More than a decade after its release, Lady Gaga's "Bloody Mary" broke into the mainstream after fans of Netflix's "Wednesday" used it in viral edits of the titular character, played by Jenna Ortega. It got so big that Gaga contributed another song, "The Dead Dance," to the soundtrack of the show's second season, and she even appeared in a special guest role in the series.
Gaga spoke with TUDUM by Netflix to recap her experience with the show. Read some highlights from the interview below, or read the full interview here.
On "Bloody Mary" going viral:
Gaga said "Bloody Mary," a deep cut on her 2011 album "Born This Way," was "too weird and too hard for radio – too much of everything." While she said she doesn't know why the song was used in fan edits, but she expressed gratitude for it, saying, “In the spirit of Wednesday, it’s so cool that an underdog song started racing up the charts when the dance took place. It means a lot to me, because you believe in something that you’ve worked on and you go, ‘This is ahead of its time, so no one might get it now,’ and it actually happens, 10 years later.”
On how "The Dead Dance" came to be:
After "Bloody Mary" went viral, "Wednesday" co-creators and showrunners Miles Millar and Alfred Gough knew they wanted to use one of Gaga's songs for a dance sequence they had planned for the season. Gaga said that once they called her, she immediately knew "The Dead Dance" would be the perfect contribution.
She said of the song's meaning, “The inspiration for ‘The Dead Dance’ was a breakup, and it’s about how we sometimes feel when it’s over — how a relationship ending can kill our ability to feel hopeful about love,” she says. “In the song, I say, ‘I’ll keep on dancing till I’m dead,’ meaning that I’m acknowledging that, and I’m going to keep going. I’m also saying, ‘I’m taking the power back.’”
Corey Baker, the choreographer of the dance, said he freaked out when he learned he'd be choreographing a Gaga song. He said he had just a week to come up with ideas, but the end product turned out great.
On working with Tim Burton:
While Gaga stated the reason she made a special guest appearance in the show as Rosaline Rotwood, a former Nevermore professor, she said, "They asked me if I wanted to be on the show, and I said, 'Absolutely.'"
This means she had the opportunity to work with famed director Tim Burton, who would go on to direct the music video for "The Dead Dance." The two quickly hit it off, as they share the same sense of humor. "I don't know how to explain it, but when you have a kindred, shared interest in this type of artistry, there's a certain vibe – and it's nice," she said.
"To me, when you know that music and pop culture and Tim Burton al come together... that's a very special recipe," she said. "That's why I'm here."