Lady Gaga speaks candidly about her mental health and how recording LG6 pulled her out of a depression
Lady Gaga’s new album Chromatica was supposed to be released on April 10. (Lady Gaga)
Lady Gaga has revealed that she was “miserable, sad and depressed” while recording her sixth studio album.
In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, the singer-songwriter spoke of the emotional time – and revealed that she was surprised when she ended up writing happy, upbeat songs.
“Everything was just firing on all cylinders and it made me feel so happy, because I thought to myself: ‘Wow, even when you feel six feet under, you can still fire on all cylinders,'” Lady Gaga told Lowe.
“I woke up every day, I would dig a grave for myself, sit in it,” she continued, revealing that she was smoking up to 40 cigarettes a day to cope during the emotionally fraught time.
But, Gaga realised: “You can dance out of the grave.”
Lady Gaga praised co-writer and producer Bloodpop for encouraging her to write when she was depressed.
She added: “We tell ourselves we have to crawl, we tell ourselves we have to cry, we tell ourselves we have to be miserable, or that’s what I told myself.”
Gaga also praised Bloodpop, who co-wrote and co-produced new single “Stupid Love”, for pulling her out of her depression. She said she would occasionally sit on the porch of her home and cry.
We tell ourselves we have to crawl, we tell ourselves we have to cry, we tell ourselves we have to be miserable, or that’s what I told myself.
“I would cry and I would say ‘I’m miserable, I’m sad, I’m depressed,’ and [Bloodpop] would go: ‘I know, and we’re gonna go make some music now.’ And then I’d go downstairs and I’d write ‘Stupid Love’, we’d make another song.
“I hope that the love that was around me in the process of making this album is something that other people feel.”
Gaga on her upcoming sixth studio album: ‘We are definitely dancing.’
Lady Gaga also spoke about her upcoming sixth album, which is widely rumoured to be titled Chromatica, and said: “We are definitely dancing.”
“I put all my heart, all my pain, all my messages from the other realm that I hear, what they tell me to tell the world, and I put it into music that I believe to be so fun and energetically really pure. I want people to dance and feel happy.
She continued: “Someone asked me the other day what my goal was with this album, and it actually sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud, but I said: ‘I would like to put out music that a big chunk of the world will hear and it will become a part of their daily lives and make them happy every single day.'”
Gaga said she would often be feeling “so down” before going into the studio, but when she sat down to write, happy music came out.
“It’s all so fun. It turns out pop music is fun!” she added.
