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Ella Langley Says “Be Her” Was Written From A Very Honest Place: “I Want To Stay In My Bible, I Want To Not Have To Do A Whole Bottle Of Wine”
The full story behind “Be Her.” Ella Langley released the most recent song from her highly-anticipated sophomore album Dandelion called “Be Her,” a couple weeks ago, which finds her singing about he perfect woman who has everything figured out.
Written by Ella along with HARDY, Smith Ahnquist and Jordan Schmidt, the lyrics are quite honest as Ella looking inward and examines the kind of woman she wants to be, and what it might take to get there. She is seeking simplicity over drama, clearly longing to be comfortable in her own skin, and Ella’s co-writer Hardy says he knew it would be a hit from the very beginning, and it only took them 30 minutes to write because they were really onto something quickly.
And during an interview with Katie Neal for her Katie & Company radio show, Ella explained how they came up with the melody and title:
“So ‘Be Her’ I wrote with three guys, actually, that’s funny. HARDY, Smith Ahnquist and Jordan Schmidt, and Jordan was playing this one track, and one of us had the title ‘Be Her.’ He played that track, all I heard was, ‘I just wanna be her so bad, it hurts so bad… I just wanna be her.’
And we just kept singing that over and over, because when you write songs, whether those lyrics are gonna change or not, it’s good to get into how the cadence of the lyrics are moving around… I kind of fill it in like a puzzle afterwards. So I just kept singing that, and all of us were like, ‘Oh, that feels amazing.’
And they fought me on doing it twice in that first chorus… they were like, ‘That’s kind of boring.’ Is it? or is it just really easy, fun to sing. and it fells anthemic, and I can see this… but that song was written in 30 minutes.”
She was right because it definitely has that anthemic, fun sing along feel, but Ella explained that it does tackle some pretty deep subject matter, and it’s really an admission of the type of woman she hopes to grow into:
“And that song, what it’s about, truly, is it’s not about being someone else, it’s about being the her you want to be. I think there’s things that every single person on this planet would like to see themselves do better as a human being, you know what I mean?
If you don’t, I do not want to be around you. I do not want to be around you at all. I was just honest, those are all things that I’m looking forward to, in my life, changing about myself a little bit.”
Ella says the lyrics really are her truth, admitting that she knows “a whole bottle of wine is probably too much a lot of the time and “one glass could suffice”:
“I want to stay in my Bible, I want to not have to do a whole bottle of wine, one glass could suffice, you know what I mean? Like, why do you have to go so far? What’s wrong with you? Finding someone to love and to support and to have a safe place in this world.
And those are all things a normal 26-year-old girl or guy, or whoever in your life, whether it be those things specifically, I think everyone can just relate to bettering yourself and wanting to see that version. With that song, you just have to give into that thing, it’s not about we are who we are, yes, we understand that, but give into it… be her. You know what? I’m her tonight. I am her tonight.”
I love the contrast of incredible raw, heartfelt lyrics with such a fun, funky track, and based on some other points she made during that interview, it sounds like Ella is going into the release of Dandelion as the most confident and authentic version of herself, and I’m excited to hear everything she has coming on the tracklist.
Ella of course put out her debut album Hungover in the summer of 2024, which featured her smash hit, award-winning song with Riley Green “You Look Like You Love Me.” Dandelion is set for release on April 10th, and Ella will hit the road on her subsequent tour named for the record in May.
“Be Her”
The full interview:
The Dandelion Tour Dates
5/7/2026 Toledo, OH Huntington Center (+,&)
5/8/2026 St. Louis, MO Chaifetz Arena (+,&)
5/14/2026 Estero, FL Hertz Arena (@, &)
5/15/2026 Savannah, GA Enmarket Arena (@, &)
6/18/2026 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre (+,&)
6/19/2026 Independence, MO Cable Dahmer Arena (+,&)
6/25/2026 Salem, VA Salem Civic Center (+,&)
6/26/2026 Wilmington, NC Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park (+,&)
7/23/2026 Pikeville, KY Appalachian Wireless Arena (#, %)
7/24/2026 Cary, NC Koka Booth Amphitheatre (#, %)
7/25/2026 North Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum (#, %)
7/30/2026 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion (@, %)
7/31/2026 Canandaigua, NY CMAC (@, %)
8/13/2026 Austin, TX Moody Center (#, &)
8/14/2026 Corpus Christi, TX Hilliard Center (#, &)
8/15/2026 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena (#, &)
@ Kameron Marlowe
+ Dylan Marlowe
# Kaitlin Butts
& Gabriella Rose
% Laci Kaye BoothThe post Ella Langley Says “Be Her” Was Written From A Very Honest Place: “I Want To Stay In My Bible, I Want To Not Have To Do A Whole Bottle Of Wine” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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