Ella Young ’24
Staff Writer
For Eleanor Henderson ’24, the last week of January was the first week for two new chapters: her final semester at Scripps and her career as a released musician. On Jan. 26, Henderson’s debut single, “Patience” was made available on all streaming platforms.
Described by Henderson as a “pop rock, indie rock-type piano ballad,” the song features Henderson’s clear vocals atop a minimalistic piano accompaniment. The song’s lyrics, featuring the refrain “I can be patient for you,” explore themes of rejection and yearning.
“It’s about when you realized you have a crush on a friend … and it’s bad timing, but that’s so important to you that it’s like, ‘I can wait for something amazing,’” Henderson said.
Henderson is influenced by a diverse group of songwriters, including Noah Kahan, Maisie Peters, and Hayley Williams of Paramore. Although primarily a singer, she usually writes songs with the aid of a piano or guitar.
“When I started, it was scary, because I had never played my own instruments,” Henderson said. “I’d never had to know how to play guitar or piano, and I’d never written a song,but now I love it. I am so excited to get to do the whole picture of the song.”
To followers of the 5C music scene, Henderson is known as the lead singer of 5C band Fischli’s Animals, of which she’s been a member since 2021. The group is known across the colleges for their eclectic and energetic pop and rock covers. She credited the band as a key figure in her musical journey.
“It was being in a college band that made me realize that I would actually want to do [music] professionally,” Henderson said. “I’ve done music in a lot of capacities before; I studied opera in high school, and I did choir and theater. But being in a band and performing like that was a feeling I’d never gotten from music before.”
While Henderson still performs with Fischli’s Animals, the group primarily focuses on playing recreationally in the 5C music scene. Outside of these performances, Henderson’s ambitions of recording and releasing music pushed her to start her solo career.
“For a while I was trying to convince my band to go pro, and they were like ‘I don’t know.’ So I thought, this is something that I really want, so do I want it enough to do it by myself, which is really scary? And the answer was, yeah, I do,” Henderson said.
And so she did! Since beginning her journey as a songwriter in early 2023, Henderson has developed a large collection of original songs. However, even before its release, “Patience” stuck out to her as special.
“When I wrote ‘Patience,’ I was like ‘this is just ready to go,’”Henderson said. “It was a song that I both had enough faith that it was good, and even if it didn’t do well, I loved it enough and it felt special enough to me that I wouldn’t mind if it totally flopped.”
Fortunately for Henderson, “Patience” has not “totally flopped.” The song has been showcased by various indie music publications and playlists, such as V13 Media and Authority Magazine, and students across the campuses have been streaming her piece.
Henderson credited Scripps as part of this success. “It’s thanks to Scripps, the person it’s made me, and especially the people I’ve met that I’ve been able to see that things like this could happen to someone like me,” she said.
To stay up to date on Henderson’s music, follow her on Instagram or TikTok @_eleanorhenderson, and be sure to stream “Patience” by Eleanor Henderson, available now on all streaming services.
Image Source: Frances Walton ‘26
