Mountain Girl

Halfway through the first take, I thought I might pass out or lose an eyeball...but, I knew I only had one good try in me, so I went for it.

Aug 16, 2024

Mountain Girl

Inspired by a “real” frozen princess, high altitudes and past lives, singer-songwriter and independent artist Scott Zuniga continues his song-a-month streak with the new single Mountain Girl.

Listen to Mountain Girl

The Story Behind the Song

Halfway through the first take, there was a moment I thought I might pass out or lose an eyeball.

I was lost in Peru when I learned about the ancient Incan princess Juanita, whose body remained frozen in the ice-capped Andes for centuries until hikers discovered her.

Seeing her was a solemn moment—a connection across time between the distant past and today, brought together by some miracle.

Inspired by this experience, I composed "Mountain Girl." As I wrote, I wondered, "If we could talk through time, what would I say? If she replied, what would I hear?"

The deep, long-winded screams at the end of the song were my imagined answer. I wanted to test my vocal endurance, striving to mirror the physical improbability of something lasting as long as Juanita's body.

On the day of recording, I wasn’t sure if I could hit the screams because I hadn’t rehearsed them. I warmed up my voice without practicing the screams; I wanted them to be pure, unrehearsed, as untouched as the princess. Hitting them would mean success; missing them would make the day of tracking guitars a waste.

Halfway through the first take, I thought I might pass out or lose an eyeball. My body told me I had only one shot, so I pushed on. It felt like the thin air of the Andes, where Juanita’s body remained perfectly preserved. I knew if we were to meet, it would be near the edge of consciousness.

I made it through the first scream, which lasted exactly thirty seconds, and managed the second scream in two breaths. I attempted a second take, but my body couldn’t handle it.

The recording pushed me to my limits, reflecting the endurance of the mummy princess in my own way. Those screams may not be replicable live, but they captured the raw intensity of that moment. In those thirty seconds, I felt a connection to something ancient and lasting. It was my first time singing in a studio in ten years—a cathartic reminder that the music is still in me.

Music Video

Director of Photography: Raul Mihai
Instagram: www.instagram.com/raulmihai_
Co-produced: Iñaki Camacho
Filmed at: Elkar Estudioa - San Sebastian-Donostia, Basque Country, Spain

Lyrics

Holy now
I am now a river of rose
Where the rain froze
Holy now

Mountain girl
Come crown your hidden crying nation
With every single blow
You’re perfect years from
As heaven knows

Talk back now
I hear you in the background of my mind
Every now and then
I run around until I’ve found where love begins

But rain it outwears old age
They found you underground
White as snow
Bright eyes closed
Teeth of stone
That I don’t know

Song Credits

Written, composed and performed by: Scott Zuniga
Mix, engineered and mastered by: Victor Sánchez
Guitar: Daniel Vargas
Recorded at: Elkar Estudioa

Song Evolution

I recorded the demo for Mountain Girl sometime in 2014. It’s heavy with John Lennon-esque vocal effects and more mellow that the studio version. Despite the mistake in chords (I was still hashing it out), it was the demo I listened to most often. I was drawn to the meditative quality of the melody. I would listen to it every time I flew in a plane. To me, it has a certain “take-off” vibe. I’d like to record a mellow version of it like this some day. I love it.