Lady Gaga Takes the Power Back in Her Chromatica Track "Free Woman"

Lady Gaga said it from the start: Her new album, Chromatica, is about healing from pain, whether that pain stems from her experience with depression, PTSD, fibromyalgia, or past breakups. Now that the album is finally here, we learn from the track "Free Woman" that the pain she referred to also includes surviving sexual assault.

"I was sexually assaulted by a music producer," Gaga said in an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, while explaining the song. "It's compounded all of my feelings about life, feelings about the world, feelings about the industry, what I had to compromise and go through to get to where I am. And I had to put it there. And when I was able to finally celebrate it, I said, 'You know what? I'm not nothing without a steady hand. I'm not nothing unless I know I can. I'm still something If I don't got a man, I'm a free woman.'

"It's me going, 'I'm no longer going to define myself as a survivor, or a victim of sexual assault. I just am a person that is free, who went through some fucked-up shit."

Gaga has been a vocal advocate for sexual assault survivors. She also co-wrote the Oscar-nominated song "Till It Happens to You" for the 2015 documentary The Hunting Ground, which sheds light on assault on college campuses, and performed it at the 2016 Oscars with fellow survivors onstage. In 2018, she explained how trauma affects victims while supporting Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as she testified against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Just because Gaga made Chromatica, a high-energy album of dance hits, as a way of coping with her pain, that doesn't mean she's entirely healed from the things that have hurt her. "And by the way, I'm not standing over here with a flag going, 'I'm all healed, everything's perfect.' It's not; it's a fight all the time," the singer told Paper magazine for a March interview.

"I still work on myself constantly. I have bad days, I have good days," she added. "Yeah, I live in Chromatica, it took a minute to get here, but that doesn't mean I don't remember what happened. So if you're in pain and listening to this music, just know that I know what it's like to be in pain. And I know what it's like to also not let it ruin your life."

Read the full lyrics to "Free Woman" below.

(I'll remember that, I'll remember that)
(I'll remember that, that I)
(I'll remember that, I'll remember that)
(I'll remember that, that I)
I walk the downtown, hear my sound
No one knows me yet, not right now
But I am bound to set this feeling in motion
I walk the downtown, hear my sound
I say that I want it, want it (Be free)
Don't fight it, fight it
But if I'm gonna go for it
I'll remember that, that
I say that I want it, want it (Be free)
Don't fight it, fight it
But if I'm gonna go for it
I'll remember that, that I
I'm not nothing without a steady hand
I'm not nothing unless I know I can
I'm still something if I don't got a man
I'm a free woman, oh oh (Be free)
Oh yeah (Be free)
This is my dance floor I fought for
A heart, that's what I'm livin' for
So light up my body and kiss me too hardly
We own the downtown, hear our sound
I say that I want it, want it (Be free)
Don't fight it, fight it
But if I'm gonna go for it
I'll remember that, that
I say that I want it, want it (Be free)
Don't fight it, fight it
But if I'm gonna go for it
I'll remember that, that I
I'm not nothing without a steady hand (I'm a free woman)
I'm not nothing unless I know I can (I'm a free woman)
I'm still something if I don't got a man
I'm a free woman, oh-oh (Be free, come on, woo)
I'm a free woman
I'm a free woman (Be free)
I'm a free woman
I'm a free woman, oh oh (Be free)
Oh yeah (I'm a free woman)
I'm not nothing without a steady hand (I'm a free woman)
I'm not nothing unless I know I can (I'm a free woman)
I'm still something if I don't got a man
I'm a free woman (Oh), oh oh (Be free)

Erica Gonzales Erica Gonzales is the Culture and Content Strategy Editor for BAZAAR.com, where she oversees news and culture coverage, including celebrity, music, TV, movies, and more. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. You may be able to find more information on their web site.