1. Swedish indie/folk du… Read Full Bio ↴There are three bands called First Aid Kit:
1. Swedish indie/folk duo which consists of sisters Johanna (b. 31 October 1990) and Klara Söderberg (b. 8 January 1993) both from Enskede, Sweden.
The sisters began composing songs in 2007, taking their name at random from an English dictionary.
They began uploading their music to their My Space page and sending their songs to Swedish radio station, this led to live performances and offers from Record Companies.
Their debut EP "Drunken Trees" was released on the 9th of April 2008 in Sweden on the label Rabid Records, owned by the Swedish electronic duo The Knife.The EP was produced by their father and contained a collection of songs uploaded to their My Space page including You're Not Coming Home Tonight and Tangerine, a song sent to Swedish the previous year.
By 2009 the sisters were well known locally, but it was when they uploaded their version of the Fleet Foxes' song Tiger Mountain Peasant Song which caught the attention of the Fleet Foxes guitarist/vocalist Robin Pecknold and subsequently the popularity of the duo to international fame. The Drunken Trees EP was then re released not long after.
Their debut album The Big Black And The Blue was originally issued on 1 February 2010. The album contained the first single Hard Believer and the standout I Met Up With The King, possibly still one of their greatest songs and sounding very much like Neko Case
Also in 2010, they recorded a cover version of Buff Sainte-Marie's Universal Soldier and performed in honor of Patti Smith at the Polar Music Prize singing her classic Dancing Barefoot
Their 2nd album The Lions Roar, produced by Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes, was released on 18 January 2012. On it's release, it received many favorable reviews. One of the three singles Emmylou was named Rolling Stone's 10th best song of 2012.
The album shot to #1 in the Swedish charts and top 40 in most other charts. On Billboard's rock chart it climbed as high as #17
The album contained three singles, the title track, Blue and the classic Emmylou
The duo's third album came in 2014 with the release of Stay Gold once again produced by Mike Mogis. Once again the album was received favorably. Billboard listed My Silver Lining as one of the best 10 songs of 2014, while The Huffington Post included the album on their list of 2014's best albums. Early the following year the album won "Album Of The Year" at the Swedish Grammy's (Grammis)
On the world charts it charted extremely well, reaching #23 in the US, top 10 in some European countries and Australia. After touring for most of 2014 and 2015, they decided to stop touring and apart from playing a few festivals, they never played any concerts until mid 2017.
The duo issued a song on 10 March 2017 for "International Womans Day", You Are The Problem Here, they called it an angry song inspired by the case of Brock Turner who was giving a 6 month jail sentence after raping a drunk woman. All profits from the song were said to be donated to "Women For Women International"
On 19 January 2018, their fourth album Ruins was issued. The three singles (It's a Shame, Postcard, Fireworks) from Ruins had already been released prior to the albums release. The album had a more rough and rustic edge to it, said AllMusic while The Independent praised the sisters for the instinctive harmonies which remain sweet as ever
Folk singer songwriter Laura Veirs appears on Hem Of Her Dress along with the duo's mother and brother.
An EP featuring tracks from the Ruins sessions was released on 14 September 2018. The EP aptly titled Tender Offerings went to #1 on the UK charts.
They began the Rebel Heart tour to promote the album, which will see them visit many countries and take them deep into 2019.
ALBUMS:
The Big Black And The Blue (2010)
The Lion's Roar (2012)
Stay Gold (2014)
Ruins (2018)
EP's
Drunken Trees (2008)
America (2014)
Live From The Rebel Hearts Club (2018)
Tender Offerings (2018)
First Aid Kit Official Website
2.First Aid Kit was a five-piece post-punk band that formed in Connecticut around 2001. Band members were: Brad Amorosino (guitar), John Paul Chirdon (vocals), James Dennis (guitar), Nick Santore (bass), and Brian Pile (drums). First Aid Kit disbanded in 2004 when James moved to San Francisco.
They released all their albums on the label Said Sew Recordings, which is run by John Paul Chirdon
SAID SEW MYSPACE PAGE:
www.myspace.com/saidsew
Brad Amorosino is now in a band called TITLES.
TITLES MYSPACE PAGE:
www.myspace.com/titles
3.Spanish indie electronic band from Barcelona. Their debut album called F1rst and their latest album is called Plaits.
www.myspace.com/firstaidkitmusic
The Unpaid
First Aid Kit Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This is your well-deserved payroll.
This is my digital brother
Inches in front of me and miles above me.
Words turning shallow constantly now.
It's so easy to marinate in yourself.
Did you get paid? did you get a raise?
And now you get fed? congratulations.
Here are the extras you ask for.
Here is my unpaid service
Offered up freely and catered by envy.
The help here is callow.
Earnestly working for you
To marinate in yourself.
But you do pronounce our names right.
So by the way, congratulations.
The song "The Unpaid" by First Aid Kit is a scathing commentary on the modern-day corporate culture and the class divide it creates. The lyrics are filled with sarcasm and bitterness, as the singer observes how the privileged few get all the rewards while the rest are left to toil and struggle without recognition or compensation.
The opening lines "This is your tangible achievement. This is your well-deserved payroll" are a direct address to the privileged class of society, who have everything handed to them on a silver platter. The singer laments their own position in comparison, stuck in the shadow of their digital brother, inches away but miles above them simply because of their position in life.
The chorus reinforces this sentiment, as the singer muses on the simple pleasures that the rich take for granted - getting paid, getting a raise, getting fed - and point out the envy they feel for these basic rights. The help that the rich employ, they claim, is callow and ingenuous, earnestly working to marinate in their own self-importance.
Overall, "The Unpaid" is a powerful critique of the gross inequality of modern society, and the way that those in power are able to exploit and take advantage of those who work without reward or recognition.
Line by Line Meaning
This is your tangible achievement.
You have accomplished something tangible and worthwhile.
This is your well-deserved payroll.
You have rightfully earned your salary for your work.
This is my digital brother
I see you as a virtual friend or companion.
Inches in front of me and miles above me.
You seem to be much more successful and farther along in your career than I am.
Words turning shallow constantly now.
Our conversations have become superficial and lacking depth.
It's so easy to marinate in yourself.
It's easy to become self-absorbed and focus only on your own achievements.
Did you get paid? did you get a raise?
Have you received compensation or an increase in pay?
And now you get fed? congratulations.
You are now being rewarded for your work, congratulations.
Here is your smelling salt dinner.
Here is your mediocre reward or compensation.
Here are the extras you ask for.
Here are the additional benefits or bonuses you requested.
Here is my unpaid service
I am providing my services for free, without any compensation.
Offered up freely and catered by envy.
I am providing my services out of envy, hoping to achieve the same success as you.
The help here is callow.
The assistance being provided is inexperienced and immature.
Earnestly working for you
Giving my full effort to assist you.
To marinate in yourself.
To focus solely on your own success and accomplishments.
But you do pronounce our names right.
You at least show the basic level of respect in correctly pronouncing our names.
So by the way, congratulations.
Congratulations on your success, but the shallow conversations and mediocre rewards are not enough to fulfill me.
Contributed by Taylor V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.