Kevin Johansen (born 1964 in Fairbanks, Alaska) is an Argentine-American ro… Read Full Bio ↴Kevin Johansen (born 1964 in Fairbanks, Alaska) is an Argentine-American rock musician. As well as solo albums, he has recorded as Kevin Johansen + The Nada.

Born to an Argentine mother and an American father, he lived most of his childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area, but moved with his family to Buenos Aires at the age of 12.

Johansen made a brief appearance in the local rock scene with the band Instrucción Cívica in the 80s (only album Obediencia Debida in 1985), but went to New York in 1990. There he met and married his Argentine wife, with whom he has a daughter. He played in the CBGB's club for long years, until he created a group, and in 2000 recorded the album with the same name, The Nada, a mix of different Latin sounds with modern pop, funk and rock.

During the same year, and with the new album in his hands, he returned to Argentina, where he currently lives. The album was relatively successful and Kevin and the group went on tour as far as Spain.

By the end of 2002 Johansen recorded Sur o no sur. Again, Kevin surprises with a combination of Latin music, pop, and humour.

During 2003, Kevin became a huge success in Argentina, playing in June at the Gran Rex Theatre, the largest Buenos Aires hall. Again in Spain, he promoted his new album with concerts in Madrid and Barcelona, this time with bigger audiences. He also performed during the MTV Latino awards, from where he continued a concerts tour to Miami, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco prior to the release of the album in United States.

In 2004 he continues with concerts in Mexico, Chile, Belgium and again Spain (now in many different cities) with an even greater response from the people and the media. At the Latino Grammy Awards, Sur o no sur was nominated for "Album of the year", "Song of the year" (La Procesión) and "Best Music Video" (La Procesión).

In between trips, Johansen recorded his third album (relased as Kevin Johansen + The Nada, City Zen, which was well-received both by fans and the media. The cover of his susequent album, Logo, was drawn by cartoonist Liniers.

Living In A Story
Kevin Johansen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm living in a story written by the dream
of a movie star in a movie.
I'm sleeping in a bed inside of a motel
on a dirty road by the freeway.
I'm swimming in the waters hidden in the streams
of a river made for the blue sea
I'm living in a story written by the dream
of a movie star in a movie.

All I do is look around for your help
and see no one nowhere.
All I do is look around for your help
and find no one nowhere.

I'm looking at the twin towers shaking off a cloud
full of molecules and pollution.
I'm crawling down a subway, entering a cave
of graffitti marks: evolution.

All I do...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Kevin Johansen’s song “Living in a Story” paint a picture of the singer living in a surreal, almost dreamlike world that seems to be a manifestation of a movie star’s creation. The scene is set with the character sleeping in a cheap motel by the side of a freeway, while swimming in streams that flow into an imaginary river, leading to a blue sea. The dreamlike quality of the singer’s existence is emphasized by the way he observes the world around him – staring at the twin towers with a cloud of pollution floating above them and crawling down a subway, surrounded by graffiti that evokes images of evolution.

Despite the dreamlike atmosphere of the song, there is a sense of desperation that runs through the lyrics, with the singer constantly searching for help and finding no one. He is trapped in an imaginary world that is not of his making and is unable to find a way out of it. Perhaps what makes the song so intriguing is the way it straddles the line between reality and imagination, leaving the listener to wonder whether the world portrayed in the lyrics is real or a mere figment of the singer’s imagination.

Line by Line Meaning

I'm living in a story written by the dream of a movie star in a movie.
My life feels like it's scripted by someone else's fantasy

I'm sleeping in a bed inside of a motel on a dirty road by the freeway.
I'm living in a crappy motel on the side of a highway

I'm swimming in the waters hidden in the streams of a river made for the blue sea
I sometimes escape to the river and pretend to swim in the ocean

All I do is look around for your help and see no one nowhere.
I'm constantly searching for someone to help me, but I'm always alone

All I do is look around for your help and find no one nowhere.
I'm lonely and feel unsupported by those around me

I'm looking at the twin towers shaking off a cloud full of molecules and pollution.
I'm standing in New York City and seeing the effects of pollution on the skyline and my surroundings.

I'm crawling down a subway, entering a cave of graffitti marks: evolution.
I'm walking in the subway system through a tunnel of graffiti which I interpret as a symbol of the evolution of the city's culture

Contributed by Elijah N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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