Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Jag tänker inte bara sitta här och vänta på att bli kysst

Apologies in advance to anyone who regularly follows Swedish music, as you'll probably already have this song, but really, given my love of Swedish pop, how could I not mention Lena Philipsson?

I am far from being the Lena scholar that many pop fans are, but she's amazing--the definition of a star. If you watch Eurovision, you'll have seen her and her famous microphone stand dance take the song "It Hurts" (the English version of "Det gör ont") to sixth place in 2004, but she's been releasing music since the 1980's, racking up two 2nd places and one 5th in that decade's Melodifestivalens and being a general "teen idol" (even if technically in her early 20's). She continued to have success through the early and mid-90's. Still, her entrance in the 2004 Melodifestivalen truly marked a comeback, and it was a deservedly huge one; the great followup album Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan went double platinum in Sweden.

Though it's not the song I'm posting today, I really have to include her first performance of "Det gör ont"...it speaks for itself.



Lena Anthem--also from Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan, this song is all sorts of brilliant. From that revving beat to the musical reference to previous single "Dansa i neon" to the brushing off of past rivals (including Regina Lund, who competed in this year's Melodifestivalen), it's--well, fabulous. Incredibly catchy (the phrase "ridiculously catchy" was practically invented for "Lena Anthem"), this is the sort of song you don't have to speak Swedish to appreciate, though understanding the lyrics would make it all the better, given how clever I think they are--it really is an anthem to herself.

To buy Lena Philipsson's album Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan, go here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: maybe something Spanish.

1 comment:

Aaron said...

Hi,
Just wondering if you could post this album or her greatest hits album.

Thanks In Advance.