The more you try not to think about something, the more it creeps into your mind. It happens with anything that makes us sad, mad, or nervous. Riya Gadher’s “You Take Up My Songs” is an emotional pop ballad about not being able to get past a breakup. You can tell that she has taken all the typical measures such as ripping apart all the pictures, deleting their number, and unfollowing them on Instagram. Despite those efforts, the sadness takes up her mind and she deals with it through music. This is a great coping mechanism, but Gadher’s patience still seems to be wearing thin. The feelings that she is experiencing in this song are very relatable. Romantic or not, we all have nagging thoughts at one time or another.
One aspect of this song that I really enjoyed was the instrumentation. The combination of the piano and drums adds to the exasperation Gadher is feeling on the chorus as she sings “I am hopeless, I am hopeless. I wait for the day when I’ll move on. As for the lyrics, another part of the song I enjoyed was when Gadher said her thoughts of the breakup “owned the land” in her brain. That was a great analogy to express how much these thoughts are consuming her. The sadness of these thoughts then block out the happy ones. The only way to get rid of the sad thoughts is to put them down on paper. There doesn’t seem to be a resolution by the end of the track, but I hope that Gadher was able to find relief.
Riya Gadher is a singer/songwriter from London. In her short time on the music scene, she has hit the ground running. “You Take Up My Songs" was mixed at Abbey Road, one of the most iconic studios in the world. Music is a very big part of Gadher’s life, as she once said, “the piano is the root of every creation and the seed of all my emotions.” It is hard to believe that “You Take Up My Songs” is only her second single. Her first single, “Indian Ocean,” was released in 2020 and is also about navigating a breakup. I love both of these songs and can’t wait to hear what else she has in store!
Written By Kelli Dixon
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