The song name refers to a popular internet meme whereas the lyrics tell about people in internet forum discussing about reality TV show.
Although one might think such lifestyle as a lonely one, people actually have important relationships with their virtual friends and their social life might be even more active than that of a person who does not spend time in online discussions.
Also for this song I had the melody in my mind for years. Finally I got a person to write the notes down and then I could ask people to do different versions about the song with and without lyrics.
Female a cappella versionSlow version with vocalsSlow with piano and stringsAmbient themeInstrumental pianoSlow version
This is a song, which I have had in my mind for a long time. It was just the melody and lyric for the chorus in beginning. The whole idea came from my local Italian restaurant, which I visited often. There was a very cute waitress and I always ordered Amarone wine with my dinner. At some point the waitress brought the glass of Amarone without asking, as soon as I sat in table.
I never really said anything else to the lady as I was too shy. We just smiled. Originally I got the idea to order Amarone because it was written on the blackboard at the bar. At some time there was a little heart added on that blackboard and I was hoping it was a message from the lady to myself. At some point I did not see the waitress there anymore and I also moved on ordering cheaper wines.
Time passed and once after a failed relationship I was feeling very down. I dressed myself in my best clothes and walked to the restaurant. I sat alone in the table and ordered a glass of Amarone. I started writing the lyrics on the cover of cigarette box. Eventually I ordered more and more, so that in the end I asked if I could just pay the full bottle as it was cheaper than individual glasses.
Over the years I have asked different people to make their own interpretation of the lyric and melody. Here some examples:
A soft version (My favorite)Summer pop versionStrange soul versionStrange happy version
Surströmming is part of the APN201 concept, which is studying the changes that modern technologies imply on traditional ways of producing and distributing artistic works.
This CD consists of 20-minute long electronic music track, but as with SLEEP, the focus is not on the content itself, but in the context.
Throughout the times people have done home recordings and modern electronic music tools have made it even easier. Still the distribution has been the problem. It has been a big investment to order a disk of demo-discs and then trying to distribute them to friends and record companies.
With the digital distribution channels and “make to order” -services, virtually anything can be globally published, yet it remains hidden because of the missing media coverage.
