He is a world-class soloist and artist with heart and soul: Nils Landgren.
Jazz and church music shaped his childhood. As cornetist, Nils Landgren's father brought US jazz into the house. The traditional Swedish chorales and songs came from his grandfather, who was a preacher. Nils Landgren was born in 1956. He began playing drums at the age of six. At 13 he layed his hands and lips on the trombone and was hooked for life.
Between 1972 and 1978 Nils studied classical trombone at the music college in Karlstad with David Maytan and at the university in Arvika with Ingemar Roos. During this time he also met the legendary Swedish Folk-Jazz pioneer Bengt-Arne Wallin and the fantastic tromboneplayer and proffessor of the Graz Conservatory in Austria, Eje Thelin. These two men completely changed the way for Nils to go; from a strict classical player to an improviser with his own idea of what to play and why. After his graduation Nils moved to Stockholm to work as a professional tromboneplayer. First the life of a struggling jazz musician, making no money but gaining loads of experience. Then the call that totally changed his life: an offer to go on tour with Sweden's most successful pop star of that time Björn Skifs who at that time was at #1 in the US pop charts with "Hooked on a feeling". The money was ok, the vibes were cool and the band was simply great! Ever since that time Nils Landgren has been involved in a variety of music styles and projects. These include jazz, rock, soul, hip hop, big band’s, studio sessions, and by his own reckoning, at least 500 albums. Mostly, for natural reasons with Swedish artists but also with such internationals stars as ABBA, The Crusaders, Eddie Harris, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie and Herbie Hancock. Nils even plays on the first Wyclef Jean solo album, titled "Carnival".
In 1981 Thad Jones invited the Swede into his new Bigband project "Ball of Fire", to take the lead-trombone chair. The band was built up around such great musicians as Jerome Richardson, Jerry Dodgion, Tim Hagans, Bobby Burgess, Roger Kellaway, Sahib Shihab, Dusko Goykovich, and Benny. "A fantastic band, sad that it did not work out in the end", Nils says about that expreience. Two years later Nils debut album "Planet Rock" was released, followed by "Streetfighter" in 1984, "You are my Nr 1" in 1985, "Miles from Duke" with Bengt-Arne Wallin in 1987, "Chapter Two 1", in 1987, "Chapter Two 2" and "Follow your heart" in 1989. Between 1985 and 1987 Nils also performed as actor, singer, trombonist, and dancer in over 360 performances of the Swedish "play of the year", SKAEL, as well as appearing in several TV-films as an actor.
1992 saw the first performances and recording of the Nils Landgren Unit; the recording was called "Red Horn", and was mixed by the legendary sound engineer Bruce Swedien. (re-release 2001 as "The First Unit", ACT 9292-2). That same summer the band performed at the "Playboy Jazzfestival" in Los Angeles, hosted by the great Bill Cosby. The final breakthrough outside of Scandinavia came first in 1994: it was at the Jazz Baltica Festival in Germany that the "Unit" became the "Funk Unit". The album "Live in Stockholm" (ACT 9223-2) with guest star Maceo Parker was released that year and was the foundation for the collaboration with Siegfried Loch and his young ACT label.
Gimme Gimme Gimme
Nils Landgren Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I'm watching the late show in my flat all alone
How I hate to spend the evening on my own
Autumn winds
Blowing outside the window as I look around the room
And it makes me so depressed to see the phone
There's not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
Movie stars
Find the end of the rainbow, with that fortune to win
It's so different from the world I'm living in
Tired of T.V.
I open the window and I gaze into the night
But there's nothing there to see, no one in sight
There's not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
There's not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
The lyrics of Nils Landgren's song "Gimme Gimme Gimme" depict the loneliness and despair felt by the singer, who is spending the evening alone in their flat. The autumn wind blowing outside serves as a reminder of the cold and desolate state of the world around them. The singer longs for the company of another human being, someone to chase away the shadows and bring them through the darkness to the break of dawn.
The second verse describes the contrast between the singer's life and the lives of movie stars, who seem to have everything they could ever want. The singer is tired of watching television and finds solace in looking out into the night sky, but again, there is no one there to share the experience with. The repeated chorus of "Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight" is a desperate plea for connection and hope in a world that feels devoid of both.
Overall, the lyrics of "Gimme Gimme Gimme" speak to the universal human desire for companionship and the frustration and sadness that comes with being alone. It's a relatable and poignant theme that has resonated with listeners for decades.
Line by Line Meaning
Half past twelve
It's midnight
And I'm watching the late show in my flat all alone
I'm home alone, watching TV
How I hate to spend the evening on my own
I don't like being alone at night
Autumn winds
It's windy outside
Blowing outside the window as I look around the room
I'm looking around my room while the wind blows outside
And it makes me so depressed to see the phone
Seeing the phone depresses me because no one is calling
There's not a soul out there
No one is outside
No one to hear my prayer
Nobody is there to listen to me
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
I want a man to be with me at night
Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away
I want someone to help me get rid of my loneliness and sadness
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
I want to spend time with someone from the night until the morning
Movie stars
Celebrities
Find the end of the rainbow, with that fortune to win
Celebrities have a better life than me, and are lucky
It's so different from the world I'm living in
My life is not like the one of celebrities
Tired of T.V.
Watching TV bores me
I open the window and I gaze into the night
I'm looking outside through the window
But there's nothing there to see, no one in sight
I don't see anything outside, no one is there
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Again, I want a man to be with me at night
Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away
Again, I want someone to help me get rid of my loneliness and sadness
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
Again, I want to spend time with someone from the night until the morning
There's not a soul out there
Again, no one is outside
No one to hear my prayer
Again, nobody is there to listen to me
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Benny Goran Bror Andersson, Bjoern K. Ulvaeus
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@martabaglaeva1862
Half past twelve
And I'm watching the late show in my flat all alone
How I hate to spend the evening on my own
Autumn winds
Blowing outside the window as I look around the room
And it makes me so depressed to see the phone
There's not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
Movie stars
Find the end of the rainbow, with that fortune to win
It's so different from the world I'm living in
Tired of T.V.
I open the window and I gaze into the night
But there's nothing there to see, no one in sight
There's not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
There's not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
@lilantimason
I just can't sit still with this perfect groove. Thank you so so much Nils Landren <3
@nestorproyeccion
uno de los mejores tributos que haya escuchado! Por el amor de DIOR! cuanto groove!!!
@Blaubeerwald1
One of my favourite albums.
@TviTNineeKikson
Love it!
@lenid58
Nils Landgren is a genious! Everything he does is quality, if you ask me. And he is from Sweden!!!
@mjcouceiro
Nice version! :) Very funky.
@gerritblunk-zm2vd
You funk my day .. thank you for this good vibes ... "i like". Greetings from germany 😁
@rafalroz
Great music! Hey guys, have you got lyrics to songs from this album?
@MaitreyaMiranda
Funky and rap and groove all mixed up... Really COOL combination. :o)
@FM-iw9cp
This is groovy !! Wonderful !