Maddie Zahm — Dani

Raw and to the point, about those unspoken loves you never quite move on from.

Maddie Zahm’s “Dani” is an ode to an old friend she had romantic feelings for in the past—feelings she couldn’t understand or deal with at the time. Zahm’s singing is so earnest and moving, the song has a sense of depth despite its lyrical simplicity. You can really feel the love and the heartache.

Zahm shared the background for the song in an interview with NPR:

[…] I ran into a friend that I had known in high school. That relationship was just very, very confusing for me. And when I ran into her, it was interesting because I had come out at that time. And I saw her, and I was like, oh, my goodness. Like, I had a crush on her. I totally was into her.

Because I was in the church and closeted, I didn't even put two and two together. And so I think that's a very queer experience to, like, realize that.

And although I don't feel that way now, I just needed to write it to honor that part of me.

I really enjoyed the interview, so I recommend checking it out if you’re interested in Zahm’s work! I also liked her interview with Billboard.

Zahm’s music very often touches on issues she’s struggled with in her personal life; her most popular songs so far are “Fat Funny Friend,” about her painful social and emotional experience as a fat woman, and “You Might Not Like Her,” about the stark differences between current self and the kind of person her childhood self would approve of—and how those differences are representative of how much she’s broken free of, how much she’s grown. The video for “You Might Not Like Her” totally made me cry!