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
Numb
Alice in Videoland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can't fell my arms
I can't feel my legs
I can't feel my body
I can't feel my head
I can't come around
Don't know what to feel
I'm too wounded to heal
I've got blood on my hands,
a hole in my heart
I'm afraid of my thoughts and
I'm falling apart.
I'm surrounded by fear,
I'm stuck in despair
and if I'll make it from here I'll be good, I swear
I'm dreaming away
I'm making excuses
Somebody say I'm not totally useless
Give me a reason, give me a sign
Something to stop me from losing my mind.
I'm blind
I can't see a thing
I can't hear a word
I can't even bring myself to be heard
I wanna get out
I'm locked up for good
If i speak, if a shout
I'll be misunderstood
I've got blood on my hands,
a hole in my heart
I'm afraid of my thoughts and
I'm falling apart.
I'm surrounded by fear,
I'm stuck in despair
and if I'll make it from here I'll be good, i swear
The lyrics of Alice in Videoland's song "Numb" depict the emotional state of feeling completely disconnected and detached from oneself and the world around them. The repetition of "I can't feel" emphasizes the numbness and lack of sensation that the singer is experiencing, both physically and emotionally. The feeling of being "nailed to the ground" and "too wounded to heal" suggests that the singer is trapped in this state and unable to move forward.
The singer expresses a sense of hopelessness and helplessness in their situation, acknowledging the presence of blood on their hands and a hole in their heart. The fear of their thoughts and the feeling of falling apart further illustrate the depth of their emotional turmoil. The repetition of "I'm surrounded by fear" and "I'm stuck in despair" further emphasizes the singer's sense of being trapped in their current state.
The desire for someone to give them a reason or a sign to stop them from losing their mind shows the singer's desperation for something to pull them out of their numbness and give them a sense of direction. Overall, the lyrics of "Numb" convey a deep sense of emotional pain and the struggle to break free from it.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm numb,
I feel nothing and have lost all sense of feeling.
I can't fell my arms
My arms feel like they've stopped functioning and I can't move them.
I can't feel my legs
I can't move my legs, and it feels like they've gone completely numb.
I can't feel my body
I cannot feel anything in my body, as if it has shut down completely.
I can't feel my head
I can’t sense the thoughts flowing through my mind and cannot discern any emotional responses.
I can't come around
I'm paralyzed and unable to take action towards anything in my life.
Don't know what to feel
I'm confused and unable to distinguish how I should be feeling about things.
I'm nailed to the ground
I'm stuck in one place, and cannot move from where I currently am.
I'm too wounded to heal
I've been hurt so badly that healing seems impossible, and I'm left feeling like there's no hope for me.
I've got blood on my hands,
I feel guilty and responsible for my own problems, and it's starting to take a toll on me.
a hole in my heart
I experience feelings of emptiness and sadness, making it hard for me to move on from past experiences.
I'm afraid of my thoughts and
I'm scared of what I'm feeling and thinking, it's become a source of my distress.
I'm falling apart.
Things are just not going well, and I'm losing control - in every way possible.
I'm surrounded by fear,
There's a constant feeling of danger or threat that looms over me, and it's hard to ignore it.
I'm stuck in despair
I have absolutely no hope left within me and it feels like things will never improve.
and if I'll make it from here I'll be good, I swear
I know that things are tough, but I'm hoping that I can find the strength to make it through this and become better as a result.
I'm dreaming away
I'm trying to escape my reality by imagining or dreaming of alternatives.
I'm making excuses
I'm making justifications for my failures and mistakes instead of taking responsibility.
Somebody say I'm not totally useless
I need someone to remind me that I have value and I'm not completely worthless.
Give me a reason, give me a sign
I'm desperately seeking any kind of motivation or inspiration to keep going in life.
Something to stop me from losing my mind.
I'm afraid that my mental instability will completely overtake me, and I'm seeking anything that can help me to maintain my mental stability.
I'm blind
I cannot see anything, and I am unable to navigate through the world around me.
I can't see a thing
I'm living my life without any sense of visual perception.
I can't hear a word
I'm unable to process or understand anything being said to me.
I can't even bring myself to be heard
I feel invisible and insignificant, and much too scared to speak up or share my opinions with others.
I wanna get out
I want to escape from this life that I'm living and have a fresh start.
I'm locked up for good
My current situation has trapped me, and it seems like there's no escape from it.
If i speak, if a shout
I'm afraid of expressing my feelings, even if it means having to shout about it.
I'll be misunderstood
I'm worried that if I do express my thoughts to others, they will not understand or empathize with me.
Contributed by Ethan H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.