With a unique and eclectic sound, Maggie Rogers has easily become one of my favorite artists. After her popular hit “Alaska” was played for Pharell Williams and the video went viral she quickly rose to fame. Her two albums Heard It In a Past Life and Surrender have gained her widespread recognition and accolades. Here are my top five songs:
Anywhere With You
An upbeat song with deep-cutting lyrics, this song trails a couple who want to escape, away from the real world, finding comfort in each other. Taken to the road, the singer recounts her love and admiration for her partner and her willingness to do anything for them. Despite being shrouded in flaws and difficulties in their relationship, the couple would do anything and follow each other wherever they go.
Fallingwater
Many of Rogers’s songs surround tumultuous relationships and how she attempts to find her place within love. “Fallingwater” is no different. This is a song about being vulnerable to change and the unknown of it. In a note shared by Rogers herself, she describes the song as being about “giving everything and not knowing it’s enough.” She struggles as she tries to run against the current—like she is fighting against change—and gets stuck but then ultimately accepts her fate and is set free.
Resonant Body
Interestingly enough Rogers wrote this song as a homework assignment for one of her college classes while she attended New York University. This song is about what it means to be human, but more specifically what it means to be comfortable with yourself. She characterizes her body as resonant, meaning to prolong a deep and clear sound. This represents the human journey of expressing who we are through our self-expression—in the way we carry ourselves, the clothes we wear, and how we become in touch with ourselves.
I’ve Got A Friend
A powerful song about the intricacies of friendship and the joy friendship brings to people’s lives. The song describes two friends who met at a party and were with each other for good moments of their lives but also helped each other through difficult times. Platonic love is just as powerful and necessary as romantic love, Rogers recounts. Sometimes life is about finding friends who will hold your hand as you face the wind.
Horses
“Horses” takes the listener through a tale of mourning lost love. Seeing someone who used to be an influential force in your life but at a distance and not being able to say anything to them. The singer realizes that she needs to leave and move on, but she still invites the other person to come with her. Once she realizes that she is leaving on her own she sees horses, which symbolize a wild and free ambition to explore her dreams in their entirety.