girl in red, I’m Back | Music Lifts 🎶 🏋

In the 17^th edition of Music Lifts (2024), we’re uplifted by Norwegian alternative singer/songwriter, girl in red performing “I’m Back.”

Welcome to Music Lifts 🎶 🏋, a column that seeks to highlight songs that encourage, inspire, and uplift the spirit; songs that exude fortitude, positivity, and resolve, even in the face of adversity.  Featured songs aren’t genre-specific; songs may or may not be faith-based. The goal is for these songs to make you feel better – be LIFTED to new heights!  So, for the 17^th edition of Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 (2024), we highlight “I’m Back” as performed by girl in red.

“I’m back, I feel like myself / I was gone for a minute ‘cause I went to get help.” Girl in red (Marie Ulven) is back, baby! That is worth rejoicing about. No, not only because of her musicianship but also because she’s returned from a dark place.  She continues singing on “I’m Back”, the opening track from her 2024 album, I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!, “It’s not like I wanna die / At least not now, I love being alive.” Ulven is in a happier spot than she was, which is awesome.  She penned and produced “I’m Back” alongside Matias Téllez.  The sound, in all its positive, major-key glory, is nothing short of uplifting.

In the verses, girl in red provides insight into her dark place.  “I was feeling so inadequate / Never been so out of it,” she sings in the first verse.  In the second, admittedly, “I know I have a tendency, melancholic tragedy / Always seems to follow me ‘round.” Bummer, bummer! Furthermore, “Sometimes I get bit by the dark / It spread into my heart, takes over me.” Despite it all, she adds, “I believe there’s hope for me / I’m back /… Yeah, I’m back.” In the third and final verse, she concludes wisely, “I wouldn’t go without it, the ups and downs and what-ifs / It’s all a part of being alive.” True, true, true! Life is a mixed bag, but even the worst parts are “a part of being alive.” Girl in red speaks sheer truth on “I’m Back” and shows she’s ready to embrace life head-on.

girl in red // I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! // Columbia // 2024

girl in red, I’m Back: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 No. 17 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Columbia; Hamid Tajik, Qamar Rehman, vansh mehta, Viridiana Rivera via Pexels