Andreas Johnson (born March 22, 1970 in Lund, Sweden) is a Swedish pop musi… Read Full Bio ↴Andreas Johnson (born March 22, 1970 in Lund, Sweden) is a Swedish pop musician and songwriter. Born in Lund in the south of Sweden his family moved around the country, finally settling in a Stockholm suburb.

In 1993, He started his musical career as the singer in Planet Waves, a group which released only one album, Brutal Awakenings before splitting up due to internal conflicts. He then turned to a solo career, releasing the debut solo album Cottonfish Tales. In 1999, he had an international hit with the single Glorious, which later featured on the album Liebling, which has been used in a number of advertisements including Volvo, Nutella and Vauxhall. Deadly Happy, his third solo album, was released in 2002, and Mr Johnson, Your Room Is On Fire was released in 2005. 2007 he gave out a greatest hits CD called The Collector.

Bio from the poet site written by Unbry, Mysty and Bending:

March 22nd, 1970 - Lund, Southern Sweden: a wonderful baby starts to let the world hear his phenomenal voice: his name is JON ERIK ANDREAS JOHNSON. His mummy is called Marie, his daddy Gigge; they're both jazz musicians. He also has an older brother called Olof who's now a lawyer. Since they were children, the Johnson brothers have travelled throughout the world with their parents, always in a tour: "I've grown up on the stage, surrounded by instruments, scores and dressing-rooms sometimes not decent. [...] I was the group's mascot and to joke or because I liked it, I always ended up with taking a microphone in my hands, often on daddy's knees..." Music becomes a natural yearning for Andreas: as a kid he used to fall asleep listening to his mother singing jazz songs instead of traditional lullabies, believe it or not! In his early teens he moves with his family in a Stockholm suburb: "There was not so much to do, I only had three choices: sport, drugs or music and I chose the last!". He starts joining small bands and making his first experiences; his first band Silver Arrow made its debut in an assembly-hall at school "It was my first gig ever, It ended up with that I and the two guitarists went up and played without drummer. The guitarists were so nervous that they played with their back against the public". But his parents disagree with him having seen many friends quitting their musical career pretty soon. "So you don't want me to be in the music world? I'll prove you wrong!"

Andreas releases his first album with Planet Waves, "Brutal Awakenings", published by EMI only in Scandinavia. The band seems to take inspiration from Bob Dylan, and also the title is the same of a Dylan's album (Andreas will later confess that they didn't actually know anything about that album!). Between 1993 and 1995 love brings him with the band to New York, where he finds his first personal inspirations for his songs; back in Stockholm the band splits up "We didn’t come to agree. It became a total conflict. Also physical confrontations, fights".

Under the American influence Andreas releases, again with EMI and only in Scandinavia, his first solo album, "Cottonfish Tales". And here problems begin, he fight with EMI because they don't give him enough freedom, he takes a period off in Berlin and in this magic city the new album "Liebling" starts to breathe in only 2-3 months.

The album is dedicated to Debbie Starlight, mysterious inspiring muse, dead before her time but somehow still present in his songs' sounds. Italy brings inspiration too: he spends a couple of weeks in Porto Ercole, Tuscany, and, inspired by green Tuscanian hills, he writes 8 songs, 3 included in the album (the last three). As a final gift he gets a new contract with another recording house, WEA. Tales say that when Andreas went to WEA he brought with him three sample songs in DAT format, but the player jammed right at the proof moment; he took a guitar and decided to make a live performance, with an acoustic version of "The Games We Play": the editor was immediately crazy about it and signed the contract the same day! The POET's talent strikes back!

After the album conclusion, comes the single choice: for about two weeks Andreas and his band try to choose a song to be released as a single, but everyone has his own favourite and the choice is not easy; in the end the album opening song is chosen: "Glorious". In Gothenburg, during the first months of 1999, in an old dismissed gas container, Karl-Johan Larsson directs the video of "Glorious"; in interviews Andreas always says that it was "quite frightful: I was 80 metres above the ground and we were even without permissions!". The song is published just before summer, but it doesn't reach immediate success: "This song is too distressing for summertime" the POET says. But during autumn it becomes the biggest success of the season: it reaches the third place in Italian singles chart and also the fourth place in the "difficult" English chart, which is a quite good result for a debut single! Andreas receives two nominees for the Swedish Grammy Awards, as best single and best video for 1999. Critics unanimously recognise that "Glorious" is "the most beautiful song of the last decade". Concerts in Germany, England, Spain and Sweden are always sold out.

..At the end of 1999 the new single, "The Games We Play", is published in Sweden, reaching 7th place in the chart. Unsatisfied with the video shot in Praga, Andreas decides to shoot a new version during the weekend 4-5 march 2000, with the same director of "Glorious", Karl-Johan Larsson, and again in Gothenburg waiting for the new single to be published in the rest of Europe on May 15..

..In Autumn 2000 “People” video was ready and directed by Karl-Johan Larsson too in Kiev/Ukraina. At our advise the best video of our POET..

..After a long European tour from 1999 till Autumn 2000 till the presentation of the best hip hop MTV Europe Award, a long working period gets him ready to conquer the world..

...15/12/01 he is ready to enter in all charts with the new single Shine. A little taste coming from the new album Deadly Happy, third work of the Swedish singer songwriter, that will be released in Europe between March and April...

.. No one will ever stop the POET)

The Pretty Ones
Andreas Johnson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

What a pretty thing to say
What a pretty thought to think
When the nights is closing in
We star together
And it's a never-ending show
It's the everlasting dream
When you feel its time to go
We go together

We are the pretty ones we are
The pretty ones
And we, we really don't give a damn
No we really don't give a damn
We are the pretty ones
What a perfect crime we are
What a perfect life we lead
When the lights are turning low
We are forever
In this everlasting show
In this never ending scheme
When you feel it's time to leave
We leave together
We are the pretty ones
We are the pretty ones
And we, we really don't give a damn
No we really don't give a damn
We are the pretty ones
Maybe we're falling apart
Maybe our love is not enough
We are the pretty ones
We are the pretty ones
And we, we really don't give a damn
No we really don't give a damn
We are the pretty ones

And we really don't give a damn
We are the pretty ones

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Andreas Johnson's "The Pretty Ones" evoke a sense of living life to the fullest with no care in the world. The listener can interpret the song as living in the moment with a significant other, seizing the day as a couple. The lyrics express a notion of unity between two people, of how they face everything together, and their love is strong enough to take on whatever the future holds. The song alludes to the idea that the couple is happy together, no matter what. The lyrics "Maybe we're falling apart/ Maybe our love is not enough/ We are the pretty ones" could signify the couple's awareness of, or apprehension about, their relationship's potential failures. Still, in the end, everything that they have gone through has made them stronger as a couple.

The song's title and “pretty ones” lyrics are accompanied by an upbeat rhythm giving an anthemic quality. This song has been noted for its catchy chorus, which is memorable and easy to sing along to. It has since become an essential part of alternative music of the early 2000s. It's fascinating to note that despite being released as a single, "The Pretty Ones" did not chart in Johnson's native Sweden. Furthermore, it only charted in the UK, where it peaked at 16. Several remixes of the song's dance-pop version exist, and it has been used in advertising campaigns, tv dramas, and films. The song's success propelled Johnson into international celebrity status, making him one of the most successful artists of the early 2000s.

Line by Line Meaning

What a pretty thing to say
It's a beautiful expression to make

What a pretty thought to think
It's a lovely idea to have

When the night is closing in
When darkness is approaching

We star together
We shine together

And it's a never-ending show
And it's a continuous performance

It's the everlasting dream
It's the eternal aspiration

When you feel it's time to go
When you feel it's time to depart

We go together
We leave together

We are the pretty ones we are
We are the attractive ones

And we, we really don't give a damn
And we don't care at all

No we really don't give a damn
Actually, we don't give a damn