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"Imagine if you were the Santa Claus, and you had some people who waited a whole year for you to come. And when the time get close to your arrival - you suddenly goes: 'I don't come anyway!' - Imagine how sad that would be." (^25.1)

Aurora said this in an interview with P3 Christine. They talked about the year 2016, which must have been crazy. She did about 110 concerts. That's about one every third day. Add in photosessions, radioshows, magazine and paper interviews and the making of 'Once Aurora'. No wonder she sometimes felt exhausted. On the question of what she missed most, she said: 'Peeing in my own toilet.' (^25.1) 

"The poetic Under The Water is about drowning... 'I’ve always been very drawn to sadness and to nightmares and to scary stories or going out in the dark – I don’t know why. There’s something (whispers) mystical about it – which is very exciting, isn’t it?" 

"And I’ve always been very emotional. I’ve had my part of sad events in life – as we all have. I’m just being a bit realistic, because darkness in life comes quite natural to everyone… Sadly but true. I guess that’s why I write music in the first place – to kind of process everything that I feel, and everything that people around me feel as well, ’cause I’m hyper-sensitive.” (^25.2) 

Her song, “Under the Water”, was also featured in Simlish for the hit video game The Sims 4 in the “Vampires” expansion (^25.3) 

Searching YouTube for live performances of this song a whole lot of hits. She obviously have brought this one to many stages around the globe: 

"I love to sing this song live. It reminds me of my roots. It's dark, a bit folky and it got tiny inspirations on percussion etc. from some Norwegians metal bands. I love heavy metal" (^25.4). 

Sources

25.1 - Aurora at P3 Christine
25.2 - Aurora talks about inspiration behind the album
25.3 - Aurora, queen of mindfulness 
25.4 - 405, Aurora track by track 
25 - YouTube, Under the Water, Vevo Halloween

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Only a few months before the release of her first album, Aurora dropped this song as a gift to her followers. Not wanting her fans to be Aurorians or something else that proclaimed them to be hers, she offered us to become 'Warriors and Weirdos' - and also states that she herself are bound in a two-way relationship with us (^24.1)

In us she found even deeper purpose in making music, both for herself and for her audience: 

"Aurora... sees these harsh contrasts in the human condition; in suffering, perseverance and inner strength. Indeed, ‘All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend' "is about being good to yourself and becoming human again", and was inspired in part by the personal agonies she herself suffered at the age of fifteen, and the chunk of time spent "rebuilding" in its wake." (^24.2) (I have chosen not to delve into what kind of agonies she spoke of here - it's not for us to dig into...) 

"Warrior is kind of about, what I kind of think the meaning of humans life is, to be kind to other humans" (^24.3). 

"... but people have fights in their lives, small and and big. And it's a nice thought, that people can walk around and call themselves warriors... It's strong. It's important to remember that, how strong we are." (^24.3) 

Through this song she reminds us of the importance of taking care of ourselves - and then again empowering us to take off those around us: 

"... true empowerment cannot come from others, but only from within yourself (^24.1). Be a warrior of light, only we can make this world a better place (^24.4) 

'Warrior' is an ode to strength, and finding strength, during which she implores, "Let love conquer your mind," a call to arms of advice, an advice that she herself has heeded - for love is no doubt at the forefront of everything that Aurora does (^24.1). a

Sources

24.1 - Coup de Main Magazine 
24.2 - Read Dork
24.3 - Genius
24.4 - Aurora, track by track 
24 - Aurora, Warrior at Vevo 

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Aurora describe this song as one who came to her in a dream :

"Under the water there is a magical land, filled with wonder. I'm floating on a river and I end up in a place surrounded by a thousand black water lilies. It was a dream I head once. It was originally seven black water lilies... But a thousand sounded better." (^23.1) 

"Yeah. “Black Water Lilies” was a dream I had. The melody was playing in the background. And I was dreaming that there was a hand, and I grabbed it, and it took me underwater. And there was a river, under the water, running down. And I floated on the river, under the water, and I came to this magic place with lots of black water lilies – floating on the water – which was underneath the water. It was a very strange dream. When I woke up I ran straight to the piano and wrote the song. So that was a very strange experience, but it only happens a few times." (^23.2) 

Berlin music week, September 2014, is the first appearance I have found this song. (^23.3) It wasn't included in her performance at Bylarm in February or at Øya festival in August, so my guess is that this was quite new that year. When released on the album in March 2016, though, it was very well reviewed: 

To close the album is the transcendental track “Black Water Lilies.” With a mystical, delicate intro and Aurora’s pure high notes, the entire song is a magical experience. The artist’s vocals flit effortlessly between octaves, creating movement in the music, and even as the arrangement inevitably strengthens to maintain its momentum, it is perpetually fragile, in danger of faltering. Aurora uses water imagery to great effect, with the sobering realisation that the lilies in the water are symbolic of death, however, unlike the more overtly gloomy tracks on the album, this song finds the balance between message and melody necessary to round out the entire collection (^23.4). 

Sources

23.1 - Track by track on the 405.
23.2 - Interview with Aurora 
23.3 - YouTube - Unknown song / Black water lilies 
23.4 - Album review 
23 - Aurora Aksnes "Black Water Lilies" at Lowlands, Netherlands 2016.8.21

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I have seg many speculations about this track, and there is rumors going about that that this song is connected to "Runaway". Some even seem to believe Aurora actually attempted suicide by jumping from a tree as a seven year old girl (22.1).

Reading her statement about this song, might make people think like that:

"It's about realizing that you've been through dark tunnels in life, but still walking forward, both feet strong. We are all lucky to be alive, it's an important thing" (22.2)

I have not found any statements from her, neither on YouTube nor in articles, which supports this claim. Quite the contrary. I have found Aurora to have a vivid imagination, strong empathy and a clever mind that help her get insight:

"I mostly write about other people and their experiences. I’m very sensitive and I think a lot. If I know something bad is happening to a friend or people in another country, I can’t stop thinking about their suffering and it helps to write about it. It’s like I take other peoples’ emotions on as my own, but they are not my own experiences. I like to observe and hopefully that will make others feel understood." (22.3)

She is telling stories. She wants us to get better at taking care of ourselves by setting our emotions free - and thereby get better equipped to take care of eachother, the nature and the world:

“For me the stories are the most important. I want my songs to mean something. I hope to make people feel..."(22.3)

I don't have the answer, but I really don't believe it to be true, those rumors. What do you believe?  

Sources

22.1 - Reddit discussion 
22.2 - Aurora track by track 
22.3 - Aurora interview - My fairytale... 
22 - Aurora - "Lucky" in Nidarosdomen

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In know!   

I have already covered this song!   

But once in a while it must be allowed to deviate from the original plan. Especially when a gem like this is found. Thank you, @aurora.puppet, for sharing this with me.   

This is from her concert at Melbourne Recital Center last year (actually on my birthday...). And just read the extract from the review she got: 

31st of January 2017 

Aurora Aksnes is positioned centre stage in front of this venue's backdrop of deep, dark wood, and she draws us into her forest of hypersensitive emotional energy. The captivating Norwegian looks like a fairytale pop princess and casts her spell over the audience with every vocal nuance that effortlessly leaps octaves with perfect pitch.   

Aksnes is the true definition of her given name; a natural electrical phenomenon with colourful stories to share. She lets out a shy giggle and tells us she's been so excited to perform here and can't believe the show sold out. "I really like this room, it kind of makes us quiet. The world is chaos... beautiful chaos, but wonderful sometimes," she contemplates, before Through The Eyes Of A Child. We sit and listen, taking in the stillness of the moment during this magical, immersive experience of light and sound. "I talk like a baby," she says. Looking into the audience, Aksnes observes, "I see music in your eyes and so many smiles on your faces."    

The applause doesn't stop until Aksnes returns for an encore without her band, taking a seat behind a keyboard to perform the chilling Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1). There are definitely tears shed in the audience, but also from Aksnes herself. "I have something in my eyes... Maybe it's water, maybe it's something else... probably the air-con!" she jokes. 

The happy tears probably serve as a reminder for Aksnes as to why she tours; for moments such as this when she's able to move people to tears with her incredible gift (^21.1) 

Photos from Auroras Instagram 2019  

Sources 

21.1 - Read that review
21 - Link to the song

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"Lost in the moments again
Stuck where the road has no end
Keeping the thought in our minds
One day life will be kind"  
 

11th of March 2016
The 10th song on her album 'All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend' was written and produced in cooperation with Tom Hull (an English musician/songwriter/producer more known as Kid Harpoon).

In an interview with 405, Aurora had this to say about the song:

"We are not alive...we're just surviving every time." It's not a good way of living, making yourself numb, trying to let every day pass by as quickly as possible. But at least it makes us happy for a while. We are home. (20.1)

The Bristol duo Icarus have made a song featuring Aurora called 'Home', and it's a short road to think this is the same song. It's not. The Icarus song have sampled the line 'And I go home again, it's time' from the unreleased song 'Gone (Getting Colder). Icarus' song have done well, though, and is also featured in the Netflix production 'XOXO'.  

Back to Auroras 'Home'. Gaffe music did a review of her first album, and had this to say about the song :

"Lovely Home, on the other hand, is only 100% Aurora: a roller coaster ride where she does so much raw with her voice that you only sit for three and a half minutes and constantly ride from one wave of chills on your back to the next." (^20.2)

In a show in Rome, January 2019, she proclaimed this to be 'a song that got lost! Because I had so many songs to play.' I have included a snippet from this performance on the video above. The whole song is too be found in my links below.  

Sources 

20.1 - 405 - Aurora track by track
20.2 - Gaffa review of her 1st album
20. - 'Home' - live in Rome, January 2019

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"Hey! Mr. Tambourine man, ⁣ 
play a song for me⁣ 
I'm not sleepy ⁣ 
and there is no place ⁣ 
I'm going to" ⁣ ⁣ 

2014-2015⁣ 

I have not managed to figure out why she sang this one so often, or why this one was included in her repertoire during her first year on stage. If you have any information regarding this, I will be more than happy to know. ⁣I included this one, more as a curiosity. 

I suspect that, during her first years as an artist, she did it because she liked it - and we all know she have repeatedly proclaimed herself as a fan of Bob Dylan. ⁣ ⁣ She haven't sung it many times after the release of AMDGMAAF. Probably because her own material have grown big enough that she don't need to do a lot of covers. ⁣Her interpretation of the song was well received, though. I have found some pages showing so. One example: After her performance of this song in February 2015, a guy wrote his thought about Aurora:⁣ ⁣

"During "Mr Tambourine Man", she broke off, and said that she'd missed a bit out (I'm sure none of us noticed).  Did we want her to backtrack and sing the missing lines?  Of course, we did want that, and made it very clear that we did... it was very emotional.  At one point, tears trickled down my cheeks, which doesn't happen at every gig I attend.  In part, that was a reaction to the beauty of her voice, and in part a reaction to her obvious emotions." (^19.1)⁣ ⁣ 

I have included two links to YouTube where you can watch the two performances above in full. I will recommend checking them both out 😊 (^19)⁣ ⁣ I will, of course, continue the journey through the songs on" All my demons greeting me as a friend."

Sources:

19.1 - Forum about artists performances
19 - YouTube - Mr Tambourine Man, Live
19 - YouTube - Mr Tambourine Man, Some studio? 

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"Walking in my sleep⁣
Like the naked trees⁣
Will they wake up again?⁣
Do they sleep, do they dream?" ⁣

⁣

12th of March 2016 ⁣

- "Sometimes you need to be reminded of how it was to feel alive. It's a tricky situation to find yourself in.. When you've forgotten about your reasons to live" (^18.1)⁣

⁣Aurora had a really busy year promoting her great debut album in March. Her popularity grew and dayly her fan base of 'Warriors and Weirdos' grew as she toured and sold out most venues. The year ended quite abruptly, though:⁣

⁣- “I am sorry to announce that I have to cancel my shows in Seattle and Vancouver as well. Yesterday I was supposed to perform in Portland, but we had to cancel. I was sent to operations, to have a surgery to remove my appendix. And for the next days I will have to let my body rest. It makes me feel horrible to cancel. But my body can’t really do much at the moment!” (^18.2)⁣

⁣Then the 19th of December, in Drammen, Norway, she fell off the stage: “Yesterday was the last performance of 2016... It all ended with a BANG, as I fell off stage after the first song of the show! They had forgotten to tape the edge of the stage, so I didn’t see it in the dark as I was trying to collect a gift from a fan... But these things happen, and honestly I am fine” - As the Warrior she is, she still finished the show. (^18.2)⁣

⁣Between all of her concerts in Europe, USA and more, she did a tremendous number of interviews, photo shoots and small gigs. ⁣⁣She did, from 2014 to 2016 rise from a local artist to a shining world star - ending the year with an beautiful video for ‘Winter Bird’, released the 20th of December, along with the single:⁣

⁣-“Sometimes I fear our technological progress will slowly take over. We meet people through texts and screens. Is it setting us free? Or are we slowly wrapping ourselves in, depending too much on it? the fall is bigger when our hopes are not realistic, not human. What has no heart can’t give us love and true happiness” (^18.2)

Sources

18.1 - Aurora explains the song 
18.2 - Aurora interview. 
18 - Winter bird live

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"Someone once said in a comment: 'Why would she do that for a man?'. And I thought: 'The song is not about a man! It's not about me giving myself up for a man! I remember when I was a bit smaller... And I was trying to get into this group of girls... I was different from them, I guess... I never quite fitted in, and I was never happy when I was with them anyway. So why was I constantly trying to get into that group of people?... and I think that kind of insecurity follows you when you... want love from people who wouldn't even love you in a good way... That's what the song is about. I wrote it when I was nine, most of it. And I was like: 'Why would I loose myself, my dignity, trying to get these people to like me?''(^17.1)"⁣ ⁣

A nine year old Aurora who realizes that she have been pushing too far to fit in. As an emotional child, she had to manifest these thoughts and emotions into a song. At least the plot and sketch for one. ⁣ ⁣

Later she polished it and 'added the bloodlines' - making it into a reminder of Aurora often say she like to observe people and tend to catch their emotions. Then later I guess she found that 'Way too many people tend to stay in relationships where they go through verbal and physical abuse. It's a huge issue that needs awareness.' (^17.2)⁣ ⁣

This song was first released on her debut album, on March 11, 2016. For the album, she won the Spellemann Prize 2016 in the class pop soloist and also won the class' music video of the year' for the video for this song. The album was also nominated for album of the year.

"I went to far" was released in June 2015 to further promote the album (^17.3)⁣ ⁣

Final words:⁣ -'It’s a song about seeking the love we deserve, Aurora explained: “We shouldn’t be crawling on our knees to be recognized, loved, and accepted, because that is no good love,” she said. “We have to learn to be kind to ourselves and then demand to be treated kindly.”' (^17.4)⁣

Sources

17.1 - Aurora explains the meaning of 'I went to far'
17.2 - Aurora explains the song to 405 radio. 
17.3a - Interview with NPS
17.3b - Aurora in the Norwegian online lexicon. 
17.4 - Premiere of the video on W Magazine 6th of July 2016. 

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The approach to releasing an album this way was quite unusual. Out of the twelwe songs included on the album, so many as five of them was already out there. This fact didn't seem to affect the reception, though. A quick search on album reviews reveals that the album got high ranks all over the world.

As we have covered earlier, Aurora had already 32 complete song written down by the end of the year of 2012. We can only imagine how many she had at the time she recorded this album (^16.2)

Furthermore, selecting which song that should make it to the album must have been hard choices to make. In the end, though, she seemed quite pleased when she could finally announce the release date back in December 2015:

"It is so much more satisfying to make an album than one song at a time," says Aksnes in a press release. "One song is only a chapter and the album is the book." (^16.3)

About the title of the album, she said:

"My first child will be named 'All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend'... you know - we all have demons... We have dark memories and experiences in life, and it's nice to think that in the future you'll be greeted by them as a friend... You realize that because it happened, you've grown as person and learned a lot... I like the atmosphere of it." (^16.4)

The album itself is described as dark or sad, though Aurora is clear on the topic. She don't want to make people sad, and that she strives to give her songs some hope or light:

-" Many of my fans they tell me that they often listen to my songs to get through things. Therefor I hope that they can listen to it and picture a place where things are better... That must be nice... I hope my music can bring people to a calm place" (^16.4)

Sources:

16.1 -Interview about upcoming album
16.2 -Midtsiden (local paper)
16.3 -Aurora announces debut album
16.4 - Baeble Talks to Aurora, our new obsession.

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I guess there is no song from Aurora that wakes more ambivalent emotions than this one. After the release of the "Once Aurora" documentary in 2018, there is an understanding in the community that Aurora hate this song. In an interview regarding this, she said:

"There are small details that maybe only I see, sounds I do not like and a text that has a message that I am not so attached to anymore. It just does not feel relevant now... I don't play it anymore " (15.1)

Earlier, shortly after its release, the tone was a little different:

"This song is a rather strange one. It's an important contrast to all the other songs on my album - it's actually a bit happy! I wrote it with some of my band members during 2013 once. It was just for fun, we didn't even know if anything good would come out it!" (15.2)

In a message on Instagram earlier this year (deleted now, sadly) she wrote that "I don't hate this song. It's the only really happy song I have written. And it's lovely to dance to." - a statement close to what she said back in 2016:

"... makes me dance; the music makes my body feel free to move..." (15.3)

My guess is, writing this song with Odd Martin and Magnus was a fun thing to do. Besides, she did need a sing that could fit as a radio hit. Later she probably found it to be too commercial for her taste, not quite fitting how she perceived herself.

It was written in 2013, but the earliest performance live I have going vwas on By:Larm in February 2014 - two whole years before its release. It's been with her on many great stages, not the least - the famous Jimmy Fallon show in the states.

This is it. No more singles before the album release. More about this tomorrow...

Sources: 

15.1 - About Conquerer December 2018
15.2 -Songfacts about Conqueror
15.3 -Interview with Vice.com

15.4a - VG - About Once aurora

15-4b - Twitter response to "Once Aurora" review

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A recurring theme in John Lewis’ Christmas adverts has been “to take out branding and centre on stories to grab people's attention” (^14.1). As a 19-year old, Aurora was the first teenager picked to do covering (^14.2):

“It was quite a random thing. I was playing a show in England in July, and I think one of the guys from John Lewis was there at my London show and apparently they liked something about me and my band and later we got a mail offering us to record this song – and we did! I really liked the song, so I said yes.” (^14.3)

 Not everyone was happy for this release. Alan McGee, the former Oasis manager said:

"What I am pleased with is that Noel Gallagher received his royalties. I hope they gave him a million pounds, but I actually think the song is rubbish."

Geir Luedys calmly responded with a laugh that "... it sounds like a man who no longer has royalties... Her interpretation of this song has hit extremely many people in the heart, and it's a beautiful thing. It's not rubbish to make people feel good."(^14.4)

Aurora herself had this to say about the song:

“It’s a beautiful song. The lyrics are very good, so I thought, ‘This is something I can sing; I can stand for these words because they’re beautiful words.” (^14.3)

 Later, in 2018, when asked if she performs the song, she said: “Maybe at the first shows after the ad came out, I played it then, in the UK. But I haven’t since. There’s a line in there that I don’t like, ‘This old town don’t smell too pretty.’ It doesn’t sound like me. I like many of the other lines, it’s just that one that bothers me, and it made me think, ‘OK, not again.’”(^14.5)

 The Norwegian newspaper, VG, made a review of Auroras cover, and wrote: “The 19-year-old handles this... with equal parts mild magic and a sprinkle of star dust... Aurora performs it so brightly, clearly and beautifully that it's almost disappointing that it doesn't snow outside.” (^14.6)

 Sources:

14.1 –Christmas ad spend 'to hit record high
14.2 -Songfacts - Half The World Away
14.3 –Aurora Q&A for NME
14.4 –Dagbladet: The man behind Oasis
14.5 -Aurora Daily
14.6 - VG- Song review

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After the release of "Running with the wolves" EP, it was time for Aurora to release singles towards the upcoming album. During 2015 she spent a lot of time performing live, working in studio, do photoshoots and interviews. ⁣

A real highlight of 2015, was her invitation to play at the Nobel Peace Price Concert. If you somehow have managed to miss this one, I really urge you to watch the versions of "Half the world away", "Murder Song" and "Runaway" that she performed there. (^13.1)

"It is very great to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize concert. We have been following it from the living room at home for many years. It is an incredibly beautiful thing to be a part of" , says Aurora Aksnes. (^13.2)

In between two songs, she said:

"Thank you. Congratulations to the winners. They show us that there is light even though it can sometimes seem dark. I feel honored to be here. And a little scared". (^13.3)

Another great event - the 5th of May 2015 - she performed this song at the Nordic Media Festival - the most prominent media festival in the Nordic region. About 2000 delegates attend, representing the full spectrum of the industry. The festival welcomes about 100 globally renowned media professionals as speakers. (^13.4). Quite a boost for her fame, I guess.

I havent been able to figure out the circumstances of her writing this song, but as you can se in the clip above, it's been with her all the way from 2014. After playing at Baeble, she had this to say about the song:

"(It) is a bit tragic. It's a love story. And what's going on inside the womans and man's head is a secret." (^13.5)

Sources:

13.1 - AURORA - Nobel Peace Prize Concert | 2015
13.2 -Bergensavisen snnounces her upcoming Peace Price Concert
13.3 -Nobel Peace Price Concert review
13.4 -The Nordic Media Festival 2015
13.5 - Baeble Talks to Aurora, our new obsession.

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Christine Danche on P3 Live used to invite Norwegian and international artists to visit her studio Mondays - Fridays. In her shows, the guests played stripped down versions of their own songs, and covers of other people's music (^12.1)

Aurora have made a nice friendship with Christine, resulting in numerous cooperation over the years, including the HAIK episode with concert in the forest (^12.2) and as a guest at Christine's farewell to the P3 show.

In the snippet above, Aurora says:

"I wish you so much happiness on your journey ahead. You've already done so much important. I think you will continue to do important things, honest things." (^12.3)

"Wrecking ball", originally made by Miley Cyrus, was the cover of choice when Aurora attended the show for the first time (snippet above). As her own song, she sang "Awakening" (^12.4 and ^12.5)

"She gets a lot of pressure, like all famous people, but I like her. She does exactly what she wants. Or, I guess so. And that's good, says the pop hope about the cover choice of "Wrecking Ball" (12.6)"

If you follow the link in bio to this performance on YouTube, you'll see that it was Geir Luedy himself that uploaded the song. We might then guess this performance was yet another step to build Aurora as an artist.

Another interesting fact: Aurora has always enjoyed the company of her family on her travels. If you watch the "Awakening" performance at this show, you'll see her sister Viktoria sitting in a couch in the background at 01:48 (^12.5).

Thanks to @aurora.puppet for the translation of Aurora speaking.

Sources:

12.1 - P3 Christine live
12.2 (a) - HAIK TV show
12.2 (b) - HAIK forest concert
12.3 - Christine's Farwell to P3
12.4 - YouTube - "Wrecking ball"
12.5 - YouTube - "Awakening"
12.6 - P3 Facebook - Announces cover