I wish that I could cope, but I took pills and left a note: Lady Gaga courts controversy with suicide song, Princess Die
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CONTROVERSY is good for the Lady Gaga business.
And it's with that in mind that the star debuted her new song, Princess Die, in Melbourne last night.
Gaga told her fans that the piano ballad reflected the most "deep and personal thoughts I've ever had".
The song, which was uploaded to YouTube soon after the show, is her darkest yet and deals with suicide.
Although Gaga stressed that the song had nothing to do with Diana - she spelled out the title just in case there was any confusion - the lyrics do touch on details of the princess's life.
The end of the song, whose chorus is "Princess Die, I want to see her cry", is clearly about Diana's tragic death in Paris in 1997:
And wish that I would go
In my rich boyfriend’s limo, oh oh
Right after he proposed
With a 16-carat stone wrapped in rose gold
With the papparazzi all swarming ’round
In my Louis Vuitton white button-down
Oh, it’s not that deep
So bob head your head for another dead blonde
Whose real prince is in heaven
She just wants to sleep
However, it's the lyrics that talk about suicide that will be a cause for concern, especially for the parents of Gaga's teen fans.
I wish that I was strong
I wish that I was wrong I wish that I could cope, but I took pills and left a note
The fact that Gaga is testing the waters with the song while on tour suggests she is very aware of its controversial themes and the potential for backlash.
Chris Wagner, the communications director for Lifeline, said the song sent a worrying message to Gaga's fans.
"Lifeline is very concerned about the nature of the song, particularly as it clearly describes the method of suicide and talks in depth about suicide,” he told news.com.au.
"It doesn’t actually have any message of hope, of help seeking, or anything of a positive nature whatsoever.
"We understand artistic licence and we get artistic expression, but celebrities need to recognise that they’re role models for young people in the community.
"Young people often live and breathe by the lyrics to the songs of their favourite stars."
Mr Wagner was concerned songs like this promoted "suicide contagion", where people copy activities of suicidal people.
"It's really important that young people who are feeling sad or thinking about suicide recognise there is help and there is light at the end of the tunnel, and there are people who care about them, that want to help them."
This is the same argument that says playing video games makes you want to kill people.
Well, hold on now, because there is a lot of proof that validates this argument; however, there aren't any links that I know of between songs discussing celebrity suicide and teenagers killing themselves.