Zoe Wees, an 18-year-old up-and-coming artist from Hamburg, Germany, just released her debut hit single, “Control.” The hit song is No. 1 in France and reached the top 10 in Belgium. It also went viral on TikTok in the U.S. “Control” was the first song experience she had with professional songwriters in a professional studio setting. In an interview with Genius, Wees talks about the true meaning of her hit song. Wees touches on the subject of her struggle with rolandic childhood epilepsy and how the song was meant to say thank you to her primary school teacher. “She really helped me with my anxiety and epilepsy, if she wasn’t there I don’t think I could have made it to where I am now.”
Throughout her interview with Genius, she also went on to explain that every lyric of her song has meaning to her experiences with long term epilepsy. “Every time I listen to “Control,” I feel like it helps me a little bit more every day.” Wees went on to say that most of her inspiration came from Jessie J saying her songs helped her figure out herself and who she is as a person. “It’s okay not to be okay.” She also explained the meaning of each verse in the song “Control.” The first verse is about her struggles with anxiety every morning before going to school. She would just think about how she was going to have another seizure that day and how her anxiety controlled her.
In the interview, she also explained how when she writes songs, she uses them as therapy. “When I write songs, it’s like my therapy and my way to accept things and move on and to not look back to the past.” Before Wees wrote “Control,” she was constantly stuck in the past and looking back on bad memories. Writing “Control” helped her break out of her past and live in the present and take control of her anxiety by writing out all her feelings and turning them into something beautiful and inspirational.
Her song has helped so many people that are going through similar issues that she went through. Wees said that her DMs are constantly flooded with people saying that her song helped them through their toughest times. During the interview, Wees also revealed the meaning behind the chorus of her song. “When I am having a seizure I have no control over it, everything goes numb and I cannot move so I just have to wait till it is over.”
Miranda Liebtag, a sophomore science major at Cabrini, really enjoyed Wees’s new single. Liebtag expressed that the song really helped her through a tough time in her life and really related to the lyrics. Leila Collazo, a sophomore business major at Cabrini, didn’t really get the hype about the song. Collazo went on to explain that she liked the meaning behind the song, but didn’t really care for the style.
In another interview, Wees had with Wonderland Magazine, she revealed things about her debut EP that is coming out soon. “At the moment I can tell that I wrote a lot of new songs already and I’m very happy with them.” Wees continued by saying although she is very happy with her songs so far, she is having trouble picking out specific ones for her EP. Wonderland also asked Wees about what she hopes for her future.
Wees replied by saying that a new single will be coming out in the summer and she can’t wait to see what else comes with that. She also added that she is so excited to perform live next year, she has never performed in front of a large audience before. She revealed that it is nerve-racking to think about all of the people that will be watching but then again so exciting. Be sure to check out her hit single “Control” now available on all music platforms.
