“When I was listening to the ocean. I saw a face in the sand.” Sound familiar? Those are the first lyrics from the popular TikTok song “Runaway” by the Norwegian singer and songwriter AURORA. Many have come across this artist because of the popular “AURORA” TikTok trend. The artist is also well known for her part in Frozen 2 as “The Voice,” singing the harmony that guides the character, Elsa, to discover who she really is inside.

However, melodic voices and TikTok trends aside, this singer has been producing, songwriting and performing for quite a while. Although her song “Runaway” got popular on TikTok, she began her career much earlier, and has produced so many hits along with the song that blew up on TikTok.

She began her career with her debut single “Awakening” which was released late 2013 (I highly recommend giving it a listen.) AURORA was only 17 at the time, and there are elements from her early songs that she still uses in recent projects. Like the electrical techno styles, her wispy and ethereal voice, and the nature inspired lyrics. As time went on, she released her first album in 2016 titled All of my Demons Greeting Me as their Friend which has the ever so popular “Runaway.” 

“Runaway” was actually written when AURORA was only 11. In a Genius interview, she explains, “When I first started writing music, my grandest source of inspiration was nature, because it’s so humble and dangerous at the same time.” As a young girl, she looked around herself and found the words through the trees surrounding her and the sky above. With nature as her guide, she was able to write lines like:

“I had a dream I was seven / Climbing my way in a tree / I saw a piece of heaven / Waiting impatient for me, down.”

In that same interview, she even goes in depth about what the song is about. “Throughout my life, I’ve been very obsessed with death. It makes everything kind of meaningless, but it also makes everything meaningful.” She goes on to describe how everyone’s mistakes are pointless since we’re just gonna die and it won’t matter. Yet, one day we’ll all disappear and your accomplishments should be the thing that gives your life reason. 

The popular song has even inspired famous singer and songwriter, Billie Eilish, to start her own career. In an interview with vanity fair, the “Bad Guy” singer states, “When I was 12, I saw Aurora’s ‘Runaway’ music video. Something inside me clicked, like, that is what I want to do, no matter whether it goes anywhere or not.”

“Runaway” might be one of her most popular songs, and has inspired many celebrities, but she has a lot of other great hits that you should definitely check out. Any song on her first album, My Demons Greeting me as their Friend is worth checking out if you’re a fan of “Runaway”. One of those, “Running with the Wolves”, is my personal favorite and even has those similar nature vibes as Runaway. The song was featured on the BBC children’s show “Wolfblood” as it’s season four theme song, and is also featured in the AppleTV original movie, WolfWalkers.

Other songs from her other albums that are worth listening to are Queendom, The River, Soulless Creatures, and Dance on the Moon.