Last night Lady Gaga finally dropped her long-rumored new song, “The Dead Dance,” from part two of the second season of Netflix’s Wednesday, in which she will also appear as a guest star. Gaga previewed the track at Netflix and Spotify’s “Graveyard Gala” last week, where fans were given the opportunity to check out a snippet in bespoke coffins-cum-listening-booths.
A break-up song with a macabre twist, “The Dead Dance”—written and produced by Gaga, Andrew Watt, and Cirkut—finds the singer turning heartbreak into an excuse to break out her dancing shoes. “When you killed me inside, that’s when I came alive/Yeah, the music’s gonna bring me back from death,” she sings over a retro disco-pop groove, Chic-esque guitars, and canned strings.
The music video for “The Dead Dance” was directed by Tim Burton, who’s an executive producer and director on Wednesday. Shot at the famed Island of the Dolls in Mexico City, the largely black-and-white clip sees Gaga—looking like a cross between Baby Jane and Courtney Love—playing a possessed doll who spasms to life with zombie dance moves that nod to the choreography from Michael Jackson’s legendary “Thriller” video.
Watch the video for “The Dead Dance” below:

“The Dead Dance” has been added to a new digital edition of Gaga’s album Mayhem along with two other new tracks, “Can’t Stop the High” and “Kill for Love.”
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