Lady Gaga Explains How “Free Woman” Is About Moving Forward After Sexual Assault

Lady Gaga has been open about her struggles with mental and physical health stemming from a sexual assault when she was a teenager, and on her new album, Chromatica, she tackles the issue head-on. The project’s fifth song, “Free Woman,” finds Gaga coming to terms with her past but no longer allowing it to define her. It features production from BloodPop®, Axwell, and Klahr.

In a statement to Apple Music, Gaga explained how a harrowing experience in her past shaped and inspired the song:

I was sexually assaulted by a music producer. It’s compounded all of my feelings about life, feelings about the world, feelings about the industry, what I had to compromise and go through to get to where I am. And I had to put it there. And when I was able to finally celebrate it, I said, ‘You know what? I’m not nothing without a steady hand. I’m not nothing unless I know I can. I’m still something if I don’t got a man, I’m a free woman.’ It’s me going, ‘I no longer am going to define myself as a survivor, or a victim of sexual assault. I just am a person that is free, who went through some f-cked-up sh-t.’

Gaga is referencing the song’s chorus, where she sings:

I’m not nothing without a steady hand
I’m not nothing unless I know I can
I’m still something if I don’t got a man
I’m a free woman, oh-oh

The second verse offers a hopeful note, with Gaga reflecting on how she’s fought for inner peace and bodily autonomy:

This is my dancefloor I fought for
A heart, that’s what I’m livin' for
So light up my body and kiss me too hardly
We own the downtown, hear our sound

“Free Woman” isn’t the first time Gaga has referenced sexual assault in her lyrics. She earned an Oscar nomination in 2016 for “Til It Happens to You,” a song she wrote from the documentary The Hunting Ground about sexual assault on college campuses. The singer and actress spoke about her experience in a 2018 Women in Hollywood event for Elle:

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