The Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience are finally coming to Japan, after 12 years. I never saw them in Denmark or Europe, and it is clear that I should have. But 10+ years ago when I was there, I didn't have the wherewith all to go.
I am fascinated by the moments when any kind of art hits the target and captures how something feels. That's always been my working definition of where art meets aesthetics; to capture feelings. Sometimes we can do it with words, and sometimes it takes a melody or a paintbrush.
Kings of Convenience has a well-established sound, and it is comforting to listen to each of their albums, which carry their own vibe, while still staying very true to some kind of core.
I love how they use various instruments to express an emotion. Whether a playful piano on I'd rather dance with you, a tender guitar in Gold in the air of Summer or the pondering trumpet in the end of Sorry or please.
But most of all I love the feelings of Love they're able to express, without saying it. I don't believe they have a single, fawningly direct love song. Yet, I hope you too can recognize the situation, the feeling and the possibilities in these lyrics:
I didn't know if you wanted to
But I came to pick you up
You didn't even hesitate
And now you and me are on our way
I think I've bought everything we need
Don't look back, don't think of the
Other places you should've been
It's a good thing that you came along with me
Gold in the air of summer
You'll shine like gold in the air of summer
To be able to combine this simple story-telling, with music that just hits the spot, is remarkable. And that is why I just come back to them again and again. It's all I need when I want to revisit the past, or dream about the future. (Incidentally, when I was using Spotify, one of their yearly recaps put me in the top 100 listeners in the world..)
I can only hope to teach my children to listen for their own feelings in the songs or music they like. I wasn't taught, I don't believe. I discovered it myself, first by being sucked in by the melody, and then over the years discovering my own experiences in the lyrics.
Take the lyrics in Comb my Hair in their entirety:
I've got nothing to say to you
I've got to look ahead
That love that I once felt for you
Is by now as good as dead
No, I'm not fooling anyone
And least of all myself
I still believe that you will come
And take me back again
What good is it to comb my hair?
It won't be touched by you
Why wake up when you won't be there?
Why go outside? It's lonely there
The sky is full of stars tonight
The air is warm and clear
That silence that I longed to find
Is cold and senseless now
I love how they express an inner dialogue about doubt, and our true emotions.
And what an ending. To resent the silence he thought he wanted, as he made a fateful decision.
I'm not a good writer by any definition, but I try to take inspiration from them in how they catch a small scene, like combing our hair, and use it to reveal a feeling. I for one have definitely often completely given up on combing my hair many times.
In a way, I want to say "we all know the feeling" and that they capture something common, but I also know that not everyone has had such experiences, or haven't noticed them in themselves yet.
And exactly that sense of having had a uniquely meaningful experience, I think these lyrics from Cayman Islands capture best.
The wind is in your hair, it's covering my view
I'm holding on to you on a bike we've hired until tomorrowIf only they could see, if only they had been here
They would understand how someone could have chosen
To go the length I've gone to spend just one day riding, holding on to you
It is absolutely one of my favorite songs, in a catalogue which features very few songs I don't love.
It's not at all about the Cayman Islands, but rather about walking around together in a foreign city. They rent a bike, and ride around. He notices her hair. We don't get to know anything else about it, what color it is, whether it is dyed or not, but it doesn't matter, because even without him saying it, we know he thinks it is beautiful no matter what, that it is the best moments of his life to feel the wind blowing her hair gently into his face, covering his view. Just that one day.
I love how songs, with their lyrics and melodies, can create these scenes and situations.
Like the best of the stories in early Bob Dylan songs, but much more compressed. They give us a hint of a feeling, and then leave us alone with our mind's eye.
Let's see how the concert is. I don't know their setlist of this tour, or even what they normally play live. I'll just show up and listen.