'Just a Girl'
By Maya Lane
I started writing ‘Just a girl’ last July, in my bedroom at home after a family member had asked me for the 100th time if I was ever going to get a boyfriend! The first few verses of the song (which haven’t been changed or tweaked since that moment) were my initial, raw reaction to the question. Expressing my frustration of feeling like no one else could see what I can see, which is that I’m happy and fine not in a relationship, (which seems to be questioned more for women than men).
However, the song became so much more than that, it also celebrates and touches on what it means to me to be a girl: the sense of community, the beauty, the power, the chaos, the emotions, the simple and the complex. Whilst acknowledging the stereotypes that exist and changes that still need to be made in our society.
It was so important to me that we kept the music video simple but meaningful, just like the song. I asked my followers and friends to send in videos that describe and portray girlhood to them. I really wanted everyone to feel as though they had a part in this. We filmed the performance part of the video in the beautiful garden location of ‘Little House Sessions’ (which is a collective bringing musicians together and creating a space for artists to share their music in a way that feels like a heart to heart conversation in your home).