Johnossi is a rock duo from Saltsjöbaden, Stockholm, Sweden. The band consi… Read Full Bio ↴Johnossi is a rock duo from Saltsjöbaden, Stockholm, Sweden. The band consists of John Engelbert on vocals and guitar, and Oskar "Ossi" Bonde on drums and vocals. The members' names form the band name Johnossi.

Although there are only two members in the band they have a lot of energy, both live and on recordings. Ossi plays powerful drums and John prefers to play an acoustic guitar which further characterizes their sound.

Engelbert and Bonde first met when they were 12 and 15 years old, respectively, and started playing together as a duo in 2004. They recorded their first album after only five months as a band, and with only three live shows to their credit. Their self-titled first album was released in January 2005 by a small Swedish indie label; it was rereleased in September 2006 by V2 Music with an additional three tracks.

Their second album, All They Ever Wanted, had its Scandinavian and Western European release in April 2008, followed by a Japanese release in 2009.

Johnossi has toured extensively in Sweden and Western Europe, both alone and with other Swedish bands such as The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Mando Diao and Sibling Sense. They also toured the US in 2007 with Shout Out Louds. In 2009, they made their first appearances in Japan, supporting The Hives.

In June 2010, the band supported Green Day at Ullevi in their home country.[1]

In 2016 "Into The Wild" was used in the USA Network remake of Eyewitness as the opening song.

Musical style
Their music is characterized by a full guitar sound supported by Engelbert's unorthodox guitar rig and myriad effects pedals, and Bonde's straightforward beats; studio releases often feature colorful percussion accents on instruments such as tambourine, woodblock, guiro, and chimes. A variety of musical styles appear in their work, from hard rock, to blues riffs, post-punk, and even gloom-pop, though lyrical themes are almost uniformly personal and slightly angsty.

They have toured extensively since their first album - both as headliner and together with The Soundtrack of Our Lives.

Johnossi now have two music videos available for viewing on their website: http://www.johnossi.com

Echoes
Johnossi Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I looked down in an open well
Then I fell into a black hole
I've been building a wall of shame
Walking on a tightrope

If our love is a villain now
Then somebody better let go
If our love is a losing game

The player is an asshole

I'll go there, go there, don't follow me
I'm guided by my ego
I got my reasons, it shadows my family
But baby, can't you see though
That I don't wanna live my life through echoes
Who could ever set me free?

People say you should leave him now
If you care about tomorrow
But they don't know what it's all about
Kill the time we've borrowed

I'll go there, go there, don't follow me
I'm guided by my ego
I got my reasons, it shadows my family
But baby, can't you see though
That I don't wanna live my life through echoes
Who could ever set me free?

I'll go there, go there, don't follow me
I'm guided by my ego
I got my reasons, it shadows my family
But baby, can't you see though
That I don't wanna live my life through echoes
Live my life through echoes

Live my life through echoes
Who could ever set me free?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Johnossi's Echoes tell the story of a person struggling to break free from the negative patterns and expectations of their past while also grappling with the complicated emotions of a failing relationship. The opening lines, "I looked down in an open well / Then I fell into a black hole" set a tone of despair and isolation, suggesting that the singer is trapped in a cycle of self-doubt and anxiety. The next line, "I've been building a wall of shame / Walking on a tightrope" furthers this idea, implying that the singer is constantly trying to hide their flaws and maintain a delicate balance in their life.

As the song progresses, the singer's focus shifts to their troubled relationship, with lines like "If our love is a villain now / Then somebody better let go" and "If our love is a losing game / The player is an asshole" showing that they feel trapped in a toxic dynamic that they know is not sustainable. However, despite this awareness, they still struggle to break free, as evidenced by the chorus: "That I don't wanna live my life through echoes / Who could ever set me free?". Ultimately, the singer appears torn between the desire to escape their past and the fear that doing so will lead to even greater pain and uncertainty.

Overall, Johnossi's Echoes is a poignant reflection on the difficult process of breaking free from negative patterns and relationships. By exploring the complex emotions involved in confronting the past and moving forward, the lyrics capture a universal struggle that many listeners are likely to relate to.

Line by Line Meaning

I looked down in an open well
I was feeling lost and unsure, so I searched for answers

Then I fell into a black hole
But instead, I fell deeper into confusion and despair

I've been building a wall of shame
I've been trying to protect myself from feeling too vulnerable and exposed

Walking on a tightrope
But this has led me to feel like I'm always walking a precarious line

If our love is a villain now
Our relationship has become problematic and potentially destructive

Then somebody better let go
If we can't fix things, we may be better off parting ways

If our love is a losing game
Our relationship feels like a battle we can't win

The player is an asshole
One or both of us is causing harm and being selfish

I'll go there, go there, don't follow me
I need to figure things out on my own, without outside influence or pressure

I'm guided by my ego
My own desires and needs are pushing me forward, even if it's not always the best choice

I got my reasons, it shadows my family
There are complicated, possibly deep-seated reasons why I am the way I am, and it's affecting not just me but those around me

But baby, can't you see though
But despite all this, I still hope you can understand where I'm coming from and what I'm going through

That I don't wanna live my life through echoes
I don't want to be defined by the past or the expectations of others, and want to carve out my own path

Who could ever set me free?
But it's unclear if there's anyone who can truly help me break free from these patterns and habits

People say you should leave him now
Others may be advising you to end things because they see the negative impacts

If you care about tomorrow
If you want a better future for yourself or for us

But they don't know what it's all about
But they may not fully understand the complexity of our situation or the reasons why we stay together

Kill the time we've borrowed
It's as if we're running out of time, and our relationship might be influencing that

Live my life through echoes
Again, we don't want to be trapped in a cycle of repetition or stuck in old patterns

Who could ever set me free?
The question of whether we'll be able to break out of this cycle looms heavy

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: John Engelbert, Mattias Franzen, Oskar Bonde

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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