Song-Stories
39 - Queendom
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The whole of this story have only one source, which might seem little, but this interview really sums this song up really good.
By the time she dropped this song, Aurora had been traveling a lot. She'd been everywhere, it seems. And there is no doubt that the world and her Warriors had made an impact on her:
"I’ve met so many new people and it’s really changed the way I look upon my mission. I see that it’s much bigger than I thought it would ever be. Already my group of lovely warriors stretch all over the world and speak to each other and connect."
And connect is what I really feel we do in her Queendom. It was a new concept for her back then - "Queendom" - a new word in her vocabulary. And she wanted us to have place to feel safe:
"Queendom is about celebrating all the differences in us...” she shares, “the quiet ones and the introverts, where they can sing and be seen. It’s about the shy people and the lonely people and I hope it can be a place where we can come and be lonely together and then not be lonely anymore. Queendom is a place for all of us.”
But it isn't a physical place:
"It isn’t about the place, it’s a state of mind, so the idea was for the video to be quite delicate, soft, inviting and free. I have these dancers and and I wanted us to be always touching, always together. It’s very connected; we’re always intertwined.
It was one of two singles released before IOADK. A teaser, to prepare us for what to expect:
"It’s fun for me because the song is just like a little seed -- the beginning of the whole flower that the album will become. It feels so wonderful to finally put the seeds in the ground and make people wait for the flower."
It wasn't just about the song or the upcoming EP, though. It was also a statement. Making it clear that her music and her life as an artist had an intention, a purpose. And that is to make the world a better place. Little by little, piece by piece:
"I wanted to make it clear that every type of love is accepted and embraced in my Queendom."
Sources
39.1 - Interview with Vice
39. - Queendom on YouTube
38 - Animal Soul
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"It's a song about feeling isolated" (^38.1)
7th of November, 2015
Wherever I search, background information is eluding me, but it was considered a "world premiere" when she played it at TV2s "God Morgen Norge" in June 2017 (^38.2). Very strange. A search on YouTube reveals a lot of performances of this one in 2015/2016, so it's a mystery that it wasn't released on her first album (38.2).
I will now head for her next album. I found a story, written by Aurora and Oscar Adame at Warp Magazine. It makes a lovely transition from AMDGMAAF (38.3):
«The image that illustrates my first studio album is a moth. They are the sisters of the butterflies, they are brown, they do not have any hair and nobody likes them; that is why I love them and I collect them when I find them dead. I am fascinated by them because they fly at night, always looking for a place near the light. It is weird because they could do it during the day and not look for anything.
I am the moth of my cover, my wings say that I am close to death, but in reality I am finishing a process of change. I manage to open them and instead of looking for light, like any other moth, I go out in search of silence, a quiet place, a place away from noise and people. I realize that I could go anywhere and I would love it.
I end up searching in nature, in a freshwater lake. It’s been a long time since I saw any lake. There I pretend that I am walking on the water, dancing on it, it seems that I am doing it, but actually I am flying. That’s when a fish catches me, I become their food and I become a part of it.
Now I see the world with its eyes and the lake is the opposite of what it looked like when I was a moth. At that moment I saw it, I knew that I would die if I entered it. Now that I am a fish, I see outside of the lake and I know that I will die if I go out. I love being able to breathe underwater. I love the sea. I love the ocean. It’s like flying. I love swimming. I love being a fish. I am a fish with one eye.»
Sources for this story is found here
38.1 - Aurora Live off the Plate
38.2 - TV2 God Morgen Norge
38.3 - Warp Magazine
38 - Animal Soul on YouTube
37 - Famous Blue Raincoat
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25th of April, 2017
This lovely performance is the last of the three Cohen covers she did as an tribute to his memory. This show was broadcasted on National TV and held in Oslo Spektrum - the largest indoor stage in Norway.
The Local Daily Bergens Tidende covered this quite soon after it was announced:
"Aurora is supposedly a great fan, and knows many of his songs. So I called her manager, and a quarter of an hour later I got a "yes", says project manager Christer Falck.
Leonard Cohen died in November, aged 82.
In an interview with NPR Music, Aurora said the following about the legend.
"His voice came into my life very early. I think I was in Mom's belly the first time I heard his music. Just listening to his voice reassures me, and it reminds me of my mother, said the 20-year-old, who will sing "Famous Blue Raincoat".
"So Long - an unofficial memorial concert for Leonard Cohen" is the project title of the concert that will be held in Oslo Spektrum... " (^37.1)
Sources
37.1 - Bergens Tidende
37 - YouTube
36 - The Partisan
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In memory of Leonard Cohen
Aurora sang this one in a gallery in Montreal. 40 artists was invited to contribute to the three months Leonard Cohen installment in early 2017. Not only musicians. It's really an honor that Aurora was invited. This phone recording is all that exists of this performance (36.1)
"I did this song for an installation at a museum in Montreal, I covered it in one of the rooms in his memory and it was really an honour. It was all of his life and achievements as pieces of art in the museum, and they asked artists to showcase his art so that people could see those that he influenced.
“I really love this song. I know that he speaks of the Second World War and I think that’s not often spoken about, considering how much pain it brought the world. Also, in art and music we don’t really paint or sing much about it but it’s important that people talk about it, because it’s something we carry on our shoulders and we did it to each other as a species.
“I think about it a lot, but it’s good to distance ourselves from the memory too. I have a few songs about the matter, though some are more obvious than others." (^36.2)
"His voice came into my life very early. I think I was in my mom's belly the first time I heard his music. Just listening to his voice — it calms me down and it reminds me of my mom. It's the same softness and delicateness, and also the warmth I feel like he has. His music and his words are just such a great contribution to this planet." (^36.3)
Aurora did three Cohen performances to honor him these few months after his passing. This is the second one. The last one will be introduced in the next song story -"Famous Blue Raincoat"
Thanks to @lindcarsten for making the recording sound lovely.
Original video by "Half The Seed Away" on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3hGaOIP9wNg
Sources
36.1 - Mac installation
36.2 - Interview at TheLineOfBestFit
36.3 - Aurora at NPR, interview
36 - YouTube - The Partisan
35 - So Long Marianne
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In memory of Leonard Cohen
21.09.1934 to 07.11.2016
11th of November 2016.
It saddens my heart to think about how much impact Leonard Cohens death must have had on Aurora. It saddens my heart to maybe wake more sadness by making this song story.
Still I hope this also can be viewed as a contribution to keep the memory of Leonard Cohen and his music alive.
Sitting somewhere in Chicago, the 11th of November 2016, she wrote the following words of good bye to a musician and storyteller she loved deeply. And the same night she song her beautiful version of "So Long Marianne" to the Chicago audience:
"I know many of you share my sorrow. Today time has once again taken a beautiful mind away from us. It's strange how it stings in my chest. It's strange how we are reminded that even our heroes will have to leave this planet one day."
"We were all touched by his words. Every letter carved into our hearts making them even more beautiful. In a thousand ways time can't fully take him away from us."
"Because what he gave us has no end. Music and words like these cannot die. Because I know they will never be forgotten. We take them with us, we tell them to our children. We wrap them carefully inside little notes and sleep on them and night."
"In a way I can't help feeling he walked away with death as an old friend. Side by side, with a promise that his music will never follow them."
"Cause his words are needed by the living."
"Thank you Leonard Cohen, for teaching me so many things. For reminding me of home and my mother when I travel. For reminding me of so much beauty. For everything."
"And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
Cause you know that you can trust him
Cause he touched your perfect body
With his mind." (^35.1)
Aurora covered three Cohen songs in memory of him. The next song stories will cover these.
Sources
35.1 - Note of honor on Facebook
35 - YouTube - Aurora, So long Marianne
34 - Why Did You Go A Place
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2014
I have chosen not to include the song here. This one was never intended for anouther audience than her friends funeral. It was leaked out of her friends mothers Facebook page. I still think it's OK to share its story, and you can find the song on YouTube, if you wish to.
This text is found at the Aurora Aksnes Fandom Wiki:
"AURORA dedicated this song to a friend who died from a car accident in 2014. She sang this song at her funeral."
She's said the following about the song: "It's important for the song to cry. That it is reminiscent of grief while it can relieve a little. This song is {NAME REMOVED FOR PRIVACY}'s song. And it always will be. I only had her in mind when I sang it in, thinking that a small part of her is in it if you listen extra well" (34.1)
According to the Wiki, this was "A post the mother of the friend posted. The link will not be shared here for privacy reasons" (34.1)
In another interview, Aurora said that a Dutch family friend and Aurora’s confidant, died on Christmas Eve. During the Christmas service, the Aksnes family found out that he had died, and the funeral was held in the Christmas room. 11-year-old Aurora felt both her own sadness and the sadness of everyone around. It became so overwhelming and intense that she threw up afterwards.
«It was when I learned that funerals are not for me. It was absolutely awful. Singing is easier than sitting on the benches and feeling your own and everyone else’s pain. No, I do not like funerals, I get nothing out of them. Especially if the dead are young.»
They are many. When Aurora went to junior high school, her sister Viktoria lost a close friend. He was a 18 years old and died in bed by an undetected heart defect. At high school, Aurora’s friend from the sign language class died in a traffic accident.
«I sang at my friend’s funeral. She was kind, it was heavy.» (^34.2)
Sources
34.1 - Aurora Aksnes Fandom Wiki
34.2 - Interview - A free bird
33 - You're The Voice
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9th of March, 2016
A big step on the ladder of fame, it seems. Make sure you read this one through...
A quick search on the W&W Forum reveals that "Aurora and O. Martin visited German broadcaster WDR's 1LIVE radio studios to record a couple of live acoustic tracks. What marks this session out as particularly unusual and interesting is the fact that, as well as playing 'Conqueror', they also gave a spirited performance of the old John Farnham song 'You're the Voice" (^33.1)
"Germany is considered one of Norway's most important export markets. A number of Norwegian performers and composers have experienced significant artistic and commercial success in the last 10 years. The market is perceived as very open to Norwegian music and cultural expression in general ... Research shows that radio is still the most used medium in Germany for listening to music. 1Live Radio (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) is on the top of the list of Music Norway's list of recommended radio stations." (33.2)
John Farnhams "You're the Voice" entered as a number one hit in Germany when it was released the 15th of September 1986.The song re-entered the Australian singles chart more than 25 years after its original release - thanks to its appearance (to advertise the company's SYNC voice control system) in a 2012 Ford TV commercial (33.3)
Once again we see the masterminds of Aurora and Made Management at work. By using this popular song as a cover, Aurora caught the attention of a great number of German listeners. By adding in "Conqueror" to the radio show, Aurora became a voice of note in Germany - one of the biggest exporters of Norwegian music.
Ah - I love finding these stories. I hope you enjoy this as much as me.
Sources
33.1 - Warrior and Weirdos Forum
33.2 - Music Norway
33.3 - Wikipedia
33 - Aurora, You're the voice on YouTube
32 - Three Miles High
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11th of january 2016
"Three miles high" was written by Travis' Fran Healey in collaboration with Aurora. It was first released as a single in January 2016, then released with the album 'Everything at Once' the 29th of April the same year.
As stated in the interview above, Aurora did come up with the top line vocals for the songs refrain, and if you listen closely (at the end of the clip) you can hear her doing the backing vocals herself.
In the interview with the Norwegian TV channel TV2, Fran Healey had this to say about the collaboration (^32.1):
"- Aurora was really cool. I mean she's one of the best singers right now. I met her in Berlin.
Healy went to see the show for Aksnes, as he is friends with the guitarist in her band, Odd Martin. Fran Healy called her friend and asked for Aurora's number, called her and asked: «How long will you stay in Berlin? Come to my studio and help me! ».
"Then she came, and she sings like a bird, she is so natural and has so much soul. That's how she got on the record. It was a very nice evening, says Healy to TV 2."
Photos by Justin Ng from the Wilderness Festival 2017 in Oxfordshire
Sources
32.1 - TV2 Interview with Travis
32 - YouTube music video
32 - TV2 - Interview video
31 - Awakening 3/3
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I have been wanting to post this for a while, but it kinda feels like a sidetracked story. Now that I have presented the whole first album, I decided I had get this one out before moving on towards the next album. I mean, to get aired on national TV is no small feat, but there isn't that much to say about it. Hope you like it anyway 😊.
The first time ever Aurora appeared on national TV, was on NRK evening 14th of March 2014.
As you can see in the snippet included here, she was probably "pushed" into using a lot more make up than we see her ever use later. She wears a skirt with tights under, and a "fitting" top. Her hair has been "properly" arranged for the occasion. Oh - they didn't know Aurora would have a mind of her own about this 😊:
“I feel more beautiful when it’s freshly shaved,” she says—the clean cuts also give her head a welcome breeze, liberation of weight, and all but ensure that her hair won’t get in front of her eyes mid-performance. A stash of bobby pins is always on hand to keep her remaining lengths pulled back. “I’m constantly trying to find new ways to get my hair out of my face,” she says of her repertoire of twists and topknots (^31.1).
She said to Vouge in 2016 that only Miranda, her sister, was allowed to put on her make-up, because she didn't like beeing touched in her face, and that she liked wearing used clothes, refreshed and remodeled with aid from her other sister, Victoria (^31.1). To me, it seems like Aurora was destined to become an artist. What a lucky twist of fate that her sisters were makeup artist and clothes designer. It's almost unbelievable - and these sisters where doing this BEFORE Aurora entered the stage as an artist. Quite remarkable!
A music video for this song was filmed the same year, in April 2014. It was never released, but there's still photos of it to be found on the web. I have included those I have found in the video.
Sources
31.1 - Vogue - Aurora on Nordic Beauty and Why She Never Wears Nail Polish
31.2 - NRK - Awakening - First TV performance
31 - Photos from official (deleted) video.
30 - Wisdom Cries
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Finally! We have now covered all of her songs from the first album, including most of the songs she performed in her first year. The forward motion now is the era towards the surprise EP "Infections Of A Different Kind - Step 1"
As you may know, Aurora have never performed this one live, although she has proclaimed it to be one of her favorites - and that she probably would go more complex in the future (^30.1)
As some of us may suspect, her first album was a lot of "give and take" for Aurora. Some of the songs was probably made more mainstream and commercial than that suited her taste, still she have proven herself to be quite strong in her will, and that she have a mind of her own when it comes to the sound of her music:
“I guess in the beginning of a career, you have to compromise a bit because these people are putting a lot of effort and time and money into my project and of course having more understandable songs are easier to like. It makes it more possible to be successful which is not my job to care about, but people around me care about it which is important. But I know that the more freedom I have to do what I want and these people are not against me of course, but we have different minds.” (^30.2)
'Wisdom Cries' is a rather strange and different sounding song from Aurora (in my opinion). Still, when we go into the lyrics and the back story of this one, we find that she early started to take the steps to use her music to "heal the world":
"It’s about… Humans and the world. We have spent so many years, millions of years collecting wisdom and learning about each other, respect, knowledge and all of the things we should know. Then I feel like if Wisdom was a person, maybe, he/she’d look down upon us and see all the things we do towards the planet, the animals, the women, the men and the children… I think Wisdom would cry because we spend like a second tearing down what we have spent millions of years becoming, if that makes sense. And it’s… sad" (^30.1)
Dancer Lily Van Nostrand
Sources
30 - Dancer Lily Van Nostrand - Wisdom Cries - Center Dance Studio 2017
30.1 - Aurora Daily - Interview
30.2 - Earmilk - Interview with Aurora
30 - Aurora banner by 'Stardust' on Pinterest
29 - Nature Boy - Cover
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It's no doubt: When Aurora wants to set the mood for the show, she stars out with this one. We saw in the beautiful cathedral show in Nidarosdomen, we saw it in apocalyptic live stream in April 2020, and many have heard her do this live in various churches and moody buildings around the world.
The song is originally written by Eden Ahbez and Nat King Cole released it in 1948. It was a big hit, and superstars like Marvin Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald, Celine Dion and Lady Gaga have their interpretations of this one (^29.1)
This version must have been well received, since AURORA's cover of the song was used in the debut teaser trailer for the movie "Alien Covenant" back in 2017 (^29.2). In a tekst message with her national newspaper, she wrote:
"I think the song fit very well. Am very fond of the Alien movies, so it's very cool. Lots of blood and gore and aliens" (29.3).
A reviewer of the song wrote that "I’d probably take his [Nat King] greatest hits to a desert island. His version of ‘Nature Boy’ is the definite version, but 18 year old Norweigen Aurora Aksnes is running him a close second with her interpretation (^29.4)."
Aurora said about the track:
"I think humans need to let go a bit more, shake their bodies more often, like the animals do. Embrace nature, not destroy it to build cities and extinct species. It’s a beautiful thing really... Sometimes when you look at the world, and you see what we’ve done to it, the way many of us hurt innocent animals, even our own kind!!.”
Sources
29.1 - 730.no, Aurora brings goosebumps...
29.2 - Midtsiden about Aurora and Alien movie
29.3 - VG, Aurora on the track for new Alien movie
29.4 - Aurora speaks of Nat King cover
29 - YouTube - Aurora performs Nature Boy in Nidarosdomen
28 - Fairytale of New York
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Searching the internet, using strange searches, sometimes yields golden snippets - and surprises I would never guess possible. Did you guys knew she had performed this one?
Statoil was the name of the Norwegian Oil Company, before it changed it to Equinor in 2018. Each autumn Statoil used to have a year conference, and hosted a concert for the participants.
In 2017 they ran the conference at "Det Norske Teatret", with Sivert Høyem as the main artist. He's a Norwegian singer, most known as a member of the band Madrugada.
As a guest star, Aurora entered the stage. They performed "Fairytale of New York" (^28.1)
The song is written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and released by their band the Pogues in November 1988. They had originally two possible Christmas songs on paper. Finer told NME, "I had written two songs complete with tunes, one had a good tune and crap lyrics, the other had the idea for 'Fairytale' but the tune was poxy, I gave them both to Shane and he gave it a Broadway melody, and there it was" (^28.2)
Statoils Autumn concert ran 3 shows, all together for 2214 people. It's uncertain whether Aurora participated on all three shows (^28.3)
Back in 2015, after the release of "Half the world away", Aurora said this to 'Daily Record' in the UK:
“I love Christmas and have already been listening to Christmas songs quite a lot. My favourites are "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" , which is a very old song, and also "Fairytale Of New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl" (^28.4)
Sources
28.2 - Wikipedia
28.3 - Årsmelding // Det Norske Teatret - AWS
28.4 - The Daily Record
27 - Through the eyes of a child
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"When a human strokes your skin
That is when you let them in
Let them in before they go
I would rather feel alive with a childlike soul"
To the 405, she had only one thing to say about this song: "This is a very important song for me." (^27.1) Closer look at the history of this song, clearly shows this as an understatement. In a longer interview FaceCulture at Eurosonic Festival in 2016, she elaborated this a bit:
"My first album will be released The 11th of March. It's a nice day. I love the number 11. It's my favorite number. Two ones... The most difficult song was also the most easy song, because it was a really strong emotion... It almost burned me up from the inside. It was really strong. I had to write it down. It's the song that means the most to me on the record. It's called "Through the eyes of a child". It's about wishing to see the world through the eyes of a child. To only see the beauty and the kindness, and not everything else. It means a lot to me." (^27.2)
To show you how much she means this, I included a clip from her performance of this song at Tivoli Vredenburg in 2016. Notice how she, like a child, take hold of her teddy bear. Take also notice of how she seeks comfort by pressing the teddybear to her chest. This is clearly very emotional to her.
"I care a lot about people's inner child and I am very determined to never lose my inner child. I get why we need all these layers to survive. It is a very tough world [and] I think sometimes we forget that child, sometimes we lose it and I think that's a bad thing.” (^27.4)
Sources
27.1 - 405, Track by track
27.2 - FaceCulture interview, 2016
27.3 - Aurora - Through the eyes of a child -Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht 19/10/2016
27.4 - Independent interview
27 - Aurora, Through the eyes of a child, Vevo
26 - LaLaLa - Cover
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This beautiful cover
of LaLaLa, originally written by Naughty Boy was first released on Soundcloud
(^26.1). It was then posted to YouTube with only a photo.
As far as I can see,
she has only done this song live twice. The first time on Radio Hamburg on the
8th of March 2016. She also did 'Conqueror' there (^26.2)
The second time she
did a performance of this song was during Christines Radio Festival in May 2020
(^26.3). This was made as a celebration to Christine saying goodbye as a
radiohost for NRK P3 for 10 years - eight years at the head of P3 Christine
Live Music which have done great things for Norwegian artist. Aurora too, HAIK
among them...
The festival was
supposed to be a real festival, but they had to make it as a live stream, due
to the world pandemic (Covid-19) (^26.4)
The whole festival
performance Aurora did might be one of the most emotional performances I have
ever seen live, especially when it came to 'A different kind of human' - I
suspect this had to do with Silja Sol's loss of her beloved mother only a few
days before. Silja still chose to attend, alongside Odd Martin. Thank you.
I'm not sure how
Silja feels about this festival performance, so I chose to include the Radio
Hamburg session in stead.
To Silja Sol: if you ever read this, I really mean no disrespect. Quite the opposite; you all did lovely during the festival. I am truly sorry for your loss, I know how it feels to lose someone that is so close to you.
Sources
