Tag: Bjørnskov

Tim: Bear in mind when you press play that the melody for this was apparently written “about fifteen years ago”; Nelly and Kelly Clarkson had a massive smash hit with Dilemma just under fifteen years ago.

Tim: I am therefore willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, and accept that it’s a coincidence. A massive, massive coincidence.

Tim: According to him, he only recently came up with the lyrics that would fit it, apparently about his mum who died a while back, and it’s taken him ages to perfect it to be a decent farewell and that sort of stuff, and actually it really is a very, very decent farewell.

Tim: It took a while to convince me – to be honest the only reason I didn’t get bored of it before the chorus was that I was looking up Dilemma’s release date.

When that chorus hit, though, it was more than enough to get me to keep listening, because blimey it’s strong. The voice doubles down on the passion, the strings come in and it all seems worth it.

Tim: I’m not sure about the distorted vocals in the middle eight, mind – they stick out a mile in this otherwise traditional ballad – but overall I like this a lot. It’s good.

Tim: Blimey, he must have got a bit bored standing in that town square. But yeah, there’s a chorus.

Tim: Maybe, possibly. I listened to it while I was colouring in my advent calendar for today so wasn’t paying immense attention to it, but it was a lovely soundtrack for doing that.

Tim: Well, ’cause it’s a colouring in advent calendar, dummy. This isn’t an immense track, sure, but it’s very pleasant to listen to, and I’d disagree with you that there’s no progression – even if it’s fairly steady, there’s a definite sense of arrival when that final chorus comes along, and it’s one I like.

Tim: It’s very nice.

Tim: Danish, for “Friends Forever”. That’s nice, innit?

Tim: Believe it or not, no.

Tim: Yes, as it happens, it is nice, both with the music and because it really is just about friendship. It’s refreshing to have a track that acknowledges that not all two-person relationships are romantic, and as the (entirely predictable and unemotional) video shows, this is exactly what this is.

Tim: A celebration of two people who’ve just been BFFs throughout their life. I thought it came across a bit aggressive for a pleasant sentiment like that, to start with, but then I checked the lyrics and it turns out the chorus is about the relationship standing strong through all sorts of challenges (“they do what they want, we’re like water over a fire”) so it actually works very well – appropriate aggression with a whole amount of enthusiastic and celebratory energy.

Tim: It does indeed. Lovely stuff.