Erlend Øye was born on 21 November, 1975, in Bergen.

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.

Sheltered Life
Erlend Øye Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Brave girl replies
When you come back, I'll be gone
Read off her rules,
When in control I move on
Thoughtful or sad,
No need to ask

You in her eyes a sister someone

Who's been where
She's roaming now
Flashes of home
And people there
Pressured caught up she feels,
Measured all up revealed

I still haven't walked my distance
I'm not ready to return

Independent on my way to become I

Sunday no sign,
Why did I meke you meet me here?
No cause for doubt,
But feeling sustains
When mix up clears
Easy and loose,
Unsure confused

It doesn't take much to knock me
I've been living a sheltered life

Overall Meaning

The lyrics in Erlend Øye's song Sheltered Life depict a certain longing for independence and self-discovery, which is a recurring theme throughout the song. The first verse begins with a brave girl replying that she'll be gone when the subject comes back, indicating a desire to move forward and leave past relationships behind. The second line, "Read off her rules, when in control I move on," suggests that the girl has set some boundaries for herself, indicating that she is looking to escape or improve upon her past.

In the second verse, the focus shifts towards the singer, who speaks of a desire to become independent, but acknowledges that she hasn't yet walked her full distance, indicating a sense of uncertainty or hesitation. The underlying feeling of the song is a mixture of contemplation and confusion, as the singer questions the reasons for her meeting with someone on a Sunday and her general lack of direction in life.

The chorus emphasizes the fact that the singer has been living a sheltered life, hinting at a certain feeling of entrapment and the need to break free from the constraints that have been placed upon her. Overall, the song is a reflection on the struggles of finding one's own path towards independence and self-discovery.

Line by Line Meaning

Brave girl replies
Starting the song with a girl, who bravely states her decision

When you come back, I'll be gone
She will be long gone by the time the other person returns

Read off her rules,
She explains her viewpoint through her self-made rules

When in control I move on
She moves on when she has control over a situation

Thoughtful or sad,
She is in a thoughtful or sad state of mind

No need to ask
She doesn't need anyone to ask her about her feelings

You in her eyes a sister someone
She looks at the person like a sister

Who's been where
The person has been where she is

She's roaming now
She is wandering in search of something

Flashes of home
She misses her home

And people there
She misses the people from her home