we are soldiers we have guns

track 10: what your sister said

2008-05-18T16:00:00.003+02:00

lyrics:
Let's not be weak again
No let's try a little harder
Dearest, if there's one thing I've learned
it is that things can get better, but never good
Remember what your sister said:
She said we cope because we must
she said we cope because we have to
So
let's not be weak again
Let's try a little harder

trackstory:
We shouldn't worry so much about coping, it's the only thing we're good at.

The small little bubbly sound in the end is Uffe shouting "Bruna bönor och fläsk" through the guitarmic. He's also the guy that sounds like Tom Waits in the last vocal part. My god, he was extremely proud of that.

soon:
video - the great depression

track 9: power

2008-05-11T19:00:00.004+02:00

lyrics:
We can bring each other
bring our worlds into another
Take your working week
Hate it, and bring it
See the lies and pick them up,
We'll bring them
Friends left unnoticed
We'll bring them
Things left undone
they won't matter
we'll learn to handle them
Now we're in a new place
We're in a brand new place
See the lies and pick them up
We'll bring them

trackstory:
"Power" is the title to one of my all time favourite albums. It's got the ability to change how things look in my eyes, without actually changing anything. Put things in a new perspective. Good music does that. Hopefully in a better perspective.

This song was meant to be used in a new band I was talking about starting with my friend Pontus Wallgren. I play the drums, he plays the guitar and we were to be called Dick Heroine.

next week:
track 10 - what your sister said

track 8: speak up, speak out,

2008-05-04T10:00:00.003+02:00

lyrics:
I just started a miles-long sentence
that ends in a hellhole somewhere
I took a deep breath and words came on random
Out of my mouth, it's out of my hands
I wish you'd stop me
Tell me I'm wrong, you can tell me I'm mean
You can tell me my mum is the only one on my team
Just don't be afraid
If talking's this lonely I'd rather be alone
And keep the dream of better company intact
When no one's watching I'm not transparent
Tell me I'm wrong you can tell me I'm mean
Tell me my mum is the only one on my team
Just don't be afraid to share this lonely life

trackstory:
There's an episode in Six Feet Under where Claire describes her family to her therapist. She says they're so used to being around people in their weakest time that they've all become invisible. They're so scared of saying anything wrong that they've stopped talking at all. That phenomena is a modern plague.

Silence is no good when you're weak.

next week:
track 9 - power

track 7: nina

2008-04-27T12:21:00.014+02:00

lyrics:
Look back at all the nights
I made sure we'd be at the same place
Just think of all the boys
Who have said us two, we're special
We're something new
Look back at all the times
That got lost in the over use of one
And I knew something was wrong
But I couldn't tell my will apart from his
So I said OK, have it your way
There's so many boys, but just one me
He said us two we know
how to make each other happy
And I thought to make him right,
maybe I should stop my crying now
At least turn my head
So I turned away

next week:
track 8 - speak up, speak out,

Track 6: create your own psychosis!

2008-04-20T10:00:00.001+02:00

trackstory:
For some reason, a while ago, a had this idea that goldfish must be the happiest animal on earth. I don’t really remember why, but it had something to do with their ability to forget everything every third second, and that way escaping permanent emotional damage. (Now I know that their memory goes as long as a few months back, but I guess that theory wasn’t very credible to begin with anyway). I told a friend, and he went berserk.

"I’ll tell you what it’s like to be a goldfish", he said. "First second you’re in the bliss of not knowing anything. Second second you realise that you’re a goldfish, stuck in a bowl and the only reason you’re not bored to death is that you keep forgetting it. The third second the goldfish is paralyzed with panic, and then it starts all over again."

next week:
track 7 - nina

track 5: november

2008-04-13T20:00:00.001+02:00

trackstory:
Last summer I had vocal classes with the girls at Popkollo – a feminist summer camp where girls get to play in bands with each other. We sang this song and I recorded it on my computer so I could have their version of it on the album. The recordings didn't turn out well, but everytime I hear this song I picture them in my head. There was one girl who looked so shy I was sure she would never agree to even sing a note. She just mimed and longed for the drumclass, or bassclass or whatever. I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden she was singing. It was really silent but she had a really clean and secure voice. I have no idea why, but she looked shocked. Maybe she didn't know that she had an excellent voice, or maybe she didn't know that she had the guts to use it. I must have been a huge pain after that because I couldn't stop laughing and cheering, like I was her grandmother or old high school teacher something.

It's weird, but this song is written druing some really heavy times and it's the most upbeat thing I've ever done. I guess, sometimes you come to a point when you just can't afford to be weak.

next week:
track 6 - create your own psychosis!

track 4: the great depression

2008-04-06T20:00:00.007+02:00

lyrics:
This is the place where my line is drawn
but still it adds up to one more mile
We have no choice but to break or sustain

Göteborg, det regnar
but I know the sun won't make it right
you can't make it right
and I sure can't make it right

Give me a sign, I'd take anything right now
give me a sign

trackstory:
In 2006 the world entered The Great Depression. It started because of the first world war (see the song "Rain, heart, scars"), and no Marshall plans in the world could save us.

I wrote this after playing pool with a semi-friend. He ended up coming on to two young fans of his who had travelled from their small town to Gothenburg just to see him. He even did that classic pose when you stand behind the girl pretending you're showing her how to play but really just touching and feeling as much as you possibly can. I said I had work to do, got soaked on the way home and then I just sat for the rest of the evening – soak, disgusted and depressed. Fucking men.

next week:
track 5 - november

track 3: rain, heart, scars

2008-03-30T16:21:00.012+02:00

lyrics:
You misread me like an open book
A crappy story with metaphors like rain, heart and scars
You misread me like an open book
A sappy lovestory with 30 synonyms for male genitalia
Here comes that stereotype ending
I wish you'd give me some space instead

We'll never be as depraved as our rolemodels are
Still there's no way we'll use our welth
to be something better than them
But making guilt a sport won't compensate
And I just can't believe
we were meant to be this miserable
Here comes that stereotype ending
I wish you'd give me some space instead
You'll never read my face again
And I won't be forced to watch you do it

I scared the only alternative
to being misread is to be ignored

trackstory:
It's weird how you can stay in a relationship that includes no understanding, respect or will at all. Weird, and very tiresome.

next week:
track 4 - the great depression

track 2: me vs time = fixed game

2008-03-23T17:00:00.005+01:00

lyrics:
I saw a line just beneath my left eye
there goes my alibi for all the thing I haven't done
But I don't want to apologize for
losing all chances to be a prodigy
There's just no way in hell that i could be
all of the things that I expect of me
Even with ten more lifetimes
no way in hell
If days were made longer, and weeks too
I'd still be in constant lack of time
for all the things I haven't done
'cause it's an end in itself
being a martyr for all that we have for free
It's the punish for all the backs that I've turned
when walking towards something else
Each yes has a no incorporated

trackstory:
This song always makes me think of guppies. The fish, yeah. But not the male ones, just the females with big colourful fins. I think it could be because I like them both. The song and female guppies that is. It's about making amends for all the benefits I/we have in life by never enjoying it. And having goals that are impossible to reach.

vocals, casio, guitar: Malin Dahlberg
casio, guitar: Ulf Wederbrandt
drums, percussion: Ramo Spatalovic

next week:
track 3 - rain, heart, scars
+ album pre-order links coming on Tuesday

track 1: better days/more alive

2008-03-16T17:00:00.016+01:00

lyrics:
There are lots of reasons not to try
but I am claiming them unvalid
Stop dreaming about the better days
they never were, they'll never be
Just promise me and promise yourself
that you will try to be
more alive

trackstory:
I made this song while washing up old dishes one evening after coming home from a show at the music academy in Göteborg. It's a fighting song, a commited song and a challenging song. But I think I was mostly sad when making it. It's inspired by the best opening line in a song ever (like, EVER): "Sluta drömma om det ljuva livet, du kommer aldrig va med om det". Every swede knows who's written that, and the rest of you don't understand what it means anyway.

vocals, piano, footstomping: Malin Dahlberg

next week:
track 2 - me vs time = fixed game
+ early-bird-album-pre-order-mega-deal!

get up, get out,

2008-03-11T20:00:00.004+01:00