Diane Warren, an acclaimed
songwriter winning many awards, wrote a song for only one person to deliver,
Lady Gaga (29), that addresses a huge issue in our colleges, nation-wide:
College Rape. Diane Warren goes on with describing the songs intelligently
planned crescendo, stating that “it begins feeling very vulnerable, but builds
to show anger instead of vulnerability intending to empower and create an understanding
environment,” as she continues to explain the universal nature of the song,
title “Til It Happens to You” and how it could relate to more than sexual abuse
on campus but rather relate to divorce, depression, suicidal thoughts, un-acceptance,
and just sadness in general. The song has lyrics that states “you don’t know
how I feel, til it happens to you” that is constantly repeated and Warren states, “this was intentional, we needed the point to be stressed and Gaga
delivered the message beautifully, and with such a big name she let the word
get out faster as well.”
I decided
to think back to that one lyric that Gaga sings that Warren states is so heavily
stressed: “You don’t know how it feels, til it happens to you,” and the lyrics
continue to say “no it won’t be real, not to you, it won’t be real, til it
happens to you,” and I thought back to slavery and segregation in the United
States. I thought about how could I possibly know what it was like to be told
for days upon end that I couldn’t ride the same bus, or that I couldn’t drink
from the same water fountain or use the same restroom, and I began to think how
discrimination is still alive and well in this country. It’s shocking that so
many people come from all over the world and think that this is the land of the
free, but it really isn’t. This is the land of judgment, and it has been since
the beginning. It started with judging the native people as savages, then Africans
as slaves and the ‘help’, then it became prominently woman as they had little
rights, and as of right now, it still is the LGBTQ+ community. We as a country
face discrimination for skin color, religion, sexual orientation, etc. The fact
that Lady Gaga could bring this message to the pop culture and its audience, I
think it’s a step in the direction of realization. By realization, I mean,
there are still going to be racists and homophobes and sexists, but in the end,
they will be conflicted with the thought that Gaga and Warren stress so heavily…
“you won’t know til it happens to you.”
SOURCE: http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/lady-gagas-new-song-takes-on-campus-rape/vi-AAezNDu
Good for Diane Warren for coming up with such brilliant lyrics, and good for Lady Gaga for realizing it's a problem and not pretending it isn't. (Alejandra Hernandez-6th period)
ReplyDeleteGood for Diane Warren for coming up with such brilliant lyrics, and good for Lady Gaga for realizing it's a problem and not pretending it isn't. (Alejandra Hernandez-6th period)
ReplyDeleteI think talking about issues is the key to change. If we don't discuss these taboo topics, less people will be aware of them and therefore less people will call for change. I think that this story is so interesting because Diane Warren is taking advantage of a less used, but probably most effective, channel for communication: song. It is usually wasted on parties or love, but Warren is putting it to good use. The more people know about the epidemic of college rape, the more likely it is to change.
ReplyDelete-Lisl Wangermann 1st Period
I like how you connected "you won't know till it happens to you" to slavery and segregation. It's a strong feeling that I think everyone has understood at some point in their life and accounts for a lot of unfortunate events in history.
ReplyDeleteIn a radio interview I listened to with Howard Stern, Lady Gaga talked about how the song was very personal to her, because she was a victim of sexual assault when she was younger. I think it's incredibly brave of her to admit this to help others.
ReplyDelete