Growing up is hard to do – and some do it quicker than others. With her new song, Maddie Zham wonders what it means to grow up so fast and asks an important question: “Where Do All the Good Kids Go?”

In the opening verse, she relates her journey to death. “I lead worship when my best friend’s mom died / And that was an honor but if I’m honest, I was terrified,” she sings. “I was way too young to lead people to the other side / I thought so much about death I couldn’t live my life.”

A solo piano accompanies her, setting the stage for a gospel choir to join in later with stunningly moving background vocals. Co-written with Adam Yaron, the cathedral-sized ballad profoundly digs its fingernails into human existence, barreling through not only fleeting youth but time itself. The song’s heaviness falls like snow, enveloping and soft. “I was always way too young to be that good at growing up,” she sings with sharp frankness. 

“Where Do All the Good Kids Go?” is the sort of profound statement piece that stays with you and perhaps even forces you to confront your own youth.

Listen to “Where Do All The Good Kids Go?” below.

In 2022, Zahm released a five-track EP titled You Might Not Like Her. 

With “Where Do All the Good Kids Go?,” she hopes to bridge the gap into her forthcoming new record, Now That I’ve Been Honest, out October 20. She promises the release will detail  “the journey that comes with owning your truth,” she says in a press statement. “When I left the church and moved to the city I realized I had absolutely no preparation for the real world. ‘Good Kids’ serves as a question that hopefully, through these twelve songs, is eventually answered. A messy, beautiful introduction to a messy, beautiful journey.”

Originally from Boise, Idaho, Zahm catapulted into the spotlight thanks to TikTok, where she boasts more than one million fans. The sound for her song “Fat Funny Friend” has been used in no less than 250,000 videos, an impressive feat that signals general audiences greatly identify with her particular brand of confessional songwriting. On Spotify alone, she nears 200 million streams and counting. She’s a bonafide star and just getting started.