Among her best known songs are "Private Emotion", a (duet with Ricky Martin) from his multi-Platinum album Ricky Martin (1999), and "All 'bout the Money", which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998.
She gained much popularity in the West after her single "How Crazy are You?" was used as the main theme music for the Xbox video game Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball.
Meja was born Anna Pernilla Torndahl in Nynäshamn, Stockholm County. She had her stage debut at "Ystads City theatre" at the age of 7. She was brought up in a musical family, her grandfather, Per Lundkvist, was a composer of both classical and contemporary music and her mother, a recording artist as a child before choosing a path as a painter.
In 1986, at the age of 16, she moved to Mallorca, Spain, to study. She was introduced to American jazz trumpet player/singer Stephen Frankevich and started to take vocal lessons with singer Deborah Carter.
Meja went to Stockholm in 1990. She sang in different bands there before getting out on tour as a backup singer for the Swedish group Rob n Raz DLC in 1991. In 1992 Meja moved to Los Angeles to continue her studies at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. She graduated from the vocal program in late 1992 then returned to Sweden.
n 1993, Meja worked with the dance project Legacy of Sound. She co-wrote with Anders Bagge the first single, "Happy", from the album Holy Groove. The song reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club play, and it peaked at number 68 on the Top 100 during a 12-week stay on the chart. "Happy" was released in over 20 countries. Meja recorded one more album with Legacy of Sound in 1994, Tour de Force.
Meja teamed in 1995 with Swedish manager Lasse Karlsson, manager of Ace of Base, and writer/producer Douglas Carr to provide the vocals for the demo The Juvenile titled The Goldeneye.
The first solo album Meja, was released in 1996, with songs co-written by Billy Steinberg. In 1997 Meja had her first concert tour in Japan: The Flower Girl Jam Tour.
Meja released the album Seven Sisters in 1998. Later that year Columbia (Sony) launched the album in the U.S with the single "How Crazy Are You?"
Meja went to Miami in 1999 to record "Private Emotion", a duet with Ricky Martin for his debut album Ricky Martin. After shooting a video for the song, Meja stayed in Los Angeles to work on her next album Realitales (2000) with Steinberg. She also co-wrote two tracks for the album in London with Stephen Lipson. The artwork for this album was shot by Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund.
In 2003 Meja started to work with her former Sony Music boss, Richard Ogden. The album Mellow was released in 2004, with songs in Portuguese ("Água de Beber", "Dindi") and Spanish. She covered a Caetano Veloso song "O'Leaonzinho" that she named "Little Lion." The album was produced by Hamish Stuart. One song, "Simple Days-Walking the Distance", was used in the Japanese film Lakeside Murder Case.
In 2006 Meja went back to Los Angeles to collaborate again with Steinberg on a new album, also working with writers Jeff Barry, Billy Gibbons, Jed Leiber and Boz Boorer.
The first single "At the Rainbow's End" was released in June 2009, the second single "Regrets (I Have None)" in August, and the album Urban Gypsy was released on her own label Seven Sisters Network in October on a license deal with Sony Music. A remix of Mando Diao's "Dance with Somebody" was released early 2010.
The first release from the album Stroboscope Sky was the single "Blame it on the Shadows" (2013) produced by Ebbot Lundberg. Meja teamed with producer Nicolas Gunthardt and together with his sister Alessandra they wrote "Yellow Ribbon" which served as the theme song for the album. "Yellow Ribbon" was released as a single in collaboration with Amnesty International/Free the Angola 3 to help raise awareness of the case of Albert Woodfox. A remix EP was released with remixes by Deep Forest, Dj Swami, Gota Yashiki, DF Tram, NORD and more.
Spirits
Meja Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And lifetimes of pain
Feelings that haunt you with sorrow
You pushed the limits
By breaking away
We are deciples to follow
You were the light of my life
I� left to wonder 碽out that night
All I know
Your spirit keeps living within me
Wherever I go
Your spirit keeps moving within me
Breaking every law that I know
Your spirit keeps running within me
Your spirit is...........
Higher dimensions
And stars in-between
It� easy to hear, you calling
Illusions of life
Tell me how could it be
I feel so alive when I� falling
I see you
When I close my eyes
Walking through space and time
Climbing the stairs
Just to touch the sky
Stick
Your spirit is:...........
The wine that I� drinking
The tears that I cry(deep in the ocean)
And all I believe in
In these dreams of mine
Chorus
your spirit is..
The lyrics to Meja's song Spirits are reflective and deeply introspective, delving into the emotions of loss, grief, and remembrance. The first verse begins by painting a picture of immense pain and sorrow, with the artist describing how feelings of hurt have haunted her for years. However, she finds solace in the fact that her departed loved one has broken away from the pain and she is now a disciple to follow. The chorus echoes the sentiment of the artist feeling the departed loved one's spirit living within her, moving and running through her, breaking laws she knows - a constant reminder that the person is still with her in spirit.
The second verse takes a more ethereal turn, with the artist describing the departed loved one in terms of higher dimensions, stars, and illusions of life. She finds herself feeling alive even as she falls, sensing her loved one's presence in her life. In the stick section, the artist describes her loved one's spirit being like wine that she drinks, tears that she cries, and all she believes in - an ever-present reminder of the person's influence and importance in her life.
Overall, Spirits is a hauntingly beautiful song that beautifully captures the raw emotions of loss and remembrance. The artist finds comfort in the presence of her loved one's spirit, which lives on within her in various forms, from the tears she cries to the dreams that she holds dear.
Line by Line Meaning
Light years of hurting
It represents an extended duration of pain and misery.
And lifetimes of pain
It means that even after spending a lifetime, the pain still persists.
Feelings that haunt you with sorrow
It represents the painful memories that continue to linger on.
You pushed the limits
It means to exceed the established boundaries, beliefs, and expectations.
By breaking away
It refers to detaching oneself from the past and moving on.
We are disciples to follow
It means setting an example for others to follow.
You were the light of my life
The person was a source of happiness and positivity in the singer's life.
I've left to wonder about that night
It means that the singer is still grappling with the events of that particular night.
When you decided to stop the fight
It means the other person gave up the fight against their inner demons and hardships.
All I know
It means the only thing the singer is certain of.
Your spirit keeps living within me
It means that the memories of the other person continue to stay with the singer.
Wherever I go
It means that the other person is metaphorically present with the singer at all times.
Your spirit keeps moving within me
It means that the memories of the person motivate the singer to keep moving forward in life.
Breaking every law that I know
It is a metaphor for defying the conventional rules governing grief and loss.
Your spirit keeps running within me
It means that the memories of the person keep motivating the singer to keep running and chasing after their dreams.
Your spirit is the wine that I'm drinking
It represents how the memories of the person have become an essential component of the singer's life.
The tears that I cry (deep in the ocean)
It represents how the person's memories cause the singer to feel intense emotions, as deep as the ocean.
And all I believe in
It means that the singer's hope and faith are deeply connected to the memories of the other person.
In these dreams of mine
It represents how the memories of the other person have become a regular feature in the singer's dreams.
Higher dimensions
It is a metaphor for a state of being that transcends physical reality.
And stars in-between
It represents the moments of happiness and hope that exist between the periods of darkness in life.
It's easy to hear, you calling
It means that the person's memories continue to call out to the singer whenever they need to seek comfort or guidance.
Illusions of life
It represents the confusing and misleading aspects of life.
Tell me how could it be
It is a rhetorical question, where the singer is trying to grapple with the confusing aspects of life.
I feel so alive when I'm falling
It represents the idea that sometimes, we feel the most alive when we are taking risks and venturing into the unknown.
I see you when I close my eyes
It means that the memories of the person are deeply ingrained in the singer's mind.
Walking through space and time
It represents the idea that the person's memories continue to exist across all dimensions of space and time.
Climbing the stairs just to touch the sky
It represents the idea that sometimes, we take difficult paths to reach the highest heights in life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DOUGLAS IAN CARR, MEJA ANNA PERNILLA BECKMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind