REASONS TO LOVE
THE "RAIN"

"Rain on Me," the new single from Lady Gaga f/Ariana Grande (which appars on Gaga's forthcoming Interscope set, Chromatica, due next week), is a big extravagant pop jam with an elaborate, gritty and stylish video. It's also off to a killer start in the marketplace. Damn if it doesn't feel like exactly what we need right now.

Truth, people? It's been hard. Yeah, we're putting a brave face on it, and every time we get on the phone and say we're hanging in there we kinda secretly wanna add the word "barely," even though hearing your voice makes it better. Seeing your face, too, if we're Zoom-ready, but shit if our hair isn't in beast mode, and not in a good way.

And look, we're delighted that bedroom pop and rap records are exploding out of TikTok and shooting up the Spotify charts and these lo-fi kids are knocking it out of the freakin' park. And we're glad that people are turning their isolation into clever solo performances and videos.

But we also miss big, extravagant pop videos with dancers and rain and big ol' choruses and superstar divas singing together. We maybe didn't know how much.

Which is part of why "Rain on Me" feels so exhilarating, like an obscure wish suddenly granted. It's big and brassy and uplifting. It starts with Gaga on the ground, a knife sticking out of her thigh, which is a pretty potent metaphor for the moment. And when she pulls it out and starts to move, it feels like a reminder that we can survive this and flourish again. And after a lot of headlines about stars sniping at each other over chart drama, it's good to see two of them sharing a big chorus and some sexy choreography.

The song also feels, in a very downbeat year for Pride, like an anthem—the kind of "Rain" that can feel like a parade.

Sometimes a song comes along at just the right moment. That's how this one feels. Turn it up.