Short girl makes music

I like playing with text and music. Unfortunately, I don’t play any instrument well enough to perform live, but I’ve made music on my Mac using software instruments.
These days there are other tools as well, so here are some of my tracks related to motorcycling and Sparks of Joy.

What goes up

Click on Lyrics to get the full lyrics, and see my inspiration for this song by clicking on The inspiration.

I wake up with the weight again
That familiar climb inside my chest
The engine’s cold, my hands are shaking
But I gear up anyway — no rest

Every hill has got a summit
Every storm will lose its breath
I’ve learned to trust the falling feeling
It’s not the end — it’s what comes next

What goes up must come down
I’ve felt it on the asphalt and the ground
In my chest, on two wheels, in the wind
The curve breaks — and I begin again
What goes up must come down

I’ve dropped the bike on easy roads
I’ve frozen up on open sky
But something shifts when fear peaks out
I lean in anyway — and fly

It’s not about the falling
It’s knowing that I’ll rise
The anxiety, the throttle
Both teach me how to ride

What goes up must come down
What goes up must come down
Down… and up again
Down… and up again
I’m still here — still here

This one was born in the middle of my driving lessons for the full A licence – in May 2026, to be exact. My performance anxiety was in full swing.

I had learned about the anxiety curve long before, but now that knowledge suddenly became very real. The idea is simple: the anxiety rises, peaks, and then it comes down again. It always does, even if it feels like you’re going to explode with anxiety and you just want to run. The thing is, you’ve got to stick with it until the anxiety eases.

That made me thing of a song from my childhood: “Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat & Tears. It opens with the line “What goes up must come down” – which is pretty much the anxiety curve in six words. Inspired by that, the lyrics for What Goes Up came to me.

This whole song has been a lifeline for me. When I was down, it comforted me. When I was happy, it made me feel like I could actually do this. And when I was afraid, it gave me courage.

I wrote the lyrics, and Suno helped me with the music. Some might say that makes it less of a “real” song. To me, it’s as real as it gets.

You’ll hear it in my documentary series Unrestricted – the story of going for the full A with the worst performance anxiety I know. Watch the Unrestricted series here.

My kind of adventure

Click on Lyrics to get the full lyrics, and see my inspiration for this song by clicking on The inspiration. Easy.

I don’t need a mountain pass to prove
That I belong out here on the move
The Tiger hums beneath my hands
I make my own rules, my own plans

Maybe yours is gravel, dust and stone
Maybe mine is tarmac, riding home
Either way we’re out here, free and wide
No one gets to tell us what’s a ride

This is my kind of adventure
Every road I choose is real
My kind of adventure
It’s not where you go — it’s how you feel
Any road, any weather
Any girl on any machine
My kind of adventure Is exactly what it means — to me

She’s crossing continents on dirt and sand
I’m taking corners, getting used to the land
We’re both out here chasing something true
Adventure isn’t one thing — it’s what you do

You don’t have to go far
You don’t have to go fast
You just have to go — and make the feeling last

This is my kind of adventure
Every road I choose is real
My kind of adventure
No one else decides what you should feel
Any road, any weather
Any girl on any machine
My kind of adventure — yours is valid too, you know what I mean

The inspiration for this song was trying different things to find my kind of adventure.

Here’s how adventure is usually defined:
“Adventure riding” refers to longer trips, often with an element of the unknown or the challenging — gravel roads, mountain passes, camping, routes that aren’t planned down to the last detail. Culturally, it’s often associated with long journeys to far-off places.

I think the adventure is what you decide. It doesn’t have to involve cold nights in a tent on a thin sleeping mat and doing your business behind a bush. An adventure is what you make it, what means something to you.

Runa Grydeland – Off She Goes – is a big inspiration for me when it comes to this. Seeing her talk at the MC fair in Oslo in 2026, I got these thoughts validated.

“Adventure has no right answer,” she says.

Runa rides on different kinds of surfaces, in different countries, she sleeps both in hotels and in a tent – she makes her kind of adventure.

And so do I. My first solo trip was absolutely an adventure for me – even if for others it would have just been another trip.

I challenged myself and my fear of dropping the bike, not finding my way, and a lot of other things.

But I did it! And that makes it an adventure. For me.

Sparks of Joy – Send it!

Click on Lyrics to get the full lyrics, and see my inspiration for this song by clicking on The inspiration. Easy.

Five foot three and full of fire
Everyone said lower your desire
Couldn’t find a seat close to the ground
But I heard that Tiger make a sound

Heart was pounding, hands were cold
Thirty years of waiting to be bold
Maybe fear’s just part of the deal
When you’re finally learning how to feel

Short girl, big dreams, open road ahead
Doing it afraid, riding through the dread
This is my moment, this is my ride
Short girl, big dreams – just send it and ride

Fifty-one before I took the test
Late to start but I gave it my best
They said wait, they said no, said you’re too smallI said watch me, watch me ride through it all

Heart was pounding, hands were cold
But the road keeps calling, and I’m getting bold
Maybe fear’s just fuel in disguise
When you finally open up your eyes

Short girl, big dreams, open road ahead
Doing it afraid, riding through the dread
This is my moment, this is my ride
Short girl, big dreams – just send it and ride

You don’t have to fix the fear
You just have to start
Take a breath and send it –
let it break right through your heart

Short girl, big dreams, open road ahead
Doing it afraid – but I’m not turning back
This is my moment, this is my ride
Short girl, big dreams – just send it and ride

The inspiration for this one actually came from another rider: Robert Baldinger.
I had just seen his video from the Cannonball Run together with him and a bunch of people at MC-Konsult here in Sweden.
He’d made some songs to go with the story, and some of them really got stuck in my head.

I thought I’d give it a try and make one myself – and this is the result.

Fun fact: I heard the phrase “send it” for the first time on the channel PBPOV. It’s this guy Eric and his (now former) wife riding mountain bikes all over the world.
I’m not at all interested in mountain biking, but I was intrigued by the courage of these people, heading down steep cliffs and between trees without dying.

“Send it” is slang – mostly from extreme sports – for committing to something fully, without holding back, especially when there’s fear or uncertainty involved. And I thought that totally fitted me.

So I wrote the lyrics, and got some help with the music by Suno. I think the result is really great, if I can say so myself. 😎