Songfacts®:

• This thumping dance song finds Gaga singing about fame and adoration as she asks the listeners if they want to "see the girl who lives behind the aura." The aura is a term used within Islam, which denotes the intimate parts of the body that must be covered with clothing.
  
  Gaga uses the Islamic traditions that women should cover their bodies in public as a metaphor for life as a celebrity. The Mother Monster is saying that it is her choice to well the veil of fame in order to retain an aura of mystery.
• The growling, exotic tune track was produced by Russian-German producer and DJ Zedd. He is best known for his single "Clarity," as well as co-producing Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj's hit tune "Beauty And A Beat." Zedd first linked up with Lady when his remix of her "Marry the Night" track appeared on the special edition of Born This Way. "I think 'Aura' [is] one of the most interesting and unique electronic songs ever, honestly," Zedd commented to MTV News. "It's so crossing over to, you know, there's so many guitars and it's like an oriental vibe. And there's a hard electronic drop and kind of a minimal drop in the end. I don't how to describe it, it's kind of cool."
• The song's lyric video was directed by Robert Rodriguez and promotes his 2013 exploitation action film Machete Kills. Gaga made her first foray into acting in the movie playing the gun-toting Lady Chameleon. The song also featured in a trailer for the flick.
• "Aura" is part of Lady Gaga's 2013 album ARTPOP, which was released along with an app playable on Android and iOS (this was a time when apps were everywhere - our phones were filled with pages of them). The singer worked with Max Weisel of Relative Wave, who also worked on Bjork's 2011 app for her Biophilia album. It included a glowy character named Petga who helped users create an aura that would grow and change as they used the app more and more.