Mickey Guyton‘s “Remember Her Name” is an anthem, from its heartbeat-like melody to its lyrical tribute to the power inside all of us. Released Friday (July 30), the new song is just what you need to remind yourself of your strength and beauty.
“When did you lose the girl with no fear? / Oh, she never left / Take a good look, she’s right in the mirror,” Guyton sings in the first verse (and then, again, with an impressive vocal run, in the bridge). A second verse urges listeners to “keep that shine that lights up every room / Hold onto it.”
“Remember the fire / Remember her face / She felt the storm and danced out in the pouring rain,” goes the chorus, that pulsing beat growing stronger behind Guyton’s voice. “Remember her lightning through all the pain / Remember the girl that didn’t let anything get in her way / Remember her name.”
Guyton co-wrote “Remember Her Name” with Parker Welling, Blake Hubbard and Jarrod Ingram; Karen Kosowski produced the song.
“Remember Her Name” is the title track of and lead song on Guyton’s forthcoming debut album. The 16-track record is due out on Sept. 24; she’s been signed to her record label, UMG Nashville, for a decade.
“Remember Her Name is a culmination of the last 10 years of my life in Nashville,” Guyton shares. “This album is the closing of a chapter. All those years ago, I set out to create music that would make people feel self-empowered, loved and comfortable with being themselves, and this album holds true to all of that. I hope everyone who listens finds something that connects and speaks to them.”
The singer has also shared that Remember Her Name‘s title track, and the album as a whole, is dedicated to Breonna Taylor, the Black ER technician who was shot and killed by Louisville, Ky., police officers in March of 2020, after they forcefully entered her apartment.
“When I was thinking about Breonna Taylor, and seeing inaction regarding her murder, I thought, ’I need to bring justice to her life,'” Guyton says. “I was writing these types of [thoughtful] songs long before America’s racial reckoning. The frustration that I’ve felt as an African-American has been a part of my process for a while.”
Among Remember Her Name‘s 16 songs are the previously released “Black Like Me,” “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” and “Rosé” — all of which appear on Guyton’s 2020 EP Bridges — as well as a cover of Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy” and a “Fly Higher Version” of Guyton’s debut single, “Better Than You Left Me.”
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