"Til It Happens to You" is a song written by Lady Gaga and Diane Warren. The song is included on the documentary, The Hunting Ground, which documents the lives of young people affected by rape, and which premiered on January 23, 2015 at Sundance Film Festival. The studio version has been leaked in full on Twitter on August 19th, 2015. The song was released on iTunes with The Hunting Ground soundtrack on September 2, 2015. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the song will be donated to organizations helping survivors of sexual assault. It has been nominated for an Oscar at the 2016 Academy Awards.
Background[]
Lady Gaga revealed the song title on January 23, 2015 through her Twitter account.
- "Recorded a song w/ amazing @Diane_Warren for very important doc #TheHuntingGround that premieres at Sundance today! Congrats 2 all involved!"
- 11:21 AM - 23 Jan 2015
- "The film documents the lives of young people affected by rape. Our song is called "Till It Happens To You.""
- 11:27 AM - 23 Jan 2015
Commercial release[]
Digital release[]
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Label: Interscope Format: Digital Released: September 18, 2015 Barcode: None Photography: N/A Design: N/A |
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| # | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Till it Happens to You" | 4:18 |
Release history[]
| Country | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
 Worldwide
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September 18, 2015 | Digital download |
 United Kingdom  Japan
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September 19, 2015 | |
 United States
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March 8, 2016 | Contemporary hit radio |
Performances[]
| Dates | Location | Channel |
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| 2015 | |||
| Dec 11 | Billboard Women in Music | Lifetime |
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| 2016 | |||
| Feb 28 | 88th Academy Awards | ABC |
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Music video[]
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The music video was released on September 18, 2015 and does not star Gaga.
Lyrics[]
Studio version[]
You tell me "it gets better,
it gets better in time"
You say "pull yourself 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?"
Till it happens to you,
you don't know how I feel
Till it happens to you,
you won't know, it won't be real
No it won't be real
Wonder how I feel?
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 can you talk,
how can you talk?"
'Cause until you've walked where I've walked,
it's just all talk
Till it happens to you,
you don't know how it feels
How it feels
Till it happens to you
You don't know,
it wont be real (how would you know?)
No, it won't be real (how would you know?)
Wonder how I feel?
Till your world burns and crashes
Till you're at the end, the end of your rope
Till you're standing in my shoes
I don't wanna hear a thing from you
From you, from you, 'cause you don't know
Till it happens to you,
you don't know how I feel
How I feel, how I feel
Till it happens to you,
you don't know
It won't be real (how would you know?)
No, it won't be real (how would you know?)
Wonder how it feels (hey)
Till it happens to you,
happens to you, happens to you.
happens to you, happens to you,
happens to you (how would you know?)
Till it happens to you
You don't know
How I feel
Demo version[]
You tell me "hold your head up
Hold you 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've walked
It's just no good
Till it happens to you
You don't know how it feels
How it feels
Till it happens to you
You won't know it won't be real
No, it won't be real
I know how I feel
Till your world burns and crashes
Till you're at the end, the end of your rope
Till you're standing in my shoes
I don't wanna hear anything from you, from you, from you 'cause you don't know
Till it happens to you
You don't know how I feel
How I feel
How I feel
Till it happens to you
You won't know it won't be real
No, it won't be real
I know how it feels
Till it happens to you
Happens to you
Happens to you
Happens to you
Happens to you
Happens to you
Till it happens to you
You won't know how I feel
Credits[]
| Written by | Lady Gaga and Diane Warren |
| Produced by | Lady Gaga |
| Recording and Mixing Engineer | Dave Russell |
| Recording engineer | Dae Bennett |
| Track Participants | Lady Gaga — Vocals, Piano George McCurdy — Drums Tim Stewart — Guitar Ricky Tillo — Guitar |
| Orchestra | String Arranger / Conductor — Stephen Oremus Leader — Ryan Shore Violin 1 — Alyssa Park (Concert Master), Natalie Leggett, Yelena Yegoryan, Jessica Guideri Violin 2 — Darius Campo (Principal), Sarah Thornblade, Christine Wu Viola — Shawn Mann (Principal), Alma Fernandez Cello — Tim Loo (Principal), Trevor Handy Bass — Mike Valerio (Principal) |
| Published by |
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