Seba, real name Sebastian Ahrenberg, is a Swedish drum and bass producer an… Read Full Bio ↴Seba, real name Sebastian Ahrenberg, is a Swedish drum and bass producer and DJ. Seba is also the owner of Secret Operations, a drum and bass record label based in Stockholm, Sweden.

With drum and bass being a very unknown/unpopular genre in Sweden when he started out, literally ordering records over the phone from England because they weren't available, Seba had to call record stores and listen through the receiver before ordering. When he started making his own music, he sent it directly to London, among other things to one of the genre's biggest, LTJ Bukem. They played at the Fanclub festival in Stockholm and after Seba's set Bukem came up and asked for a song he made, called "Sonic Winds". This became Seba's first professional release, a collaboration with Lo-tek on LTJ Bukem's Good Looking Records in 1995. The duo released Universal Music on Good Looking, after which Seba went on to produce a string of solo releases on various Bukem-owned labels. Today, his music is released on several labels, such as Hospital, Liquicity, and Metalheadz.

In 1997 Seba created a night club named Secret Operations in the basement club Tuben in central Stockholm. Two years later Secret Operations released Case One, a CD compilation of works by Seba (under the pseudonym Forme) and other artists.

From 1999 to 2003, Seba released a number of mostly house music works on the Swedish Svek label attributed to Seba and Forme. He has also joined with Jesper Dahlbäck (aka Lenk) for the collaborative house music effort known as Sunday Brunch. The two would release a number of tunes on vinyl as well as full length CD entitled No Resistance in 2002.

In 2002, Seba began releasing drum and bass records again. For the first time on his own Secret Operations label as well as various others. While no longer under Bukem's eye, Seba's music retained its deep atmospheric sound while sometimes adding a more aggressive edge not often heard in his earlier works. Secret Operations first release was Pieces, a collaboration between Seba, Lenk and an uncredited Robert Manos as vocalist. Manos had previously recorded with the duo for Sunday Brunch, but this was the first of many times he would join Seba on a drum and bass project.

In 2004 Seba joined forces with drumfunk all-star Paradox, and the two put out a large number of albums from 2004-2006, with 2005 seeing an especially large amount of releases. A compilation of their work during this time was released on the CD Beats Me in 2006. Manos also contributed his talents to a number of works during this time frame.

Seba speaks in an interview with the Swedish Arts Grants Committee that he chose early on to have a regular job to avoid compromise. When not producing music Seba works as a resource teacher at a school. He goes on to state that he makes "almost no money at all from my music, but I have chosen to make the music I believe in, which has kept me active in one genre of music for almost 30 years."

So Long
Seba Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

If I'd had any sense, would it come to grips?
If I go on home, would I have stayed around so long? So
I don't know, I don't know

Pressing it to your lips
Threaten me with your fist
We're swimming out to sea
I think, I know how it will be

Oh, what I wanted
All I can have
Oh, what you wanted
All you can have

So you keep the change

You stay the same
And no one can tell

Overall Meaning

Interpretation:

Seba & Lotek's song "So Long" appears to be a song about a romantic relationship that has gone sour. The lyrics speak to the confusion and mixed emotions that the singer is experiencing in the aftermath of the breakup, and the regret they feel for how things turned out. The first verse sets the tone for the song, with the singer questioning whether they should have known better than to get involved in the first place. They wonder if they should have seen the warning signs and not stayed in the relationship as long as they did. The second verse seems to be directed at the singer's ex-partner, with the reference to pressing "it" to their lips and threatening them with their fist. It's unclear what "it" refers to, but it could be a reference to drugs or alcohol or some other destructive behavior that the singer's partner engaged in. The third verse is more introspective, with the singer reflecting on what they really wanted out of the relationship and how they feel like they missed their chance to have it. The final lines of the song seem to be an acknowledgement that both parties are moving on, with the singer telling their ex-partner to keep the change and stay the same, indicating that they have no intention of going back to the old way of doing things.

Line by Line Meaning

If I'd had any sense, would it come to grips?
If I had been more sensible, would I have been able to understand the situation better?

If I go on home, would I have stayed around so long? So
If I had left earlier, would I have been here for so long?

I don't know, I don't know
I am not sure about what to do next.

Pressing it to your lips
Putting something on your mouth

Threaten me with your fist
To intimidate or scare with your hand

We're swimming out to sea
We are heading to the ocean

I think, I know how it will be
I have an idea of what is going to happen.

Oh, what I wanted
I desire something

All I can have
But I can only have so much of it

Oh, what you wanted
You want something too

All you can have
But like me, you can only possess so much of it