Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars broke big with their formidable talents to become pop music royalty. Their Midas touch has garnered each many accolades, with the two collecting nearly 30 GRAMMY Awards and too many No. 1 placements on the charts to count in the years since. So it was only a matter of time before they finally collaborated. That time is now as the twosome releases their surprise duet “Die With A Smile.”
Their joint effort is just as epic as one would imagine. Guitar begins each verse softly before building and picking up piano, drums and tambourines along the way as it all crashes into a wave of sound. Gaga and Bruno, along with producers D’Mile and watts, put their pen game to work on the song as they tell the story of an encompassing love that can survive an apocalypse. It’s evidenced by the chorus, on which the vocalists deliver an urgent kind of sentiment about love.
“If the world was ending / I’d wanna be next to you / If the party was over / And our time on Earth was through,” they sing with just a hint of romantic desperation. “I’d wanna hold you just for a while / And die with a smile / If the world was ending / I’d wanna be next to you.”
The song’s video, co-directed by Bruno, continues the pastiche of ’70s sights and sounds that he perfected so well during he and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic era. This time around, the duo channels performances by the country and folk stars of yesteryear. The pair makes sure to look the part by donning matching powder blue outfits with red accents — with Bruno adding the country thanks to a white cowboy hat and Gaga doing her part with a blonde bouffant updo and a cigarette dangling from her lips. They then proceed to give a performance that wows as they devote themselves to the song and seemingly each other with a loving feeling that’s palpable through the screen. Then, as the song comes to a close, the clip ends by framing them in a heart before fading to black.
We didn’t know how badly we wanted a Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars duet, but “Die With A Smile” is a daring example of what happens when two stars with supernova talents collide. Experience pop perfection when you listen to “Die With A Smile” and watch its visual below.
