Lady Gaga’s New “911” Video Is a Personal Story About Mental Health
The idea was 25 years in the making
Lady Gaga leaves heads spinning with her new music video for “911,” the latest single off her Chromatica album.
What begins as a peculiar dream in the desert of New Mexico turns out to be a real-life nightmare as Gaga wakes up to find herself having barely survived a gnarly car accident. Frenzied and gasping for air, paramedics resuscitate her on the scene, as police officers and emergency responders flash past, hinting at the song's title.
Related article: Lady Gaga Goes Fresh-Faced In New Valentino Perfume Campaign
In an Instagram post shared after the video premiere, Gaga explained that the video's meaning runs deeper than the dream sequence plot twist. “This short film is very personal to me, my experience with mental health and the way reality and dreams can interconnect to form heroes within us and all around us,” she wrote.
Related article: Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande Were "Like Sisters" Working on "Rain on Me"
She also revealed that the concept for the story comes from director Tarsem Singh Dhandwar, who shared the 25-year-old idea with Gaga "because my life story spoke so much to him." Dhandwar's past credits include R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" and En Vogue's "Hold On" videos. The crew filmed "911" "safely during this pandemic without anyone getting sick," Gaga said.
Related article: Lady Gaga And Ariana Grande Get Completely Soaked In Fake Weather Channel Broadcast
The singer also thanked her fans, her Little Monsters, for their support. “I’m awake now, I can see you, I can feel you, thank you for believing in me when I was very afraid," she added. "Something that was once my real life everyday is now a film, a true story that is now the past and not the present. It’s the poetry of pain.”
Gaga's new release arrives shortly after she dominated at the 2020 Video Music Awards, where she took home five trophies, including the inaugural Tricon Award, and performed “Rain on Me” with Ariana Grande for the first time.
Watch the full “911” video above.
This story originally appeared on Harper's BAZAAR US.