Hana Eid has more talent in her pinky finger than most indie artists will amount to in their entire careers. She is an indie cult classic. After listening to her new single, “Weird”, I had to decide if I actually wanted to shave my head, or if it was just the energy of the song coursing through my veins (I did not shave my head, but I came pretty close). Hana Eid gives us a sign that the era for metaphorical, flowery lyrics is over, and that we have entered the era of conversational art. Hana’s lyrics feel like a conversation of things that you’d say to your friends on facetime in a very straightforward kind of way.
“Weird” is a full on flex of everything that Hana has to offer (which is a lot of things), including her ridiculous vocal performance. Hana Eid’s vocal delivery on “Weird” is what I would expect a punch in the face from Adrianne Lenker to feel like. I had the absolute pleasure to chat with Hana about “Weird”:
Hana: Well, I wrote it back in January, similarly to Shrapnel, this song was also very stream of consciousness. I didn’t really have any kind of particular topic I wanted to write about, and then, I probably wrote the whole thing in like 15/20 minutes. Then I played it a few times and I was like, “man I really like this”, which is always how I know if I like a song I wrote. I kind of just realized it was largely about someone I had liked, but I felt uncomfortable with the idea of liking them. I was really confused by how I felt, and guilt, it was not as cut and dry as when I had liked other people in my life.
Nick: This is a very lyrically driven song, this is definitely one of the wordier ones of your songs, everything is new content, nothing recycled. It reads so conversational. How would you describe your lyrical style?
H: I try to be honest, and I am not afraid to be more vulnerable than most people would probably want to be, or even overshare a bit. In writing this song, it was very, “this is how I feel, and I am laying it all out”. I also think in general, one place I am really intentional in my lyric writing is that I try to be image driven. I really appreciate in the music I listen to, really specific images that sometimes don’t make sense. Something that people that aren’t an artist wouldn’t notice. This song is very blunt maybe in a way that some of my other stuff hasn’t been.
N: So, where does “Weird” rank for you in terms of music you have put out? How does this release feel different than your past releases?
H: Well, it’s definitely my favorite of all the stuff I have out, which is a good thing because I definitely would not feel great if I was putting out new music that I didn’t like as much as my old music. I think that this song and all of my upcoming stuff is more indicative of where I am at now in terms of my writing, but also me as a human being.
N: That is huge. It is so tough to balance out that growth.
H: I guess like everything else I have out, feels so old, but I feel like everything on the project feels so much more true to where I am now. My past releases are more like finding myself, but with “Weird”, it’s more that I have gotten to the point where I did figure it out. “Weird” is sonically and lyrically a much more confident release, and probably is my best song lyrically.
N: Yeah, I definitely agree, which is hard for me to do because your writing is really the forefront of your identity for me. It’s cool to hear you talk about how much your growth in writing matters to you, because it is so heard and felt in this song. Hearing you describe your writing process is so special because it’s confirmation that it is as meaningful as it sounds. Sooooo, is there any part of you that is nervous that the person you wrote the song about is going to know it is about them?
H: No. I think, honestly, I don’t really care. I don’t think they would ever… I think any song that I write about a moment is so hyperbolized and exaggerated that no reasonable person would be like, “this is so about me”. Even if they did realize, I wouldn’t really care.
N: Love that. If you could describe the type of person that you hope the song finds, what would that look like to you?
H: I was posting about the song on TikTok, and someone commented saying, “Friday is my first day of my senior year of high school and I am going to be listening to this on the bus”.
N: Oh. My. God.
H: I think that is my ideal listener. The high schooler that is hauling ass on the bus listening to whatever music we all were listening to in high school to get by. That would be very exciting to me, if my music got someone through their high school busride.
N: That is such a special place for music to find you. There are few moments of life more important than the time you spend finding music in high school.
H: Yeah I loved it so much it is so so awesome. I also just hated high school, so for someone to say that, I just thought it was so crazy.
N: I loved the cover art for “Weird” so so much. The color scheme, the persepective and angle, all feels so representative of the song and you.
H: Yeah, I love that art too. It was so funny because when we were shooting that, I was in the grass, and we had to end the shoot because I was shaking off for ticks because we were in the woods, and this giant tarantula comes flying off of my skirt. There is only one photo where you can actually see the spider, but it was the biggest spider I have seen in my entire life.
N: So you were not interpreting the spider as a good luck omen or a spiritual guide of sorts by any means?
H: No, I was so worried I was gonna have tick bites and now spider bites. I am not crafted for a life with bugs. I was horrified.
N: So your message for the bugs out there is “stay away”?
H: Yeah, stay far far away.
N: I am mad excited for this release. Thank you so much. I was so excited to have the ability to hear this song early and to write about you!
H: Thank you so much, I am looking forward to it!
Hana Eid IG: hanaeeid
