The “Sad Girl Era” phenomenon and lyrical storytelling with Naina Singh

One of my favorite parts about TikTok is that it’s given a platform to artists who can now showcase their craft in such a low-fi, yet powerful way. One of my favorite singers on the app is Naina Singh, most well-known for her rewrites of trending pop songs. By rewrites, she’ll take a verse of a song, say Lover by Taylor Swift, and write a whole new section equally as emotional as the original.

I’m not the only one obsessed with her talent. Her videos have racked up 2.9M views, with hundreds of thousands of comments requesting other songs, or simply expressing their love for her songwriting. I had a chance to chat with Naina and let me tell you - the way she speaks is just as poetic as the lyrics she writes. Here’s what she had to say:

INNER CIRCUS: Talk to me about the “Sad Girl Era” phenomenon. What about this trend do you think resonates with so many people in our generation?

Naina Singh: In the beginning, I was hesitant about the idea of the “Sad Girl Era” because I was worried people would start to romanticize emotions more than they need to. It’s hard, especially if you’re femme presenting, to have your emotions taken seriously. With the interruption of the “Sad Girl Era” it became cool, and almost cute, to be sad. 

I hope that people who are really going through it are getting the help they need and doing well, and I’m happy that the trend has helped normalize the importance of feeling emotions. Having the time and space to feel when we are coming out of the depths of a global pandemic is so important and people are understanding grief whether on a macro level or a larger scale. It’s normal to need a moment to feel emotions and just process, and I think the “Sad Girl Era” is so relatable because now people can feel emotions casually instead of having to look at them as super overwhelming which can prevent them from processing them at all. Now, people can put on a sad song and just feel whatever they need to in order to be fine. 

“With the interruption of the “Sad Girl Era” it became cool, and almost cute, to be sad.”

INNER CIRCUS: Do you feel like the presence of the “Sad Girl Era” forces you to write sad music, or do you lean into this genre because you personally enjoy listening to this genre of music?

Naina: It’s a mix of both. When you make music, half of it, or 60% of it, is because it’s yours and you love it and want to put out music that exists as its own art form. The other 40% of it is that you have to appeal to the audience that follows your music. When I want to make my listeners happy, I start with the list of songs they want to hear, oftentimes sad songs, and work my way down the list. 

INNER CIRCUS: How quickly do you turn around these rewrites requested by your followers?

Naina: I’ll typically pick the song the day of, write the lyrics, and record the video. Someone recently commented they want me to do a rewrite of Marjorie, and I was like, “Yes! I have to do this right now.”

INNER CIRCUS: Where does the inspiration behind your songwriting come from? 

Naina: Songs I write from scratch stem from personal experiences. I feel like I heard so much good music growing up and living in a music-forward family. There is a story to be told attached to the music I resonate with the most. I also feel like songwriting is a beautiful form of therapy so I write based on personal experiences or dreams, but try to exclude myself enough that I don’t infringe on the way other people may feel.

For the rewrites, which I started doing with Harry Styles’ music, I like to envision what it would be like to write as that person. Harry is such an Aquarius, in the best way possible, and his metaphors aren’t always written from a super secure standpoint which is done so purposefully. With Taylor’s music, you have the essence of a fairytale combined with an emphasis on reality, so it’s a mix of language you’d find in a storybook but lyrics you can relate to which is a really special trait to have. 

“With Taylor’s music, you have the essence of a fairytale combined with an emphasis on reality…”

INNER CIRCUS: Have you ever gotten emotional writing a song, whether your own or a rewrite?

Naina: About a year ago, I lost my gran. We were very close and she’s one of the first people I've really lost. I learned a lot about what grief is and what it means. Over the course of this past year, a lot of music I've written is based on grief and processing emotions. Sometimes I put myself in my mother’s shoes and wrote verses from her perspective. 

There are moments when it becomes overwhelming as you start to process these emotional memories knowing you can’t go back in time. Sometimes, it becomes paralyzing because you can't step away from it. It’s like looking at a car crash; you know it’s happening, and you’re watching it, but you can’t figure out how to move away from it. The best thing I learned to do is take a moment to sit down, stare at the words, or cry if I need to, but work through the rewriting. Sometimes, I’ll have a voice memo I talk or sing into, but delete it afterwards. It’s comforting to know it was there for a moment in time and being able to have a moment to process it is really important. 

INNER CIRCUS: As much as writing music helps you process your own emotions and experiences, has songwriting, or listening to music, ever helped you feel not alone? 

Naina: I feel like things happen at such oddly specific times. Right after I started writing music about my gran, a lot of musicians I admire made posts remembering the loved ones they lost, or writing music about them as well. It was so weird, but beautiful, to exist in a time when both I and the people I love were writing music about grief. 

I don’t feel alone when I am surrounded by artists who share their own experiences. It’s helped me understand that while grief looks different for everyone, and you may not be in the same stage of grief as someone else, you can relate to what they are feeling. At the end of the day, I hope that my music will help someone else who is going through something similar feel what they need to feel and experience those moments where they can ground themselves in these feelings.

“...while grief looks different for everyone, and you may not be in the same stage of grief as someone else, you can relate to what they are feeling.”

INNER CIRCUS: What does wellness look like to you after these highly intense, emotional songwriting sessions? 

Naina: If I’m writing late at night, I’ll most likely go to sleep. If I’m writing during the day and I find myself spacing out, I’ll listen to music. I have a playlist of songs called “What you need to hear, when you need to hear it” which is a collection of songs that ground me and bring me a sense of comfort. It’s really helpful for me to transition back to real life once I hit play. 

INNER CIRCUS: What are the top 3 songs on that playlist? 

Naina: Matilda by Harry Styles, such a good tune. There are some other deep cuts on here. We’ve got Breathe Deep by Sleeping At Last, and Disengage by Kieran Rhodes.

INNER CIRCUS: What has the transition been like from making music in your bedroom to posting it to the world on social media?  

Naina: It's so surreal, especially more recently because a lot of people started hopping on the Taylor Swift bandwagon for me which is really exciting, but also intimidating. The people who love their favorite musicians are really dedicated which I love because I feel a strong sense of community. I try to honor them while not stepping on anyone's toes.

I also feel imposter syndrome. I think anyone who is doing something publicly will always feel a sense of imposter syndrome lingering over them. But I try to focus on making myself happy instead of putting too much pressure on making everyone else happy. 

One way I have tried to protect myself is by remembering I am doing my best as long as I’m not hurting anyone’s feelings or intentionally causing anyone pain. I feel like I’ve hit a really lucky streak on social media because I haven’t had anyone be extremely rude and I’ve been on TikTok for over a year now. I saw one comment where someone said my music ruins the metaphor of the song, but I pretended I didn’t see it because everyone is going to have an opinion. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion, but I know deep down I am not out here trying to hurt anyone. I’m just out here trying to send love and get it back. 

 “I’m just out here trying to send love and get it back.”

INNER CIRCUS: What guardrails do you set around your rewrites specifically? Have you ever had to turn down a request because it didn’t feel right to you?

Naina: 100%. I have a limit as to what I will rewrite or sing. Someone wanted me to make Dear John happy and I just couldn’t do it. It’s not a happy song, it’s about a very heavy sense of betrayal and dishonesty and you’re dealing with someone older in a relationship with someone who was so young and could have been taken advantage of. It’s not my job to take something sad and make it happy. That feels disingenuous. 

INNER CIRCUS: Now time for our round of rapid-fire questions. Ready?

Naina: Ready.

INNER CIRCUS: Favorite line you’ve ever written?

Naina: For the rewrites, the one I wrote for Cardigan has to be my favorite: “You were light on sleepless nights, now I’m not dreaming.” It makes me so happy. Well, it’s sad, but I’m so happy I came up with it. 

I think from my own music, possibly the song I wrote for my gran called The Matriarch which I want to release soon. The opening verse is: “When you wake up, I hope you’re happy and you recognize where you are. You feel less pain in your body and you’re greeted by all the stars.”

“You were light on sleepless nights, now I’m not dreaming.”

INNER CIRCUS: A song you wish you wrote? 

Naina: A song called To Be a Bird by Ariza. It made me stop in my tracks. The music is stunning, the lyrics are so precious, and it’s so sincere. Also, the production on it is insane.

INNER CIRCUS: If you’re having a bad day for whatever reason and you need a quick pick-me-up, what do you do? 

Naina: The one thing I do that is tried and true is make a cup of tea. It’s always solved all my problems. And then I’ll take a nap and be back on my a-game.