Lady Gaga’s “911” Is About Her Experience Taking Antipsychotic Medication

Lady Gaga’s new album, Chromatica, has arrived, and as usual it’s filled with avant-garde sounds and imagery. However, the album’s BloodPop® and Madeon-produced track, “911,” offers a more personal look at Gaga’s mental state. The song’s message centers around Gaga’s experience taking an antipsychotic medication called Olanzapine.

She explained the song’s meaning in a breakdown shared on Apple Music:

[“911” is] about an antipsychotic that I take. And it’s because I can’t always control things that my brain does. I know that. And I have to take medication to stop the process that occurs.

Genius contributor serenik breaks it down in an annotation:

She further explores the mental state that leads to her taking Olanzapine on the song’s first verse, singing about losing control of her thoughts and emotions:

Turnin' up emotional faders
Keep repeating self-hating phrases
I have heard enough of these voices
Almost like I have no choice
This is biological stasis
My mood’s shifting to manic places

Gaga previously revealed that experiencing sexual assault as a teenager and never properly dealing with the associated trauma led to PTSD and issues with fibromyalgia. She told Oprah earlier this year that she wants to help people become more comfortable seeking help for mental illness.

“Medicine really helped me,” she said. “A lot of people are afraid of medicine for their brains to help them. I really want to erase the stigma around this.” “911” offers an intimate look about how medication has helped her cope with past traumas and emerge happier and healthier.

Listen to the song above and read all the lyrics to Lady Gaga’s “911” on Genius now.