Our imaginary Alice fell into the rabbit hole on a chilly day in May 2002. Toril Lindqvist had been a guitar player in various rock bands for years, but was beginning to feel tormented by musical inspiratio that didn't quite fit into any Rock and Roll context. She wanted to be a singer. In something more "electronic" than a rock band. Finally one day she took a long shot and phoned old friend Carl Lundgren.
Skeptical in the extreme, Carl agreed to hook up for a brain storming session. The two met a couple of times and became inspired by the fact that they really had nothing in common musically; this would actually become the fuel of their creative process. Early on, the duo would make attempts at "Body Music meets Punk Rock meets Commodore 64", inspired by an imaginary and unholy alliance of DAF, The Clash and Rob Hubbard.
A couple of simple demos were released during the late summer of 2002, and surprisingly generated lots of acclaim! With fuelled enthusiasm, the duo christened their project "Alice in Videoland" from a 1984 Commodore 64 computer game. Anders Lundgren (keyboards) and Anders Alexander (drums) were recruited in February 2003. Johan Dahlbom (bass) joined in November the same year. At this point, Alice in Videoland had begun receiving massive praise for their energetic and charismatic live show.
In the midst of this early experimentation process, off the hype of a five track demo and less than ten gigs, Alice in Videoland suddenly found themselves battered with offers. Eight different labels expressed their interest in signing the band, who were eventually attracted to the relative freedom offered by Swedish label National. AiV began recording their album in June 2003, partly assisted by Micke Lohse (Atomic Swing). Curious of cross-genre experimentation, the band elaborated on their sound, drawing inspiration from a spectrum of genres ranging from EBM, synthpop and electro through to disco, rock and punk.
And sure enough - in the following months their sound evolved from being arguably concept driven into something truly musically interesting. The debut album, Maiden Voyage contains a peculiar mixture of electronic pop, punk and hard EBM beats. Substance? You betcha. Alice won't be climbing out of the rabbit hole anytime soon ...
Alice in Videoland also released Outrageous, a follow-up to Maiden Voyage, in 2005.
In 2008 they released their thrid album She's A Machine on the Swedish label National.
In 2009 they released a new single, Psychobitch
A Million Thoughts and They're All About You is the fourth studio album by Alice in Videoland. It was released in Sweden on 11 February 2011. It includes the single "Spaceship".
all music is written by Toril Lindqvist/ Anders Alexander
Emily
Alice in Videoland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take that bitch away from me
I can't stand her any more than she can stand me
She wanted to be just like you and me
She wanted to be anyone but Emily
She wanted to be loved by someone else
But she hates us like she hates herself
Girls like her grow old alone
Working at some bar some uncle used to own
She always takes the early shift
That's to make it home in time to feed her cats
She's a real bad mother
She's a devil, don't be fooled
Every word she ever spoke was cruel (2x)
The only thing to say would be
Take that bitch away from me
I can't stand her any more than she can stand me
She wanted to be just like you and me
She wanted to be anyone but Emily
She wanted to be loved by someone else
But she hates us like she hates herself
The only thing to say would be
Take that bitch away from me
I can't stand her any more than she can stand me
She wanted to be just like you and me
She wanted to be anyone but Emily
She wanted to be loved by someone else
But she hates us like she hates herself
All she does is a part of her act
If you turn around she'll stab you in the back
She leads you on and lies into your face
But I can see right through her a million miles away
She's a real bad mother
She's a devil in disguise
A real bad mother
She's a devil in disguise
She wanted to be just like you and me
She wanted to be loved by someone else
She can stand me
She wanted to be just like you and me
She wanted to be anyone but Emily
She wanted to be loved by someone else
But she hates us like she hates herself
The lyrics of Alice in Videoland's song Emily seem to describe an individual who is envious of the lives of others and hates herself for it. The song states that Emily wanted to be loved but could not stand the people who loved her. She also wanted to be like others but resented them for being what she wanted to be.
The song seems to indicate that her bitterness and jealousy come from a lack of love and self-worth. Emily's actions seem to be a façade to mask her insecurities, and the song suggests that she is a wicked person, willing to lie and stab others in the back to get what she wants.
Additionally, the lyrics imply that her life is going nowhere and that she is heading towards a lonely old age, working jobs that offer little hope. The reference to feeding her cats might indicate a lack of people who care about her, hence the need to seek solace in pets.
Overall, the song seems to speak to the dangers of envy and the importance of self-love and acceptance. It is a cautionary tale, encouraging individuals to be content with who they are and to find happiness within themselves rather than seeking it externally.
Line by Line Meaning
The only thing to say would be
There's nothing else that needs to be said
Take that bitch away from me
I don't want to be around her anymore
I can't stand her any more than she can stand me
We both can't stand each other
She wanted to be just like you and me
She desired to be like us
She wanted to be anyone but Emily
She wanted to be anyone except herself
She wanted to be loved by someone else
She wanted someone else to love her
But she hates us like she hates herself
She doesn't like us, just like she doesn't like herself
Girls like her grow old alone
Girls like her end up alone when they grow old
Working at some bar some uncle used to own
She works at a bar that her uncle used to own
She always takes the early shift
She works the early shift at the bar
That's to make it home in time to feed her cats
She goes home early to take care of her cats
She's a real bad mother
She's a terrible mother
She's a devil, don't be fooled
She's a bad person, don't be deceived
Every word she ever spoke was cruel (2x)
She always said mean things
All she does is a part of her act
Everything she does is fake
If you turn around she'll stab you in the back
She will betray you if given the chance
She leads you on and lies into your face
She deceives you with false promises and lies to your face
But I can see right through her a million miles away
I can easily see through her facade
She's a devil in disguise
She's a bad person hiding behind a mask
She wanted to be just like you and me
She desired to be like us
She wanted to be anyone but Emily
She wanted to be anyone except herself
She wanted to be loved by someone else
She wanted someone else to love her
But she hates us like she hates herself
She doesn't like us, just like she doesn't like herself
She can stand me
She can tolerate me
Contributed by Layla G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.