Music

Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande just simultaneously invented music, listening, emotions and crying with ‘Rain On Me’

May 22 2020
Written by Josh Milton

Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande dropped ‘Rain On Me’ Friday (May 22). (Twitter)

Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande dropped their long-awaited “Rain On Me” duet, featured on the upcoming album Chromatica, and the gays… they went well and truly wild.

At precisely 12am Friday (May 22), Greta Thunberg, global world leaders and the creators of the iPhone weather app opened their windows and looked in astonishment as clouds, darkened with rain, abruptly smeared the sky.

The sound of a trumpet then blared, and none other than Gaga appeared, shouting “I didn’t ask for a free ride” as the heavens themselves opened and it rained on us all.

Of course, that didn’t happen, but this is likely what the experience of setting an alarm for 12am felt for countless housebound Little Monsters and Arianators, tucked in their beds and blasting “Rain On Me” out of Bluetooth speakers.

Pop music has been saved for the second time this week – Carly Rae Jepson swooped in with Dedicated B Side on Thursday (May 21) – as Gaga and Grande dropped their seriously anticipated duet, “Rain On Me”.

The track is a raw exploration of grief and heartbreak the two pop queens have faced, with the disco beats carrying lyrics speaking of the experience of misery, overcoming pain and, of course, a lot of rain.

Seriously, the word “rain” is mentioned 50 times. That’s some heavy rainfall.

**Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande drop ‘Rain On Me’ Chromatica duet.**

Anyway, in the run-up to the song’s release, Gaga and Grande both invented auditory perception and tweeted a bunch of promotional artwork.

Alongside a lot of rain-themed filters and emojis as well as some interesting choice of memes.

#RAINONME ⛈ TONIGHT @arianagrande https://t.co/BFkKbs3Gun pic.twitter.com/fapNnFo4tc

— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) May 21, 2020

https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/1263519281943326722

“Love u, Ariana Grande,” Gaga tweeted, “let’s do this. Nothing can stop us, we know that now.”

She later added: “Thank you for reminding me I’m strong, I’m super emotional and love you so, very much, I cherish you, Ariana Grande, and Little Monsters, without you I don’t how I could survive.

Thank you for reminding me I’m strong, I’m super emotional and love you so very much, I cherish you @ArianaGrande and little monsters without you I don’t know how I would survive. I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive.— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) May 22, 2020

“I’d rather be dry, but at least I’m alive.”

After the pair gushed over one another, Gaga and Grande somehow cracked whatever semblance of sanity fans had left as they were paralysed with anticipation for the song with this exchange.

MOOD 😭😭😭💕💕💕🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) May 22, 2020

Yeah.

**Lady Gaga gave some background on what creating ‘Rain On Me’ meant for her and now we’re not crying, we swear.**

“Now when I cry instead of fighting it I say ‘I’m ready, rain on me’. [Producer] Blood Pop, thank u for encouraging me to keep going when I was sad,” the singer wrote.

Now when I cry instead of fighting it I say “I’m ready rain on me” @bloodpop thank u for encouraging me to keep going when I was sad. Turns out even if you don’t feel good enough you still can be. I heard my joy back when we wrote this song. It was there, I just needed to find it— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) May 22, 2020

“Turns out even if you don’t feel good enough you still can be. I heard my joy back when we wrote this song. It was there, I just needed to find it.”

Definitely not crying.

Gaga was emotional during the drop, tweeting that she was “crying” while sitting on her porch, hinting that in her struggles with her mental health, she often wrestled with leaving the house.

If we’re gonna cry we’re gonna cry together, but we’re gonna dance while we do it. #RainOnMe #LittleMonsters ⁦@ArianaGrande⁩ 💕💕let it pour☔️ I’m crying on my porch that I use to not be able to leave, I was stuck. Now I dance on it and sing about how I got through it. pic.twitter.com/fZgrMDJYg2

— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) May 22, 2020

“Now I dance on it,” she wrote, “and sing about how I got through it.”

The “Stupid Love” hitmaker has been candid about how Chromatica will be an album of transformative trauma for her, noting in a recent interview with Apple Music Beats 1 that the music is all about channelling her pain into music people can dance to.

Ariana Grande: ‘[Lady Gaga] immediately felt like a sister to me.’

And, just in case you somehow have not cried during this saga, Grande opened up on what is the three-year anniversary of the Manchester bombing attack about what collaborating with Gaga for the song meant for her.

“One time, I met a woman who knew pain the same way I did, who cried as much as I did, drank as much wine as I did, ate as much pasta as I did and who’s heart was bigger than her whole body,” Grande tweeted.

“She immediately felt like a sister to me.

https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/1263682104736526338

“She then held my hand and invited me into the beautiful world of Chromatica and together, we got to express how beautiful and healing it feels to mothaf**king cry

“I hope this makes u all feel as uplifted as it does for us both. I love u, Lady Gaga, “>u stunning superwoman!”

When Gaga spoke to PAPER Magazine ahead of the song’s launch, the artist hinted of Grande’s involvement by noting that she’s working with a female pop star who has experienced trauma in the public eye.