JEN CLANCEY, Special to The Denisonian—

“Waiting for you like fall.” 

This is the opening line to  “A Letter to You,” a song that brings listeners through the process of heartbreak and moving on. Sung over a guitar, the light as air vocals of  Dayanara Aguirre, bring a dreaminess, longing and intimacy to the song. 

Aguirre released her song “A Letter to You” on Soundcloud on November 1 and the song is also available on Spotify and Apple Music. It’s a song about letting go of false love, and it’s the first original single that she has recorded. 

Aguirre is a third-year Religion major with a concentration in Narrative Journalism. She is also a soprano in Ladies Night Out (LNO), the a cappella group on campus, is involved in La Fuerza Latina and is a community liaison for MC-3 organizations. 

The decision to release her first song was a difficult one. 

“I kind of never took my music all that serious,” she said. 

“I’m Mexican and in Latino communities things like music and theater, which is what I originally came to Denison for, aren’t really taken that seriously,” she said. Before life at Denison, Aguirre also struggled with being in the spotlight. “I had acute stage fright, I can say.” 

Since auditioning and becoming a member of LNO, that changed. “Performing on campus really gave me confidence,” she said,”maybe I should be taking myself a lot more seriously.”. 

When she sent the song to her family, she said, they were proud. 

“So my mom actually just shared it on Facebook, ” Aguirre said. “This is actually the first [song that] any of my friends or family have heard that’s original.” 

The opinion of her little sister, who Aguirre has shared a room with at home, was especially important.

“She’s my biggest fan,” Aguirre said.

Her style of writing comes from journaling, something she’s done since she was very young. “I usually had journals growing up so I’d write my own songs but I just kept them very private.” Sharing that vulnerability with the world was scary for Aguirre but afterwards she regrets nothing. “It was just like a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Aguirre said.

Among her favorite lyrics in the song, Aguirre said there are some that relate to her relationship with nature. She sings, “The secrets I want to tell you I confide those to the Sun and Moon.”  

Aguirre said, noting one of her favorite lines: “I like to talk to the world. I like to journal it or speak it out into existence.”It’s a moment of meditation and self reflection in her day: “if it’s poetry, or if it’s music, I write it all out,” Aguirre said. “I’ll read over it after and just kind of try to gauge what I’m trying to talk about or what it is about.”

There are other ways that Aguirre finds peace like taking walks outside at night. “The stars are pretty. I know sometimes people talk to the stars; I do sometimes,” Aguirre said. 

Aguirre said she has more music to write and produce. For now, “A Letter to You, is the perfect song for chilly, wrapped up autumn nights. 

Listen to the song on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3wCY5wI2IBbMS1efo9V4Ze?si=X5ysHCSiQ9SCHN_XuOz2Iw&nd=1