Melissa Etheridge Releases "Pulse" In Aftermath of Orlando

Lesbian singer songwriter Melissa Etheridge wrote and recorded a new song this week in response to the Orlando massacre that has left 49 people dead and more than 50 injured.

"Pulse" is a soaring and moving tribute to the victims of the tragedy. The song has the same name as nightclub where the attack took place on Sunday, June 12.

"I'm dealing with it the way I deal, which is, I wrote a song," Etheridge told the Rolling Stone. "I just sat here, and I just started writing a song... That's how I first started to cope because, as a singer songwriter, I feel very... I've done this before. I feel called to speak; to do what musicians do. We've been the town criers for hundreds of years. We're mirrors of society. We want to try to make sense. We want to try to heal. We want to bring some meaning, some purpose. We also want to put it down forever in history. That's how I'm coping."

The song will soon be made available for purchase and the proceeds will benefit the victims through Equality Florida.

The Advocate called the song an "Anthem For Our Sorrow."

"I get so moved by so many things, not just the sadness of tragedy," the Grammy-winning singer told the Advocate. "I also get moved by how we react. Unfortunately, it takes a hideous event like this, but sometimes it brings people together and moves others who might have been like, 'That gay thing is not anything I'm concerned about.' It moves them and they think, I have to stand on the side of love and peace."

Here are some of the lyrics:

"Everybody's got a pain inside/ Imaginary wounds they fight to hide/ How can I hate them, when everybody's got a pulse?/ Once again I hang my head to cry / I can't find a reason why they died / We will find the answer / Blowin' in the wind/ I am human; I am love/ And my heart beats in my blood/ Love will always win/ Underneath the skin, everybody's got a pulse."

Listen to the song at Rolling Stone.com.