- Lady Gaga -
'Til it happens to you
The title “Till It Happens To You” suggests that it will eventually happen to the listener, giving a commentary on how often it unfortunately does happen.
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
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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
A common mentality that society uses towards rape victims is that they just need to be strong and move on from the rape incident – everything will resolve itself after awhile. Yet, Gaga counters, it is unrealistic to place this kind of expectations on rape victims. You cannot expect them to simply forget about what happened and leave the past behind. You cannot expect them to go around sharing their experience with rape, especially due to the social stigma that surround rape victims – a stigma that states that it is the victim’s fault for the crime of the rapist.
According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, rape can lead someone to PTSD, depression, self-harm, sleep disorders, and various other terrible side effects. One’s life may be completely ruined or modified – rape victims can and have in many occasions become pregnant, which can result in extremely negative effects upon the victim’s life. Rape can destruct and destroy a person’s emotional conscience, often leading to anxiety, paranoia, and other mental disorders.
Rape can be so psychologically destructive that it can lead to suicide or attempted suicide – likely what Gaga means by the “end of your rope.” Suicide.org suggests that 33% of rape victims experience suicidal thoughts, and 13% actually attempt suicide.
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“Standing in [someone’s] shoes” refers to empathy and compassion for another’s situation. There must be empathy and understanding for rape victims. We cannot approach the topic of rape with the general mentalities that people who have not experienced rape exhibit as these mentalities may be skewed and inconsiderate of a rape victim’s struggle.