Madhavi Devi’s “Run Run Run”: A Soundtrack to Self-Acceptance
Photo by Morgan Loftus
Twenty-three-year-old singer-songwriter Madhavi Devi released her latest single, “Run Run Run,” earlier today, on April 22nd. A testament to her journey as an independent artist, the track blends introspective storytelling with upbeat instrumentation and captures the metaphorical aspects of running. “Run Run Run” captures Devi’s journey of personal growth and self-acceptance. Songbird had the privilege of chatting with Madhavi Devi in anticipation of the release!
Tell us about the song—from the background and inspiration to its deeper meaning!
The funniest part of this song is that I wrote it about running, which I do as a hobby. I thought it would be funny to kind of integrate that into the marketing and promo for this song, mostly because I'm, like, a mediocre runner—I run a 12-minute mile. I'm training for a 10K, which was not an intentional overlap. I signed up for the 10K well before I even wrote this song.
I think for me, being a “runner” is more than just the physical act. I tend to run from things, and I ran from pursuing music for a really, really long time. One day, I kind of just decided to gun it, and I haven't looked back, and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. This song feels hopeful and happy, and that's not an emotion I usually write from.
Could you talk us through your typical songwriting process?
The typical answer to that question is that it's different every time, and it never happens the same way. But, I have been doing this thing recently, where I'll write a complete song in my notes app or my journal, without singing it out loud, without a guitar, pretty much in dead silence. It's a stream of consciousness type of thing. I'll usually come up with a melody in my head, and sometimes I'll spit it out into my voice memos to come back to. Inevitably, I'll return to it with a guitar or at a piano, and I'll fully flesh out the song. That's what “Run Run Run” was. I wrote it, I think at one in the morning, in seven minutes, on my couch, and I pulled it from the experience of busking on the boardwalk in Asbury Park. It all just fell out from there. It spilled out and it became this story of who I am, where I come from, where I'm currently at in life, and hopefully where I'm going.
Who are your biggest musical inspirations?
Right now, I feel most inspired by Medium Build–I love Medium Build–and, in all honesty, a lot of my friends. I've been listening to a lot of independent music, and some of my favorites right now are “The Closer” by Abby Kenna and “Over My Head” by Alex Crossland. I'm constantly inspired by Phoebe Bridgers. I love her writing style. My favorite song by her right now is “Garden Song,” and that's always been one of my favorites. I actually have a lyric tattooed on me from that song—it's on my ribs and it says “I'm not afraid of hard work.” To me, it's just a reminder to keep pushing forward with what I do and have faith in myself and the process. I feel like so much of being an independent artist is falling in love with the process and enjoying where you're at as opposed to where you're going. It's about where you are. It's so weird to say, but I'm so happy with my life right now. I'm so content and grateful, and I feel really lucky to be surrounded by who I'm surrounded by and inspired by who I'm inspired by.
How did you initially get into music?
I actually think a lot of my musical inclination and interest came from my stepdad. We used to do little garage band sessions when I was a kid. There's a cover of Gold Lion by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs that exists somewhere on the internet, that a five-year-old Madhavi sings. I just loved it. I loved doing that. I would use GarageBand on our family desktop. I got into real songwriting because I saw Taylor Swift's Fearless tour documentary on TV when I was little, and I was like, I want to do that. I just wrote songs all the time, and I kept writing and writing and writing, and then I made a mini record when I was 15. I released singles, and then I started playing live. I didn't have a lot of faith in myself that I could do it as a career. I struggled with a lot of impostor syndrome, and not feeling good enough or worthy enough. I felt like a fraud, sometimes, but something clicked where I was just like, “no one's gonna believe in me if I don't believe in myself first, and no one's gonna back me up if I don't back me up first.” So once I kind of shifted my mindset towards that, it followed suit, and people started taking me seriously. And honestly, that's where I come from and how I got into music, but it's also the advice I would give to anyone else is to just start and never stop.
What do you want your listeners to take away from your music?
In general, when people listen to my music, I hope they walk away knowing that it's okay to feel how they feel. It's okay to have big feelings, it's okay to express them. And I think what I hope people take away from this song specifically is that they can do anything they want, they can be anything they want, and they can reinvent themselves whenever they want. This song, for me, came from a place of self-love, and I want to encourage that in other people, because everyone deserves that. Everyone deserves to love themselves and live a happy, fulfilling life. I'm running towards that.
Stream the song here: