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Marie Lind - Unwrap My Heart |
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Singer, songwriter, choirmaster Marie Lind like so many of the world’s
great performers in music (Lill-Babs from Järvsö, Sweden and Joni
Mitchell, Fort MacLeod, Canada and Jewel Kilcher (known simply as
Jewel), Homer, Alaska), comes from a small but beautiful part of the
world. She grew up on the island of Bornholm, Denmark, population then
about forty thousand and change.
She describes her
birthplace as, “It is
close to Sweden. Some of it is very rocky in the north and in the south,
it has really good sandy beaches. A lot of people vacation there,
because of the beaches and fine sand. In the summer if the weather is
really nice and the sun is shining it feels almost like being in the
south of Spain or Italy. Even though it is a small island, not everybody
knows everybody, but almost. If you want to go to university you have to
go to Copenhagen and the mainland.”
I had to go overseas to Sjaelland to the island where Copenhagen is. I
had to move a bit to go to that school.”
As for the transition, she says, “We only had one escalator on Bornholm.
We didn’t have any trains (there). When I got to Sjaelland it was really
fun to ride on the train. (she is smiling)
By now you are probably wondering when are we going to get to the music?
We are taking time to tell you about Marie Lind’s journey, because when
you understand her journey, you will understand the connection to her
music. It was during watching a recent interview with singer and
songwriter Rick Astley an often topic of conversation with Marie Lind,
that there was a bit of an epiphany for this writer, because despite her
talent and her accomplishments she knows herself well. She is well
grounded and she does not take anything for granted.
One perhaps should not be surprised that Marie Lind began playing the
violin at age four once we hear the family, she grew up in.
“It was a very musical family. Both my parents did a lot of music,
drama, theater. They worked as music teachers at different schools. They
got divorced when I was five or six. I grew up in two homes (she
laughs). Both homes there was a lot of music, piano and instruments.
My maternal grandfather painted a lot. He was very creative.
Also, my other grandparents (who lived on Bornholm) did a lot of
creative stuff. My father came from the island I live on now, Sjaelland
and that is where my (paternal) grandparents lived. I did not see them
as often as I saw my maternal grandparents.
(After a while) I got a little tired of playing the violin.
I said I want to sit down; I don’t want to stand up. So, then my
dad said well you have to play the piano. I started taking piano
lessons. I am so happy, because I play it a lot now. In elementary
school I had a band with friends of mine. They made a Eurovision for
kids on the radio, so my band participated on the radio. We were number
two with our song about saving the fish in the sea. I was the band
leader. I was playing the piano and singing. It was fun and it was a
good exercise, because when you are in a band you have to play together.
I always wanted to play music, so maybe this was the beginning of it
all.
I was always asked
what do you want to be when you grow up? When I was a really little kid,
I would say (her eyes grow wide) an Opera singer. I always had in my
head that I was going to do music somehow. At the boarding school I also
played the piano, sang solos and I was in choirs.
Music is all I ever thought of. I never thought of being something else.
It touched something inside of me and I loved to sing. I loved
expressing music and the sound. The year I started going to the boarding
school they started doing musicals and they did Cyrano and I got the
lead part as Roxanne and that is when my musical theater interest began.
It was so much fun to do theater and singing.
Then I wanted to study at gymnasium (another level of education), which
is after high school. That is why I stayed. I moved to Copenhagen
instead of moving back home. I was sixteen when I moved alone to
Copenhagen (light laughter). It was maybe not the best decision and I am
not really sure how my parents agreed to let me do that. It was probably
not the best decision, but I really wanted to study music and to do
something with music and
singing,” she recalls.
Continuing down
her path to music, Marie Lind tells us, “After
gymnasium I worked and I travelled. In 2000 I started at the musical
theater acting school, Den Danske Scenekunstskole. It was an arts school
for dancing, drama, singing, choir and ensemble.
After school we went to do a practical (internship) and then we would go
to the theater and participate in the show. I did some musicals (such
as) Jesus Christ Superstar, Cabaret and Cyrano de
Bergerac. This guy in
Denmark made a musical about Cyrano and I did that. We had to audition
for the shows that we wanted to be in. He put an angel in the story, so
I had these giant wings and I had to wear a harness. They (hoisted) me
up and I was a flying angel. I also did Fiddler On the Roof. Then
I did some Cabaret.”
Marie Lind first
came to our attention when somehow on social media we came across her
song “I
Can Love You Better.”
We were sure at first this must be a cover of a song that was a
hit, because it is such a good song.
Tell us the story behind this catchy Pop song Marie.
“It is always so hard to make it interesting. When I write songs, I get
ideas and then I record them on my phone. I had two ideas that I
combined. With “I Can Love You Better,” The song is about a woman who
has been together with a guy and then it turns out he was a liar and
cheating on her, treated her badly and she wants to love him so badly
that she thinks she can change him. She keeps trying and trying, but he
doesn’t change, because he really doesn’t want to change. Ultimately, he
leaves her for another woman. He has known the other woman for a while.
The next time he shows up the other woman is with him and she (his ex)
still likes him. I’m like why do you still like this guy when he is
cheating on you? He is really mean and selfish. He doesn’t care how you
feel. I am talking to this girl in the song, but while I am writing the
story, I am trying to make her see what is happening. She says, I can
love you better. You promised me, we got married, we got a ring. It was
supposed to be forever. I was ready. You just went and cheated on me. I
can love you better, please come back. Somewhere in the song I sing,
love isn’t supposed to be this way. You know your love won’t make him
stay. It is like a really short sentence, but I couldn’t fit more in,”
she explains.
The music for “I Can Love You Better,” was composed by Marie Lind and
she also wrote the lyrics.
“(While composing) I hear
orchestrations (in
my head). Some songs come really easily. Then I have the whole song
ready. You have to work with it and all of the details. One of the songs
that I put out the lyrics came really fast. I do hear the instruments,
how the music is going to be and the progression of the song. So, the
difficult part is to actually get it out of the head.
I would say the music comes first (to me). I always listen a lot to the
melody and the harmonies more than I do the lyrics (of other songs). I
listen a lot to English music. Nowadays it is easy, because a lot of
stuff is in English. When you open your computer, everything is in
English, but when I was younger you really had to pay attention and
listen to the lyrics and be good at English,” says Marie Lind.
In late November of 2025 “Listen and Love Me,” was released and it is
another stellar song.
“Sometimes when I do the dishes and I grab my phone and I run to the
piano and then I record a three-minute song (note to aspiring
songwriters, stop using the dishwasher!). Other times like with
“Listen and Love Me,” I wrote that when my kids were younger and we
lived in another house. Everything was like, I am so alone! (puts her
hands up in the air for emphasis) I am so alone in this world. Why
can’t anyone just listen to me and love me for who I am, instead of just
criticizing and arguing. This is one of the songs that I just sat down
and it came up. I worked with the lyrics a little bit, but both lyrics
and melody were at the same time, because I was so filled up, so it just
came out.
Even though it was written during a tough time, it was a nice experience
that I was able to do it like that. I worked on this first line to get
it different because I talked to my friend and she said she didn’t like
the first line and I said that is how I feel right now. I am sad, so it
has to be like this.
Sometimes when I walk my dog, I have a border collie and a line or
melody (will come). I will imagine myself at a big stage somewhere and
playing and the melody will come up. Because I am not always carrying my
phone when I walk, I will hum the lines, as I will not remember them
when I get back home (otherwise),” she says.
From someone easing into more of a Pop sound and who also has a
background in musical theater, cabaret and big band Jazz the inspiration
for the song “I Know An Angel,” was a bit of a surprise. She was
inspired by Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One,” and Faith Hill’s
“Where Are You Christmas,” both iconic Country music artists. Imagine
that from a Rick Astley aficionado.
“That was a co-write with a friend of mine. We did another Christmas
song called “Unwrap
My Heart,”
which was kind of a happy song. Then she said shouldn’t you do a ballad,
a really emotional song, with a lot of instrumentation and big sound. It
was based on my experience with losing my sister to cancer. I feel at
Christmas, and not only Christmas you do the same stuff. The ones that
are not here were a part of that once. When you do this or that it
reminds you of them and what you did together, like decorating the
Christmas tree with a certain ornament. That was the foundation for the
song that we wrote. (Editor’s note “Unwrap My Heart,” is a mix of
soulful vocals with an upbeat Pop tempo and stop thinking of this as a
song that should only be played at Christmas. This is a great song.)” For anyone who is familiar with the classic Shakin’ Stevens song, “Merry Christmas Everyone,” the song has a similar tempo with a completely different lyric feel and vibe.
It is always the right time of year for good Christmas songs and Marie
Lind talks about two of her songs in this vein.
“The song
I Know An Angel,”
was very special for me to make, because I had the story of my sister in
the background. When you make a song sometimes you change the details a
little bit. We tried to capture the big emotions around Christmas and
when all of the emotions are turned up. It is a song to try and comfort
those who (have lost someone),” she says.
For anyone who has experienced the loss of someone special and grieved
the song “I Keep Dreaming,” bears Marie Lind’s soul. It is a love letter
to her sister who died of cancer. Although, the words are from a heart
that still tries to fill that void the tempo is mid-tempo and the lyrics
are not dark, just honest.
“The special thing about that song is I wrote it many years ago. I
played it at a lot of concerts, and things like that. I never had a band
play it. It is special to me and it was special to record it. This was
the first song I wanted to present to Joachim Ersgaard (her producer and
sound engineer).
I wanted to do it. I didn’t really know how it should sound, because I
played it for so many years and it evolved a little bit. It started out
as a ballad and then it became more rhythmic. I just played around with
it. It was special, because it was one of the first songs that I wrote.
It was emotional for me, because it was based on my sister and that
whole experience of losing her to cancer and what I experienced
afterwards when she passed away. I had all of these dreams about her. I
have talked to other people about dreams they had about ones they lost
and they appear very real.
I wrote it based on one of these dreams. I had a dream about meeting her
in the city where we grew up and I said why are you here, you are
supposed to be dead. Now you are standing here in flesh and blood (she
apologizes for getting emotional). It is not often I get to tell the
whole story. I could feel it was real when I woke up. I could feel her
hugging me. It was like she was telling me, I’m okay. It was very
comforting having that dream, because I missed her so much. Grief is
really hard to describe and people grieve in different ways. It wasn’t
always easy to make room for that grief.
I totally want to tell the story, because it means a lot to me
personally and also musically. My intention with the song is to express
how I feel about it. It is a way to get all of these emotions out. I
want to comfort others in the same situation. I want there to be some
kind of hope or some kind of comfort in the middle of it all. That is
just the way it is. You can’t change what happened, but you have to live
with it.
You want to tell people things from the past, and you can still remember
some things, but you can’t remember everything. I guess it was a way to
express what if feels like to lose someone.
Hearing Joachim shaping the sound it was really something special, he
got the sound out of it that I was looking for without my knowing what
to look for, if that makes sense.
It was one of my new songs in a new musical chapter and when I wanted to
do something with my own music. It was both closure and a beginning,”
says Marie Lind.
We hope that you
take time to follow Marie Lind on
Instagram
here
and to listen to her music on
YouTube.
If you do, we are sure you will be asking yourself, how is it that I am
only learning about this wonderful artist now. We also hope that in
reading this conversation that will discover what we did that the music
is matched by an equally wonderful person behind it.
#MarieLindInterview #DanishSingerSongwriter #WomenInMusic #MarieLindEntrevista #RivetingRiffs #RivetingRiffsMagazine #MujeresEnMusica #CompositoraEntrevista
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Continuing
Marie Lind says, “I was born there, in a little town in the north and
then I spent my childhood there, before moving from the island to go to
boarding school in 1992, I think. I did not move back to the island,
because I wanted to go to a music high school. It is called a gymnasium.
You live at the school and you share a room with other students.