Interview, Ai Phoenix, 2004 (page 4 of 6)

When last we spoke, Patrick mentioned, that he was planning to alter the direction his lyrics were taking. They don´t seem to have changed that much. What´s new?
Patrick: I was kind of pretentious the last time you interviewed us. All the lyrics are different. Some are autobiographical. Other's are fictional and that allows me to focus on characters. Like for example in "Held into the fire".

Are the new lyrics probably more autobiographical? (Some seem to be about being on tour)
Patrick: Yes, autobahn was written in advance of the tour we made in Germany in may 2001. It was ment to be our rocktoursongcliche.
Mona: Small, red, heartshaped pillow is a direct description of lying in bed, not falling in sleep, hearing sounds, getting strange ideas. So, yes, autobiographical. Then you have other songs, like Leaving the fairground and Pilot and the pilgrim, who are completely fictional. But they still describe something relevant to real life.

I realised that I cannot tell whether the music for the new songs is supposed to be either melancholic or uplifting. They seem to be both at the same time which is very strange. How do you see the new songs yourselves? What did you have in mind?
Mona: When someone find our music both sad and joyful, I really feel that we have managed to make the kind of music that we had in mind. This mixture is what breaks my heart in a film like ‘Happy together’ or in a song by Leonard Cohen. I think we try to describe moments where everything around seem to come closer than normal. When the everyday-defence-wall cracks. As it does for example when you are alone, when you travel, but also when you are drunk or fall in love. Moments when you are more honest and vulnerable than you like, both to yourself and others. It can be a night with your best friends, you drink some wine, you go outside, listen to the voices from distance and suddenly, in the middle of a great evening, you are attacked by sadness. You realize that time is REALLY going by and this is all going to end. Melancholia is not the same as sadness. It is happiness and sadness connected. For example when you think of something nice, but at the same time it belongs to the past, and it will never happen again.

Previous page - Back - Next page