Johansson (born November 2, 1963 in Stockholm) is son of the well-known Swe… Read Full Bio ↴Johansson (born November 2, 1963 in Stockholm) is son of the well-known Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson and brother of the heavy metal drummer Anders Johansson. In 1982, the classically trained Johansson left the jazz fusion band Slem and joined the Swedish metal band Silver Mountain, which also included Anders. In 1983 he left Sweden for California and joined guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen as a member of his band, Rising Force. Numerous records and world tours ensued and he stayed with Yngwie until 1989. Johansson also played with the band Dio between 1989 and 1990. Like Anders, he began an ongoing collaboration with Jonas Hellborg in 1989 which has resulted in several well-received progressive and avant-garde recordings, including Dissident, Silent Run (an acoustic piano trio record with Ginger Baker on drums) and the hard core progressive fusion record, E.

In 1993, Johansson co-founded a progressive blues metal project, The Johansson Brothers, and recorded a self-titled record. In 1996, with a different line-up, they recorded another album, Sonic Winter, this time under the name "Johansson", with Yngwie Malmsteen guesting on guitar. The last Johansson record, The Last Viking, a more "European metal" oriented album, was released in 1999 with special guests Michael Romeo and Göran Edman.

Johansson has released several instrumental solo records such as Fjäderlösa Tvåfotingar, Ten Seasons (a piano solo album improvised in the Mark Kostabi gallery, New York), Heavy Machinery (with Anders and Allan Holdsworth) and Fission (with Anders, Shawn Lane and Mike Stern) and many collaborations with other artists, metal compilations and Berends Brothers' band Mastermind.

He co-founded Heptagon Records to distribute his own recordings and that of other musicians, such as guitarist Benny Jansson and bassist Magnus Rosén.

Johansson auditioned for Dream Theater after Kevin Moore left the band in 1994 but was not accepted. He joined the power metal band Stratovarius in 1995 and has remained since, still releasing solo albums and appearing as a guest or session musician in other projects.

Fading Away
Jens Johansson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

you took away my sense of destiny, we
laughed away so many days
too many miles apart to keep it real, we
had to go our separate ways

fading away, fading away, we saw the
light together, but now you fade away

I thought that life is either black or
white, the truth is somewhere in
between

fading away, fading away, we saw the
light together, but now you fade away

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Jens Johansson's song Fading Away exhibit a sense of sorrow and nostalgia for a lost relationship. The song expresses the feeling of losing a sense of direction and purpose after a once-cherished relationship falls apart. The words "you took away my sense of destiny" allude to the idea that when the relationship ended, the singer lost their sense of purpose and direction- something they thought would always be a constant. The singer reminisces about the moments spent together, "laughing away so many days." But distance eventually took its toll, the miles apart were too many to keep the relationship real, and "we had to go our separate ways."

The chorus "fading away, fading away, we saw the light together, but now you fade away" is an acknowledgment of the fact that at one point, they were both happy together, but now one person is fading away, and there is nothing they can do about it. The bridge of the song explains that life isn't always straightforward; it's not always black or white, but somewhere in between. This line indicates a sense of confusion and uncertainty about life post-breakup, a desire for clarity. Ultimately, the song captures the hurt and vulnerability that often come with relationships' end, and the realization that even good things must come to an end.

Line by Line Meaning

you took away my sense of destiny, we
You have robbed me of my ability to control the direction of my life, and we were once together in this journey

laughed away so many days
We shared so many happy moments together that we could laugh about

too many miles apart to keep it real, we
The distance between us was too great to maintain a genuine relationship, and we had to go our separate ways

fading away, fading away, we saw the
As our connection becomes weaker, we begin to lose sight of the bright future we once envisioned together

light together, but now you fade away
We had a common goal, but now you are disappearing from my life

I thought that life is either black or
I used to believe that life was very simple and straightforward

white, the truth is somewhere in
Only after experiencing different shades of life, I have come to know that the truth exists somewhere between the extremes

between
neither black nor white, but rather a spectrum of grays

Contributed by Kennedy Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS