“Do you listen to Girl In Red?”. Have you ever heard this question? If the answer is yes, maybe a girl was trying to flirt with you or trying to find out if you’re queer.
In 2020, during pandemic times, Girl In Red went viral on TikTok. Through her songs, people started feeling safer to express their love and share it, especially on social media. Songs like “We fell in love in October” and “I wanna be your girlfriend” became hits in the LGBTQIA+ community. She’s now considered a reference to gay music.
But do you really know Girl In Red? What’s her real name? How is her life? If you want to know more about the singer, keep reading this article.
- Who’s Girl in Red?
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Girl In Red is actually called Marie Ulven Ringheim. She is a 22 years old Norwegian singer-songwriter and a record producer. She was born in Horten, which, as she described it, is “a boring city”.
Ulven sings indie pop music, a music genre that follows an ethical ideology of Do it yourself. She talks in her lyrics about going through some mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, and her romantic experiences as a queer teenager.
Before she described herself as a musician, for a long time she wanted to be a teacher. But in tenth grade, when she got her first guitar, Ulven started to write her own songs and post them on SoundCloud. During an interview with Paper Magazine, she talked about how she was feeling with her new life:
I was just going to study music and see what happened, but then this happened. I never really decided, yes, I’m going to be a musician. I sort of just am, right now. I don’t want to be anything else, though, so I’m really happy because I can’t really do anything else with my life. It’s so weird to say I’m a musician. But I am.
Girl In Red - How did she come up with the name “Girl in Red”?
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There’s a lot of nostalgia behind the name of her project. It’s about a teenage crush story. Ulven used to have a crush on her best friend. They were at a festival and they were looking for each other in the crowd while texting.
At that moment, when they found each other, Ulven’s crush happened to be wearing a red sweater. Marie said that she called her “girl in red” and told about that feeling of having a crush, and how beautiful she looked. She even wrote a song called “She was the girl in red” to register the moment and bought herself a red turtleneck as a reminder. They never ended up together because the girl was straight, but that’s how the Girl In Red was born.
- Ulven’s romantic life
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Marie is very fond of writing about her feelings in her songs. Mixing the beat with lyrics, she’s capable of conveying love, anger, sadness and nostalgia. Despite being discreet about who she dates, you can know a lot by listening to any of her songs, like these examples show:
“I wanna be your girlfriend”
Oh, Hannah
Just look at me the same
I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips
“hornylovesickmess”
So, don’t ever take me back
Let’s just face the fact
I treated you like trash
And you deserve more than that
“Did you come?”
You’re so fake, it’s all lies
Was she good? Just what you like
Did you come? How many times?
[…]
I can’t forgive, I can’t forget
I should have known you’re full of it
I’m not upset, I’m fucking pissed
I spelled it out, you’re illiterate
“October passed me by”
I keep the letters that you wrote in a secret place
Every now and then, I go down memory lane
October passed me by just like any month
But I still think of the times you took the breath out of my
Lungs
“Girls”
‘Cause I don’t know what to do
It’s not like I get to choose who I love
- Girl in Red’s inspirations
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In an interview with DIY Magazine, Marie was asked about her inspirations in the music world and said that she’s inspired by the idea of doing what she loves and pursuing the things she wants in her life.
She also spoke about her dream collaborations: “I really wanna collab with King Princess, she’s so cool. I’d also like to write with Taylor Swift ‘cause she writes bangers”.
Swift is one of Girl In Red’s biggest influences, according to an interview with Vulture: “The one that has stayed with me from the beginning and even up until now is Taylor Swift. Like, I’m such a big Swiftie. She’s one of my core musical inspirations […] she’s a great songwriter and a great musician, you know? That is so inspiring. From a younger point of view, Red was a very big influence for me, especially when I started writing music and playing guitar”.
For Ulven’s happiness, Taylor Swift shared on her Instagram a screenshot listening to the If I could make it go quiet album, supporting Girl In Red’s work and calling it “spectacular”. No wonder Marie was one of the attractions at the opening of The Eras Tour.
- Ulven and Luna
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How about ending this article with a very cute moment? This is Luna! She’s a border collie and Ulven’s partner at all times. The singer posts a lot about the puppy on her Instagram page.
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The article above was edited by Julia Queiroz.
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