Lady Gaga Fights Different Versions of Herself in New Video for ‘Disease’

Shortly after putting out her dark electro new single “Disease,” Lady Gaga has shared its official music video.

In the newly-released visuals, Gaga confronts different versions of herself — some more spooky than others — as she attempts to regain control of her deepest fears personified. Ahead of the music video’s worldwide release, Gaga posted a statement to her Instagram stories about the song’s meaning.

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“I think a lot about the relationship I have with my own inner demons,” she wrote. “It’s never been easy for me to face how I get seduced by chaos and turmoil. It makes me feel claustrophobic. Disease is about facing that fear, facing myself and my inner darkness, and realizing that sometimes I can’t win or escape the parts of myself that scare me. That I can try and run from them but they are still part of me and I can run and run but eventually I’ll meet that part of myself again, even if only for a moment. Dancing, morphing, running, purging. Again and again, back with myself. This integration is ultimately beautiful to me because it’s mine and I’ve learned to handle it.”

She concluded stating, “I am the conductor of my own symphony. I am every actor in the plays that are my art and my life. No matter how scary the question, the answers are inside of me. Essential, inextricable parts of what makes me me. I save myself by keeping going. I am the whole me, I am strong, and I am up for the challenge. Happy Halloween.”

“Disease” came out last Friday after hints began to emerge about its release date. Last weekend, fans noticed a pop-up site on Universal Music that posted pre-saves for the single, linking to Apple Music and Spotify. Gaga also published a playlist of past hits on Spotify with certain letters capitalized and lowercase, with the latter spelling out “Gaga Disease.” Fans quickly ascertained that it was pointing to gagadisease.com, which led to a series of websites that revealed some of the song’s lyrics.

Gaga is currently riding high off of “Die With a Smile,” her duet with Mars that released in August. The song has been a commercial juggernaut since its release, currently sitting at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 after previously reaching a peak of No. 3. On Spotify, it’s surpassed 770 million streams, and its official video has racked up 230 million views on YouTube.

The pop star is gearing up for the release of her seventh album, which is tentatively slated for February. Last month, she surprise-dropped “Harlequin,” a collection largely comprised of American Songbook standards and inspired by her role as Harley Quinn in the film “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

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