About Red Lights
“Red Lights” began with a title-inspired melody and a visual Scarlett saw online — streams of red lights stretching endlessly in one direction and white lights in the other. As a New Yorker who has spent countless hours sitting in traffic or as an artist touring across the country, that image stuck with her.
The chorus came first and sat unfinished for six months, built around this romantic, haunting symbolism of following red lights until they eventually turn white. The verses arrived later, inspired by a real traffic accident she drove past — a life-changing moment happening mere feet away while she remained isolated inside her car, moving through her own routine.
The song explores that contrast: how our daily lives can feel consumed by often trivial things while at the same time someone nearby could be experiencing the absolute worst moment of their life. “Red Lights” is about the haunting collision between routine and sudden catastrophe — and the introspection that follows.
“Lives pass while you were driving by. Who makes the call: who lives and who dies?” – It’s amazing how many lives pass us by each day, how many stories surround us in any given moment that we’ll never know.
Credits
Written by Scarlett Macfarlane
Produced by Scott Jacoby
Guitar/Bass – Eli Menezes
BGV – Tess Lobell
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