The band has five members:
Thomas L. Fagerlund - Vocals, Guitar
Søren B. Corneliussen - Vocals, Guitar
Daniel Skjoldmose - Guitar, Keys, Backing Vocals
Rune Pedersen - Bass, Backing vocals
Hasse Mydtskov - Drums, Backing vocals
Their sound is quite similar to some other Danish bands, such as The Figurines, Moi Caprice and Mew. Internationally, comparisons can be made to Modest Mouse, Mercury Rev, Arcade Fire and the Flaming Lips.
Three members of The Kissaway Trail (Søren, Thomas and Rune) originally recorded together under the names of ‘Hostmom’ and ‘Isles’. Isles self-released an album called "We have decided not to die" in 2005. Since then, an additional guitarist, Daniel, and drummer Hasse joined the band, while Thomas started to sing alongside Søren making the distinctive two lead-vocal sound that they have today. Various tracks from this early period of the bands history can still be downloaded from Danish music websites. The band’s musical existence very nearly ended when Søren lost his love for music after his father was killed under tragic circumstances. However, he made his own decision to start performing and recording again, and The Kissaway Trail started to create their debut album.
Their material is released in Europe (aside from Scandinavia) and Japan by Bella Union, Etch n Sketch in Australia and New Zealand, and Playground Music in Scandinavia. On their breakthrough album underground producer Morten Frank helped them in the studio.
The title of their song 61 relates to the number of days a band member had to wait to hear if their family member had a terminal illness. The member involved is kept under wraps, obviously for very personal reasons; some fans believe it is Hasse, the drummer, because he has a tattoo of the number '61' on his chest. Other sources suggest he just might have got the tattoo because, according to his own admission, 61 is his favourite song to play live.
In the Autumn of 2007, The Kissaway Trail acted as the main support for Editors on their UK and European tours, alongside Ra Ra Riot in the UK and The Boxer Rebellion in Europe.
The Kissaway Trail are renowned for their own individual slant on the English language within their lyrics.
The band have cited influences to their music include The Beach Boys, Granddaddy, Daniel Johnston and Sonic Youth, amongst others. The lack of an obvious way to describe their music has brought common comparisons between themselves and the Polyphonic Spree and Canadian band the Arcade Fire. There is some truth with these similarities.
The band have been known for their live performances, which have included songs from 'The Kissaway Trail', as well as b-sides such as 'Romeo And Romeo' and 'La Mia'. They have also performed at the Wireless, Latitude and SXSW festivals in 2007, and the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 2008, where they supported Interpol and The National.
The band released an EP called "Into the Ocean and Rise Again" in 2006, and their debut album called "The Kissaway Trail" was released in 2007 from which 3 singles have been taken to date (Smother + Evil = Hurt, La La Song & 61
La La Song
The Kissaway Trail Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Let's rock them around in L.A.
The stars, the stars, the stars will guide us
Let's run away, today
Let's rock them around in L.A.
The stars, the stars, the stars will guide us
What's your delay? Why stay?
Let's turn them around in L.A.
And let them stars them stars them stars guide us
What's your delay? Why stay?
Let's turn them around in L.A.
And let them stars them stars them stars guide us
La la...
We were over the mountains, over the mountains
We were over the mountains, over the mountains, singing la la...
We were over the mountains, over the mountains, singing la la...
We were over the mountains, over the mountains
We were over the mountains, over the mountains, singing la la...
We were over the mountains, over the mountains, singing la la...
The Kissaway Trail's "La La Song" is an upbeat and catchy tune that encourages listeners to leave their stresses behind and escape to Los Angeles. The chorus repeats the line "Let's run away, today/Let's rock them around in L.A./The stars, the stars, the stars will guide us" twice, which sets the tone for the entire song. The lyrics create a sense of spontaneity and urgency, as if the singer is trying to convince someone to join them on an adventure.
The verses repeat the same chorus but with slightly different phrasing, saying "What's your delay? Why stay?/Let's turn them around in L.A./And let them stars, them stars, them stars guide us." Here, the singer is trying to persuade someone who may be hesitant to join them on this spontaneous trip. The use of stars as a guiding force reinforces the theme of adventure and discovery.
Towards the end of the song, the lyrics change slightly to "We were over the mountains, over the mountains/Singing la la..." which could imply that the journey to L.A. was a journey over obstacles and challenges, but the characters in the song faced them and came out triumphant. Overall, the lyrics to "La La Song" suggest the importance of adventure and living in the moment, encouraging listeners to take risks and let life take them where it may.
Line by Line Meaning
Let's run away, today
Let's escape from our everyday lives and responsibilities and embark on a journey today.
Let's rock them around in L.A.
Let's enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of Los Angeles and have a good time there.
The stars, the stars, the stars will guide us
We believe that fate or destiny will lead us on this journey and show us the way.
What's your delay? Why stay?
Why hesitate or hold back? Why not join us and experience something new and exciting?
Let's turn them around in L.A.
Let's change the normal routine and turn everything upside down in Los Angeles.
And let them stars them stars them stars guide us
And we will let the universe or a higher power lead us on this adventure.
We were over the mountains, over the mountains, singing la la...
We have already traveled over the difficult obstacles and challenges, while still enjoying and singing along the way.
We were over the mountains, over the mountains
We have faced and overcome the difficult parts of the journey.
We were over the mountains, over the mountains, singing la la...
We didn't let the hardships and obstacles dull our spirits, we still sang and enjoyed the journey.
Contributed by Hunter Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
J W
This is on my definitive lifetime playlist. I was in my late 20s early 30s and was flying to LA once a week. I lived with my best mate and had a beautiful girl by my side. This time of my life has been indelibly etched into my memories. If I remember nothing else I will remember this song and that time. However nothing lasts. I knew I was lucky when I was living it, it was too good to go on forever and it didn't. I was blessed to be part of the lives of 2 incredible people. As my life circumstances changed this song remained core to what I was listening to. I would always come back to it. I became a teacher and I taught it to every class I had. I got married and I taught it to my son. One of his first memories is me singing this song to him when he was a baby at bath time. I'm listening to it now as I near 50. This song has been a wonderful companion all these years.
Hugh Phase
just to let you know, it's not from sleep mountain, it's from their first self titled album. but an ace song nonetheless!
Marco Regalli
Amazing!!!
RC vc 7
Just couldnt get my head around this not getting big at the time. Such a big fucking song