Marie Ulven has always been a bit of an open book. But when the artist known as girl in red dropped a track titled "Hemingway," she wasn't just doing a literary flex. Most people saw the name and expected a song about "The Old Man and the Sea" or maybe some bullfighting in Spain.
Wrong.
The song is actually a brutal, neon-lit mirror. It's about looking at yourself and realizing you've become a cliché in the worst way possible. Honestly, it’s one of the darkest things she’s ever put out, and for a Gen Z queer icon who built her brand on "summer depression," that’s saying something.
What is Hemingway Girl in Red really about?
The core of the song revolves around a specific, stinging insult. In the chorus, Ulven sings a line that basically stops you in your tracks: "God damn, baby, you drink like Hemingway / But your writing's no good and your songs all sound the same."
Ouch.
That isn't just a clever rhyme. It's a reference to the legendary American author Ernest Hemingway, who was as famous for his heavy drinking as he was for his Nobel Prize. By comparing herself (or the version of herself in the song) to Hemingway, she’s pointing at a toxic romanticization of the "tortured artist" trope.
You've probably seen it before. The idea that to be a great creator, you have to be a mess. You have to stay up until 4:00 AM with a bottle of gin and a pack of cigarettes. But the song flips the script. It says that the drinking doesn't make you a genius; it just makes you a person who drinks too much and makes mediocre art.
The reality of the addiction narrative
Marie has been incredibly transparent about the origins of this track. Released in May 2025 (and following the heels of her 2024 album I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!), "Hemingway" came from a place of genuine crisis. She didn't just wake up and decide to write a metaphor.
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She was struggling.
On social media and in interviews, Ulven revealed that she had developed a dependency on benzodiazepines to manage the crushing anxiety of touring. That spiraled into a year-long battle with addiction and depression that she says almost killed her.
So, when the song talks about "the act you don't know how to play," she’s talking about the performative nature of being a "rockstar" while your actual life is falling apart behind the scenes. It's raw. It's uncomfortable. It's definitely not the sugary bedroom pop of her early SoundCloud days.
Why the Hemingway reference matters
Why Hemingway? Why not any other famous drinker?
Because Hemingway represents a specific kind of "tough guy" resilience that eventually cracked. He was the man's man. The hunter. The soldier. The writer who stripped language down to its bare bones. But he also struggled with deep-seated mental health issues and eventually died by suicide.
Using his name creates a shorthand for a very specific type of tragedy. It's about:
- Self-destruction masked as "character building."
- The ego involved in thinking your pain makes you special.
- The failure to live up to the legendary status you're trying to project.
When someone tells the narrator, "your songs all sound the same," it’s the ultimate ego-death for an artist. It strips away the romantic veneer of the "troubled soul" and leaves behind a person who is just stuck.
Sound and structure: A departure
Musically, the song doesn't try to be a radio hit. It’s got this lo-fi, almost demo-like quality in parts, produced alongside her long-time collaborator Matias Téllez. It feels like a voice memo you weren't supposed to hear.
The tempo is sluggish, mimicking the feeling of being "at the bottom of the bottle," as the lyrics suggest. There’s a certain irony in a song about your music "sounding the same" being one of the most sonically distinct things in your discography.
The fan reaction and the "Girl in Red" legacy
If you've spent any time on TikTok in the last five years, you know that "Do you listen to girl in red?" became a code for "Are you queer?" It was a soft, safe way for people to identify each other.
But as Marie has grown up, her music has moved past the "cute crush" phase. "Hemingway" represents the "adult" phase of her career—where the problems aren't just about whether the girl next door likes you back, but whether you're going to survive your own brain.
Fans have rallied around the song because it tackles something that is often stigmatized in the LGBTQ+ community: the intersection of queer identity, the pressure of public visibility, and substance abuse.
It’s not a "fun" song. It’s a "thank god someone said it" song.
Addressing the misconceptions
There’s a segment of the internet that thinks this is a diss track against Hemingway himself, or some weird commentary on 1920s literature. It’s not. It’s also not necessarily about a breakup, though it uses the voice of a "loved one" to deliver the hard truths.
The "you" in the song—the person calling her out—acts as the externalized voice of reason. It’s the friend or partner who is tired of watching the person they love play a role that is killing them.
Moving forward after Hemingway
So, where does this leave girl in red?
This track feels like a bridge. It’s Marie Ulven shedding the last remnants of the "bedroom pop" label and stepping into something much more "indie-rock-confessional." It’s messy and it’s loud, even when it’s quiet.
If you're looking for the actionable "takeaway" from a song like this, it’s basically a warning against the "tortured artist" trap. If you find yourself romanticizing your own downward spiral because you think it makes you "interesting," this song is the cold bucket of water to the face.
How to actually apply the "Hemingway" lesson:
- Check the "Act": Are you leaning into a "messy" persona because it feels easier than actually fixing the problem?
- Listen to the "Boring" People: In the song, the narrator is "embarrassed to admit" they have problems. Usually, the people calling you out are the ones who actually care, even if their honesty feels like a personal attack.
- Art Doesn't Require Agony: The biggest myth in the song is that the drinking helps the writing. It doesn't. It makes the songs "all sound the same."
If you’re struggling with the same themes Marie explores—addiction or the weight of creative expectations—the song serves as a reminder that the "Hemingway" path isn't the only one. You can be a great artist and also be okay.
Next steps for you:
Check out the official music video directed by Isak Jenssen. It uses light and shadow to show the different "shades of loneliness" Marie talks about. It's a visual companion that makes the "Hemingway" metaphor even clearer, showing her literally running from a spotlight that feels more like a searchlight.