Last Wednesday, on August 26, girl in red, the popular Norwegian artist, premiered her new song “Rue,” along with a music video. This is the second song this year that Marie Ulven Ringheim, known professionally as girl in red, released so far, although fans currently anticipate her upcoming debut album.
As an artist known for her songs about mental health like “Summer Depression” and “Dead Girl in the Pool,” it’s no surprise that her newest track also delves into some pretty dark themes. More specifically, “Rue” explores escapism as a way of coping with overwhelming emotions. Ulven explains that she originally got the idea for this song after strongly identifying with the character Rue in HBO’s Euphoria. While Ulven says she can’t relate to the specific experience of being a recovering drug addict, she feels that “a lot of the stuff [Rue’s] felt and is trying to escape from is s*** [Ulven’s] dealing with all the time” according to Gay Times.
She goes on to explain the significance of the song: “I wrote this song for my loved ones who are affected by my mental health. I will always try my best to get better for them.” Ulven clearly expresses this sentiment throughout by stressing the effort she puts in to deal with her issues for the sake of others and asserts that she’ll eventually find a way to “make it work.” The discussion of her deteriorating mental health and her subsequent use of escapism as a coping mechanism is painfully relatable, especially for young people, during this time.
“Rue” only serves to make fans even more excited about the album she’s currently working on. In an interview with Insider, Ulven claims that her upcoming album will be “more mature” than her previous work as she “reflect[s] way more on things that are not only happening on [her] behalf, but also understanding other people’s feelings.”
