Review: "amelia" - girl on a hill x Sarah Barrios

Alexa LaMalfa
Apr 16
3 min read

Amelia Cover Art by Sarah Barrios x girl on a hill

There are people in life that linger in your thoughts, even after they’ve left. It’s hard to forget someone who had such a crucial impact on your life, and it’s inevitable to miss them. “Amelia” by girl on a hill x Sarah Barrios is a beautiful yet haunting song about the mental conflict of longing and healing.

Instantly, the song opens up with the theme of running, which could symbolize a variety of things, but she sings “If I could run to the end of the world, I’d do that too” which could show how she wants to escape. Amelia has brought her a great deal of pain, and at one point there's a question “Am I making this up? Did I say too much? What’d you do to me, Amelia?” which shows the impact she had. Although it seems like Amelia represents an ex-lover, she’s described almost like a ghost that’s haunting and taking over Sarah’s dreams. By questioning what’s actually real, it quickly changes the narrative. Is Amelia even real or is she just a figment of what Sarah truly desires. Throughout the song, there’s lyrics about her current situation where a new man took over Amelia’s presence, and it’s not what she actually wants. She’s letting the memory of Amelia control her new relationships and her mental state. There’s a lot of imagery sprinkled throughout the song, like “And I’m just hoping it rains to wash away all my fears/ If these walls could talk, this room would be so damn loud”. The rain symbolizes a new beginning that she’s desperately hoping for. The walls are holding her secrets. Hidden in between those walls is a vulnerable Sarah fighting what’s so emotionally overwhelming for her, so much that she's keeping it secret from the people around her. Later on, she switches fears for sins, and she wants the rain to wash away her guilt.

Produced by Chris Lyon, “amelia” is a vulnerable song about emotional despair, confusion, longing, and obsession. The lyrics hold so much power when you truly sit down and pay attention to them. I love that Sarah’s voice is the main focus of the song. There’s a beautiful layer of an acoustic guitar, that only enhances the song and doesn't take away from it. The cover art shows the garden sung in the first lyric “Running through the garden”, but the big tree she’s standing under has no leaves. That alone is very symbolic. Sarah’s voice is perfect for a song like this. Her voice is very calming, and although her tone is softer, she’s still very impactful.

Sarah Barrios is a songwriter and book enthusiast. She’s been surrounded by music her whole life and started writing songs when she was 13 years old. She has a natural talent for songwriting and has entered various competitions throughout the years. She won Best New Artist at the New England Music Awards and has been a finalist for many others. Her talent was quickly noticed, and she’s opened up for artists on tour such as Melanie Martinez and Charlie Puth to name a few. She’s sung with Dua Lipa on her live TV appearances, like Jimmy Kimmel, and collaborated with artists like Why Don’t We, Andy Grammer, and Zara Larsson. She’s performed at Lollapalooza and The Governors Ball Music Festival in 2021. Sarah has over 188,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and has even seen streaming numbers in the millions for her songs. Sarah created “girl on a hill” as a new project that brings her back to her bookish routes combining childlike curiosity, aged fears, and the feeling of a fantastical whimsy. This is a new and exciting path for Sarah, and I truly am so excited to see what’s next for both Sarah and girl on a hill. Check out “amelia” and give it a listen!