The original lineup, consisting of Šarčević (vocals & bass), Ohlsson (guitar), and Färm (drums), released their first demo tape, Goofy, in early 1993. Soon afterwards, Larzon joined the band to play drums, allowing Färm to perform as the second guitarist. In the summer of 1993, they recorded a second demo tape, Melack. The band sent the tape to Burning Heart Records, a new record label formed earlier that year. They signed Millencolin to do a CD single, which culminated in the release of Use Your Nose in November 1993. Success of the single prompted Burning Heart to sign the band to release a full album. In July 1994, the band released Skauch, initially planned to be a single for their new album. However, the band decided to record four cover songs as well and released it as an EP instead. They put out their first major release, Tiny Tunes, in 1994. The recording and mixing of the album took two weeks. Legal trouble with Warner Brothers over the title and cover artwork of the album led the band to re-release it in 1996 under the name Same Old Tunes.
Millencolin continued to tour and in 1995 brought out their second full-length album Life on a Plate. This coincided with Millencolin beginning to tour outside of Scandinavia. At the end of 1995, the US record company Epitaph wanted to release Life on a Plate in the US, and the band agreed. They then toured further afield, touring Japan, Australia, Brazil and Canada, and played as part of the 1997 Warped Tour.
Further albums For Monkeys and compilation The Melancholy Collection followed, but the band's popularity increased in 2000 with the release of Pennybridge Pioneers, an album with more of a rock influence than the band's previous skate punk/ska punk sound. The recording took six weeks and they started their first major worldwide tour. Millencolin played in Wellington, New Zealand, followed by an Australian tour. This led to an early release of the album in Australia and New Zealand. Millencolin wrote on tour and release Home from Home in 2002. In 2003, the band received the Best Swedish Rock award from the Swedish Hit Awards.
Kingwood, released in March 2005, marked the band's return to a faster and more traditional punk rock sound, collaborating it with their recently founded rock sound, and completed a world tour in follow up of the album. The album debuted at No. 2 in the Swedish chart.
On October 22, 2007 the band entered the studio to start writing and recording songs for their seventh album Machine 15.
The band has hosted a skateboard contest at their own skatepark in Örebro, Sweden named the Millencolin Open. They say they started this annual contest because skateboarding is what brought them together and now they have the chance to make something good of their town and of skateboarding.
Šarčević released his second solo album entitled Roll Roll and Flee, whilst Färm promoted his side-project Franky Lee.
They wrote and released a single dedicated to their hometown football club Örebro SK titled Örebro in 2009. It was played in the stadium for the first time on May 11, 2009 in the home game vs Hammarby Fotboll.
In 2010, they toured in Canada and South America, where they played Pennybridge Pioneers in its entirety. They also played the 2011 Soundwave Festival in Australia.
In 2012 Millencolin celebrated 20 years as a band, they simply put up their own festival. "Millencolin 20 Year Festival" was a 2-day Open Air Festival at Brunnsparken, Örebro, Sweden on the 8th & 9th of June 2012. Millencolin closed both nights by doing two exclusive sets from the band’s entire 20-year long career with different songs each night. In addition to Millencolin, a bunch of international and national bands has played on stage. A temporary festival site was built, including a huge catering tent with food and drinks. Besides this, WESC presented a skate contest with invited pro skaters. There were also a camp just 5 min from the festival and with their own waterpark.
The band announced on facebook a limited "yellow bird" toy would be available in the festival but due on delay in the production the sale was only possible in future tours. Carry You single from the compilation album The Melancholy Connection was released on vinyl limited to 500 copies in this festival.
On April No Fun At All canceled their appear at 20 Years Festival due their disbandment [10]. So then the canadian trio Danko Jones was invited to join it the festival.
A Day To Remember's Jeremy McKinnon has stated that Millencolin has been a big influence on A Day to Remember.
On May 29, 2012, Millencolin released The Melancholy Connection, a follow-up compilation to The Melancholy Collection featuring b-sides from Pennybridge Pioneers onward. The album also features a DVD of a behind-the-scenes look at the previous decade of the band.
In February 2015, Millencolin announced their latest album True Brew would be released in April. The first track "Sense & Sensibility" premiered on YouTube, with a three-part mini documentary about the making of the album being posted leading up to the release. The album was released at different times in different regions; on April 22 in Sweden; April 24 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; April 27 in the rest of Europe and on April 28 in the US.
No Cigar
Millencolin Lyrics
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What you want to become
And we'll say if you're OK
Where did you go to school?
Right answer and you're cool
Yeah, you're the kid the whole day
You get a sticker in your face
Information 'bout the case
So you know your potential
Don't think you can extend
Don't think you can extend, just comprehend
But I don't wanna hear it
No, it's more than I accept
'Cause I don't care where I belong no more
What we share or not I will ignore
I will ignore
We will shut you out
We'll put you in doubt
If you think that you're special
We'll tell you who you are
We'll tell you that you're close but no cigar
But I don't wanna hear it
No, it's more than I accept
'Cause I don't care where I belong no more
What we share or not I will ignore
And I won't waste my time fitting in
'Cause I don't think contrast is a sin
What they say is
Go back where you came from
They'll tell you that, I don't want to hear
No, I don't want to hear
No, I don't want to hear it
No, it's more than I accept
'Cause I don't care where I belong no more
What we share or not I will ignore
And I won't waste my time fitting in
'Cause I don't think contrast is a sin
No, it's not a sin
The song "No Cigar" by Millencolin is about the pressure society puts on individuals to fit in and conform to expectations. The lyrics start with a series of questions asking where one comes from, where they studied, and what they want to become. These questions are often used to judge and categorize people, giving others an idea of who they are and what they are capable of. The song then goes on to express the frustration with this type of societal pressure and states that the person singing the song no longer cares where they belong or what they share with others.
The chorus repeats the lines "’Cause I don't care where I belong no more, what we share or not I will ignore." This emphasizes the idea of not trying to fit in and not caring about the expectations of others. The second verse continues with the idea of shutting out those who don't fit in with the expected norms and telling them who they are. The repeated line "close but no cigar" emphasizes that the person being described is almost good enough, but still falls short of expectations.
Finally, the song ends with the rejection of the societal pressure to fit in, with the lines "And I won't waste my time fitting in, 'cause I don't think contrast is a sin." This final statement shows a clear rejection of the idea that everyone needs to be the same, and that differences should be celebrated rather than discouraged.
Line by Line Meaning
Tell us where you're from
Introduce yourself, let us know where you are from
What you want to become
What are your aspirations, what do you want to achieve
And we'll say if you're OK
We will judge you based on your answers, and determine if you are acceptable or not
Where did you go to school?
Tell us about your academic background
Right answer and you're cool
If you tell us what we want to hear, we will accept you
Yeah, you're the kid the whole day
We will accept you as long as you comply with our expectations throughout the day
You get a sticker in your face
You receive feedback, or a literal sticker, as a reward for conforming to our expectations
Information 'bout the case
You receive information, feedback or grades, about how well you are doing in our eyes
So you know your potential
We are shaping what you believe to be your potential based on our expectations
Don't think you can extend
We do not want you to think beyond what we have presented as possible
Don't think you can extend, just comprehend
Understanding our expectations is enough, we do not want you to question or push beyond them
But I don't wanna hear it
I do not want to listen to what you have to say
No, it's more than I accept
I refuse to accept or comply with your expectations
'Cause I don't care where I belong no more
I do not care about fitting into your expectations or group
What we share or not I will ignore
I do not care about fitting into group norms or conforming to your expectations
We will shut you out
If you do not comply with our expectations, we will reject and exclude you
We'll put you in doubt
We will make you feel uncertain or insecure about yourself
If you think that you're special
If you believe you are unique or different from our expectations
We'll tell you who you are
We will instruct you on who you need to be to fit into our expectations
We'll tell you that you're close but no cigar
You almost meet our expectations, but not quite
And I won't waste my time fitting in
I will not spend time changing myself to fit your expectations
'Cause I don't think contrast is a sin
I believe that being different from your expectations is not a bad thing
What they say is
Referring to the expectations and norms set by society or authority figures
Go back where you came from
We reject and exclude those who do not conform or fit into our expectations
They'll tell you that, I don't want to hear
They will instruct you in ways that I do not agree with
No, it's more than I accept
I refuse to accept or comply with these expectations
'Cause I don't care where I belong no more
I do not care about fitting into your expectations or group
What we share or not I will ignore
I do not care about fitting into group norms or conforming to your expectations
And I won't waste my time fitting in
I will not spend time changing myself to fit your expectations
'Cause I don't think contrast is a sin
I believe that being different from your expectations is not a bad thing
No, it's not a sin
Being different is not a bad thing
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ERIK OHLSSON, FREDRIK LARZON, MATHIAS FARM, NIKOLA SARCEVIC
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind