording the song, since it caused her to recall her own trauma. Warren explained that it was "very emotional for her. She couldn't even talk through it at times." Gaga told an interviewer with Variety that Warren had helped her feel comfortable about the song and its subject matter, allowing her to transcend the singing and put the correct emotional depth in her performance. "When Diane first played me what she had begun with the song, I needed no convincing about the record... it was about sharing that part of myself with the world... We talked a lot about what I felt the song needed in order to reach as many young people as possible. I felt that it needed to not stay in a purely emotional state, but that it was going to somehow grow throughout the performance and the song and by the end, kind of be full of rage. I feel like what this song accomplishes is women—or men—rising to say, 'You think you can hurt me? You don't know about power. Because after what you did to me, you don't even know how much stronger I am.'" "Til It Happens to You" is a somber tune featuring orchestral production and soaring strings. The pop ballad delivers an empowering message: "Hold your head up and be strong / When you fall you gotta get up", and has been described as "stirring and emotional". Featuring a classical production, the song emphasizes Gaga's vocals, keeping focus on the lyrics, which clarifies that one cannot understand the feelings of a victim unless they have been in similar situation. The first verse is sung by Gaga in a vulnerable voice, which gradually changes into an aggressive tone, and finally a joyous one during the final lyrics. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, "Til It Happens to You" is set in the time signature common for a slow tempo of 59 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of A minor with Gaga's vocals spanning from E3 to D5. The song follows a basic sequence of Am–C–Fmaj7–C–G/B as its chord progression.
Critical reception Jeff Benjamin from Fuse noted that the song contains a "powerful message" while the composition was evocative of her "biting" ballads like "Dope". Brennan Carly from Spin said the song "highlights [Gaga]'s evocative voice" and is similar in tone to "Speechless" and "Gypsy". While reviewing the documentary, Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter said that the song provided "an extra jolt of poignancy" in the film. Lauren Valenti from Marie Claire described the track as "robust and orchestral", adding that the lyrics "command attention". She complimented the decision to have Gaga sing the track, given her connection to sexual abuse. Bradley Stern from MuuMuse also compared it to "Dope" and "Speechless", while comparing the string arrangement to the music of Lana Del Rey. Stern described it as a "massive production" complimenting the lyrics by being straightforward. For Manohla Dargis of The New York Times, Dick was able to successfully change the sombre mood of the documentary with the inclusion of the song. Spencer Kornhaber from The Atlantic praised the song and Gaga's vocals, saying that: "Even with such somber subject matter, [the singer's] booming delivery and dramatic phrasing will probably remind people of the time when [Gaga's 2009 single] 'Bad Romance' ruled the radio."
Declaring the song Gaga's "most stirring" release, Michelle Geslani from Consequence of Sound called the track: "a sweeping and intensely powerful number — it's not just any ordinary pop song". Christopher Tapley from Variety praised both Gaga and Warren's songwriting, describing it as: "something of an anthem for the cause... It is one of the strongest contenders in this year's race for best original song [in the Academy Awards]. But far more than that, it is a rally cry for a movement." Lisa Wright wrote in NME that the song is: "a somber piano ballad befitting of the topic with lyrics that depict the frustration of being told to pick yourself up and carry on by people who couldn't possibly understand your situation." Idolator's Robbie Daw claimed that the "powerful, unsettling" visuals were complemented by a "strong vocal performance" from Gaga. Brittany Spanos from Rolling Stone called it an "evocative track", which highlighted Gaga's vocals and believed it to be "a perfect follow-up to [Gaga's Cheek to Cheek album] with Tony Bennett". Spanos added that "[an Academy Award win would be a triumph] following [Gaga's] critical and commercial miss with most recent album Artpop and help break Warren's losing streak at the show."
Chart performance