In mystical Nordic terms, Valhalla is the hall where the god Odin houses the dead whom he deems worthy of dwelling with him. In Lauren Ruth Ward terms it’s a place where she has arrived free to be herself and turn gender roles on thier head in a bold artistic way.
Lauren is no stranger to turning heads. The lithe siren is a major force in the music world, known for her rapture like vocals and casual gal from Laural Canyon in 1976 style. If you haven’t heard of her, you have at least felt her presence as her music seems to loop around and touch everything outside in our outside of its vicinity.
The music video for “Valhalla” speaks for itself. Lauren has a way of breathing new light into old topics with soul and quirky charm releasing endorphins.
She says of the subject matter at hand and her latest track, I take in religion and mythology the same: Thoughtful stories of gods and goddess that happen either before time or in another world that teach lessons, carve out ways to live, inspire. . . I’ve read multiple versions of Valhalla and I see it as heaven for heroes who’ve died in battle.
As most various of the story go, once a warrior has made it into Valhalla, they continue to fight in battle daily but instead of death, they rejuvenate and feast in the infinite hall (that is called “Valhalla”). Since moving to LA to pursue music, my songwriting has been pulling the trauma out from me. Some of that resurrected trauma is coming from having to make lose/lose decisions to get myself to the peaceful state I am present day. I died many times in my battle of “being a straight woman”.
I tried hard and often felt like I was failing at “being a woman”. I hurt myself and others in this personal battle. Reflecting back at the decisions I had to make, I can remember the pain but I don’t feel the loss. I’m now able to see I made the right choices. I have arrived at my Valhalla. I am thankful for those who’ve shared similar stories with me. We continue to fight in this battle daily but manage to still live. Having to fight yourself and society on who you are / what is normal is a daily battle. A definition of what is the normal way to love and live is bullshit. I remind myself of this daily and it makes me proud of myself.”
photo / Tess O’Connor
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