Lift Me Up Song by Rihanna’s first solo song in six years, stirs fans’ emotions

Fans can’t stop gushing about “Lift Me Up,” Rihanna’s first solo single in six years.

Around midnight, the song was made available on several platforms and YouTube, giving fans their first taste of new Rihanna music in six years. In the weeks leading up to the release of Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, “Lift Me Up” is anticipated to be one of two solo songs that Rihanna will release.

Chadwick Boseman plays the Marvel superhero in the second installment of the film, but the song’s tenor already gives fans an indication as to what to expect from the plot. The song, which Tems, a Nigerian artist, co-wrote, contributed to, deviates from Rihanna’s regular style of music. However, the pop singer’s vocals are a breath of new air as she holds a number of high notes and deep inflections.

The movie is scheduled for release on November 11, but Rihanna’s song evokes strong emotions with a hint of melancholy and mourning.

“Life me up, Hold me down, Keep me close, Safe and sound, Burning in a hopeless dream, hold me when you go to sleep, keep me in the warmth of your love when you depart, keep me safe, safe and sound,” the first verse of the song says.

The verse and song give a sense of what fans can anticipate from Wakanda Forever, which is guaranteed to be incredibly dramatic and depressing given that it is widely believed that the show’s titular character has passed away.

Boseman, who played Black Panther protagonist T’Challa, died in 2020 after battling colorectal cancer, and Marvel producers opted to keep the scenes he filmed and continue the movie with him as the superhero rather than re-cast for a replacement.

Fans responded to the song on Thursday night, with some expressing delight and others expressing a wish for Rihanna’s more typical sounds.

“I was 3 seconds into the song and i was crying in the street already,” one person wrote on Twitter.

“Song is incredible. Music like that lasts for years to come not just for the moment forsho,” another person wrote on Instagram.

“It was a beautiful song! It was perfect for the movie… I just wish they gave her a record like All thé stars with Kendrick ft SZA but her voice is still there!” another person said.

“Tems was all over the song I could hear her,” one person wrote.

“It’s not gone be a dry eye in that theatre do you hear me,” another said.

3 seconds into lift me up by rihanna pic.twitter.com/T106lq4rIs

— your ultimate 🅿️lug  (@GimK_) October 28, 2022

didn’t realize how much i missed hearing rihanna’s voice and new music from her until it all hit me when i pressed play on lift me up

— tejal (@tejschaos) October 28, 2022

BURNING IN A HOPELESS DREAM HOLD ME WHEN YOU GO TO SLEEP #Rihanna pic.twitter.com/KnojWYNSzF

— Stella (@stellaspeaks1) October 28, 2022

BURNING IN A HOPELESS DREAM HOLD ME WHEN YOU GO TO SLEEP #Rihanna pic.twitter.com/KnojWYNSzF

— Stella (@stellaspeaks1) October 28, 2022

Rihanna fans hearing her humming for 6 seconds pic.twitter.com/C4OArsrup3

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) October 26, 2022