Robyn's parents are actors, and she herself was involved in acting at the age of 9, with an extra role in Kronbruden at the Swedish theatre Dramaten. In 1991, at the age of 12, Robyn recorded the theme song named "Du kan alltid bli nummer ett" ("You can always be number one") for the Swedish television show Lilla Sportspegeln. In the same year she performed this song on television show Söndagsöppet. Robyn was rediscovered by Swedish pop singer Meja in the early 90s. Meja and her band Legacy of Sound visited Robyn's school and were involved with a musical workshop.
Following the completion of her middle school education, Robyn signed to Ricochet Records Sweden, a subsidiary of BMG. She collaborated with producers Max Martin and Denniz Pop. Writing duties were assisted by Ulf Lindstrom and Johan Ekhe, who also helped to produce the album, and they stayed on board with Robyn until 2003.
Robyn started her career in the pop music industry at the age of 16. She signed a record deal with RCA Records in 1994 to release her debut single "You've Got That Somethin'" in Sweden, followed by her breakthrough single "Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)". In October 1996 she released her debut album Robyn Is Here. Robyn's US breakthrough came in 1997, when the dance-pop singles "Show Me Love" and "Do You Know (What It Takes)" reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Her second album My Truth was released in May 1999 in Sweden, with subsequent releases elsewhere in Europe. The single "Electric" was a hit across Europe, and propelled My Truth to second position in Sweden. Despite her success in the US market with her debut album, My Truth did not receive an international release.
In 1999, Robyn contributed to Christian Falk's debut solo album Quel Bordel, appearing on the tracks "Remember" and "Celebration". In 2000, she appeared on the track "Intro/Fristil" on Petter's self-titled album. In 2001, Robyn contributed the song "Say You'll Walk the Distance" to the soundtrack for the film On the Line.
In November 2002, Robyn swapped labels at BMG (from RCA to Jive Records) and released her third album Don't Stop The Music in Sweden. She issued the singles "Keep This Fire Burning" and "Don't Stop The Music" in Scandinavia and mainland Europe. The lead single "Keep This Fire Burning" was covered by British soul singer Beverley Knight.
The decade-long relationship between Robyn and BMG ceased in 2004. When they reacted negatively to "Who's That Girl", which showcased a new electropop sound, Robyn decided to release music on her own. In early 2005, she announced she would be leaving Jive Records to start her own record label, Konichiwa Records. In May 2004, Robyn's Best was released in America. It is essentially a condensed version of her debut album, containing no material from her later releases. In 2006, following her departure from BMG, the compilation Det Bästa Med Robyn (The Best of Robyn) was released in Sweden.
Robyn released the single "Be Mine!" in March 2005, followed a month later by her fourth studio album Robyn. This album became her first number one album upon its release in Sweden. Collaborators of this album include names like Klas Åhlund from Teddybears, the Swedish duo The Knife and former Cheiron producer Alexander Kronlund. Sampling influences from electronic, rap and R&B music, Robyn received rave reviews, and gained the singer three Swedish Grammy Awards in 2006 for "Årets Album" (Best Album), "Årets Kompositör" (Best Writer, alongside Klas Åhlund) and "Årets Pop Kvinnlig" (Best Pop Female). Robyn released three more singles from the eponymous album: "Who's That Girl", "Handle Me" and "Crash and Burn Girl".
In 2006 she featured on the Basement Jaxx track "Hey You", taken from their album Crazy Itch Radio. The year also marked the release of Christian Falk's second album People Say, on which Robyn contributed the tracks "Dream On" and "C.C.C.". In December 2006, she released The Rakamonie EP in the UK.
In March 2007, Robyn released the single "Konichiwa Bitches" in the UK, followed by the revised edition of the album Robyn in April 2007. This version contains slightly altered versions of two of the original songs and two new tracks: "With Every Heartbeat" (a collaboration with Kleerup) and "Cobrastyle" (a cover of a 2006 single by Swedish rockers Teddybears). The second single from this revised album was "With Every Heartbeat", issued in late July 2007 and reaching number one on the UK singles chart. Follow-up singles "Handle Me", "Be Mine!", "Who's That Girl" and "Dream On" were top thirty hits. Also in 2007, Robyn contributed vocals to Fleshquartet's single "This One's For You", from their album Voices of Eden.
The Rakamonie EP was released in January 2008 in the US under Cherrytree Records, a subsidiary of Interscope, and the US edition of her self-titled album was released in April 2008. "With Every Heartbeat (with Kleerup)", "Handle Me" and "Cobrastyle" were top ten club hits, and the former received airplay at US pop and dance radio stations. She was also featured on "Sexual Eruption (Fyre Department remix)" by Snoop Dogg.
Robyn completed a short US tour to promote the album Robyn, and was the supporting act for Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour at select European dates in 2008. In January 2009, Robyn won a Swedish Grammis Award for Best Live Act 2008. In 2009 she featured on the single "The Girl and the Robot" from the album Junior by Norwegian electronic band Röyksopp.
In 2010 Robyn announced she planned to release three albums in the same year. To promote the first part, she released the songs "Fembot", "Dancehall Queen" (produced by Diplo) and "None of Dem" (featuring Röyksopp) to digital outlets as promotional singles on 13 April 2010. Klas Åhlund was the main producer of all Body Talk albums.
Robyn released Body Talk Pt. 1, on 14 June 2010 in the Nordic countries through EMI and on 15 June 2010 in the US through Interscope. This mini-album was preceded on 1 June 2010 by the lead single "Dancing On My Own". The song became Robyn's first number one hit in Sweden, and her fourth top ten hit in both the UK and the US, peaking at #8 on the UK Singles Chart and at #3 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart. Later The Guardian and Slant Magazine rated "Dancing On My Own" as the best song of 2010, and Pitchfork Media ranked it 4th in their Top 100 Tracks of 2010. On 30 August 2010, Robyn performed at Polar Music Prize 2010 a cover of "Hyperballad", with Björk being in the audience.
On 6 September 2010, Body Talk Pt. 2 was released in the UK. It was preceded on 5 September 2010 by the single "Hang With Me", a dance version of an acoustic song from Body Talk Pt. 1. This album also contains a duet with Snoop Dogg on "You Should Know Better (feat. Snoop Dogg)". On 12 September 2010 Robyn performed a remixed version of "Dancing On My Own" with deadmau5 at MTV Video Music Awards 2010.
Robyn released on 22 November 2010 (US and Scandinavia) the third and final part of the Body Talk series, entitled Body Talk. The album includes five songs from each previous Body Talk parts, along with five new songs. The new tracks have been made available separately as Body Talk Pt. 3 in the United States and Germany. The album was promoted mainly by the release of the single "Indestructible" on 1 November 2010. Body Talk received extremely favorable reviews from most music critics and featured on many year-end lists.
On 1st April 2011, Robyn issued the single "Call Your Girlfriend".
Official site: http://www.robyn.com
Do You Know
Robyn Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't you know I can see what you do to me
Running around with your cheap talk, cheap talk
What I need is a man who can do me right, do me right
If you got what I need, I can guarantee
To return all the love that you've giving to me
Do you know what it takes to love me
Do you know what it takes to do me right
Do you know what it takes to love me, baby, baby
Heaven knows in my time, I've been lonely
Feeling my love echo in my mind, in my mind, yeah
Never satisfied girl is what they call me
But I just can't keep going on living lies
Guaranteed, underneath
You won't let me down
There's so much I can give
But it's buried so deep
I just got to be sure that you always will be around (Always be around)
Do you know what it takes to love me (Do you know)
Do you know what it takes to do me right
Do you know what it takes to love me, baby, baby
Do you know what it takes (Do you know)
Do you know what it takes
(Don't waste my time, with your lies)
Yeah baby, I got enough
(You got to prove that you will always be around)
I'll give you everything
Boy will you do the same for me
Will you do anything
I gotta know the way it'll be
Do you know what it takes to love me (Do you know)
Do you know what it takes to do me right
Do you know, do you know, do you know what it takes
Do you know what it takes, do you know what it takes to do me right
(Don't waste my time baby)
In "Do You Know," Robyn seeks a man who can provide her with the love and commitment she needs. She's been hurt before, and she needs to be sure that her partner is in it for the long haul. She's tired of the "cheap talk" that many men offer and wants someone who can truly satisfy her. Although she's been called "never satisfied," she just wants a relationship that's built on truth and transparency.
The chorus of the song repeatedly asks the question "Do you know what it takes to love me?" This question is more than just a rhetorical flourish - Robyn genuinely wants to know if her partner is capable of giving her the kind of love and commitment she craves. It's a vulnerable question, as it implies that the answer might be "no." But Robyn is willing to take that risk, because she knows that settling for less than what she deserves will only lead to more heartbreak.
Overall, "Do You Know" is a song about the complexities of love and the importance of communication and commitment in a relationship. It's a reminder to listeners that they deserve love and respect, and that settling for less than what they need or want will only lead to disappointment.
Line by Line Meaning
Always be around
The singer wants her partner to always be present in her life.
Don't you know I can see what you do to me
The singer is aware of her partner's actions towards her.
Running around with your cheap talk, cheap talk
The singer doesn't appreciate her partner's insincere words or actions.
What I need is a man who can do me right, do me right
The singer desires a partner who can treat her in a respectful and loving manner.
If you got what I need, I can guarantee to return all the love that you've giving to me
The singer is willing to give love back if her partner fulfills her needs.
But, I've got to be sure that you always will be around (Always be around)
The singer needs to know that her partner won't leave her.
Do you know what it takes to love me
The singer is questioning her partner's understanding of what it means to truly love someone.
Heaven knows in my time, I've been lonely
The singer has experienced loneliness in the past.
Feeling my love echo in my mind, in my mind, yeah
The singer thinks about love often.
Never satisfied girl is what they call me
The singer has been labelled as someone who is hard to please.
But I just can't keep going on living lies
The singer is tired of pretending to be content with her situation.
Guaranteed, underneath You won't let me down
The singer has faith that her partner won't disappoint her.
There's so much I can give But it's buried so deep
The singer has a lot of love to offer but is hesitant to show it.
Yeah baby, I got enough
The singer asserts that she has enough love to offer her partner.
I'll give you everything Boy will you do the same for me
The singer is willing to give her all, but wants her partner to reciprocate.
Will you do anything I gotta know the way it'll be
The singer needs to know if her partner is willing to make the relationship work.
Do you know what it takes to love me, baby, baby
The singer is asking her partner if he truly understands what it takes to love her.
Do you know what it takes, do you know what it takes to do me right
The singer wants her partner to understand what it means to treat her with respect and love.
(Don't waste my time baby)
The singer doesn't want her time to be wasted on someone who isn't serious about loving her.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DARYL HALL, JOHN OATES, SARA ALLEN, ROBIN CARLSSON, MARTIN MAX, HERBIE CRICHLOW, DENNIZ POP
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Beagle Boy
I'm 39 years old...was in high school during the late 90's...such a great time and great music...feels like a million years ago.
Melissa Miller
I agree 100% it does feel like a million years ago. I miss this time period so much!
Uhura Enterprise
It was great times, I cherish it in my mind
Nick Lee
Not to me. It feels like yesterday...the music felt so good!
Sagicorn24
I’ll be 41 2020 and this girl was a prominent memory
Carol Cotton
I'm 56 and love her!
Garland5
Robyn has an incredible voice, so smoky, deep yet almost child-like in pitch.
Roshan Kotian
Y u say that my❤...
amberwkly
Robyn's music has been a part of my playlist since I was a kid!!❤
ironnar
The most underrated 90s pop star there is. Love Robyn