He grew up list… Read Full Bio ↴Erlend Øye was born on 21 November, 1975, in Bergen.
He grew up listening to Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, Suzanne Vega and The Smiths. During high school in the mid-'90s, he and some friends formed the band Skog ("forest" in Norwegian), taking inspiration from A Forest by The Cure. In 1996, he joined the band Peachfuzz as electric guitarist, playing several times in London between 1996 and 1998. In 1998, he moved to London, and then in 1999 to Manchester.
When he was back home in Bergen for vacations he jammed with Eirik Glambek Bøe, his former high-school and Skog mate. The duo formed Kings of Convenience in 1998 and released the debut record, Quiet is the New Loud, in 2001. In the same period, he collaborated with the electronic Norwegian duo Röyksopp, lending his voice for the song Poor Leno and Remind Me on the record Melody A.M.. As a result, he became interested in electronic music. He spent the next years either in Berlin or traveling around the world. He recorded his solo album Unrest in ten different cities with ten different electronic artists. He the toured as a DJ, and released a remix record for the DJ Kicks series in 2004.
In the same year, Kings of Convenience released the second record Riot on an Empty Street. He also founded another project in Berlin, The Whitest Boy Alive. The band originally started as an electronic band, but slowly developed into a band with no programmed elements. Debut record Dreams was released in 2006, while Rules was released in 2009. In 2006, he appeared in the Italian movie Shooting Silvio acting as a DJ during in a house party.
In 2009, Kings of Convenience released Declaration of Dependence. In 2013, he released a new single, entitled La Prima Estate, sung in Italian and inspired by his time living in Italy. He is currently working on more songs in Italian, which will be collected in the future. In 2014, The Whitest Boy Alive announced the end of the project. On 3 October, 2014, he will release his second solo album Legao, recorded in Reykjavík with Hjálmar, a reggae group from Iceland. Despite currently living in Sicily, he is stlll involved in the Bergen music scene, promoting local bands and assisting the organization of the annual Traena Music Festival.
Say Goodbye
Erlend Øye Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I'd be happier without you by my side
It's too late for second toughts but inside me feeling [?]
I get sentimental about the way we were.
It's a common thing people grow part
Then so natural now strikingly hard
Avoiding eye contact, afraid to see
If i could find a way to combine a two
And i wouldn't have to choose between them and you
I've tried discussing this but it's too hard
It's too late for you to change the way you are
If we don't lift together i will feel lonely...
If we don't need eachother i'd have to ask why
We keep on rubbing shoulder and cause eachother pain
Let's go to sleep and wake up and try again
Let's go to sleep and wake up and try again
Let's go to sleep and wake up and try again
The lyrics to "Say Goodbye" by Erlend Øye convey the inner struggle of someone who is caught between their desire to end a toxic relationship but also feeling sentimental about the past. The song opens with a question, "Do we really have to say goodbye?", implying that there may be some hesitation towards ending things. However, as the song progresses, the singer admits that they would be happier without the other person around. This ambivalence is reflected in the line "It's too late for second thoughts, but inside me feeling [?]". The singer is torn between their past feelings for their partner and the recognition that it's time to let go.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the difficulty of parting ways. The line "It's a common thing people grow apart" acknowledges that this is a natural progression in relationships, but the following line "then so natural now strikingly hard" emphasizes the pain that comes with it. The singer also admits that avoiding eye contact and not wanting to see their partner reflects the doubt and confusion they are feeling. They want to believe that their partner is feeling the same way, but they can't be sure.
Towards the end of the song, the singer expresses a hope that they can find a way to keep both their partner and their independence. However, they acknowledge that it may be too late for their partner to change for them. The lyrics end on a note of optimism, suggesting that sleep and a fresh start might help them make a decision about their relationship. Ultimately, the song captures the emotional complexity of letting go and moving on from someone who was once important to you.
Line by Line Meaning
Do we really have to say goodbye?
Is it truly necessary for us to end things?
But I'd be happier without you by my side
I believe I would be more content if we weren't together.
It's too late for second toughts but inside me feeling [?]
Although it's too late now, I still have some lingering emotions.
I get sentimental about the way we were.
I feel emotional when I reminisce on our past experiences.
It's a common thing people grow part
It's natural for individuals to drift apart sometimes.
Then so natural now strikingly hard
Despite it being natural, the separation feels significantly difficult.
Avoiding eye contact, afraid to see
I'm avoiding making eye contact because I fear what I might see.
I doubt you've been feeling is also in me
I suspect that you might be experiencing similar emotions as well.
If i could find a way to combine a two
If it were possible for me to have both choices at once,
And i wouldn't have to choose between them and you
I wouldn't have to decide between them and being with you.
I've tried discussing this but it's too hard
I attempted to talk about it, but it was too challenging.
It's too late for you to change the way you are
At this point, there's no chance for you to change who you are.
If we don't lift together i will feel lonely...
If we're not in this together, I'll feel isolated and without support.
If we don't need eachother i'd have to ask why
If we don't have a requirement for each other, I would wonder why we're even together.
We keep on rubbing shoulder and cause eachother pain
We're constantly bumping into each other and causing each other distress.
Let's go to sleep and wake up and try again
Let's call it a night, wake up in the morning and make another attempt at fixing things.
Let's go to sleep and wake up and try again
I truly believe we can sort things out if we take a break and come back with a fresh perspective.
Let's go to sleep and wake up and try again
Instead of giving up, let's keep trying and working on our relationship.
Contributed by Connor V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.