The Knife won a Swedish Grammy award for best pop group of the year 2003, but they boycotted the ceremony by sending two representatives of another artist group dressed as gorillas with the number 50 written on their costumes, apparently as a protest against male dominance within the music industry. Their album Deep Cuts was also nominated for a Swedish Grammy as the best record of the year 2003, although that award went to The Cardigans. It was also in 2003 that the The Knife was featured as Artist of the Week at HitQuarters, which helped them gain greater attention in the worldwide music community.
The group became prominent in late 2005 when José González covered "Heartbeats" on his 2003 album, Veneer. The song was used by Sony in a commercial for Bravia television sets, and released as a single in early 2006. The group commented on this in a Dagens Nyheter article, claiming that Sony paid a large sum of money to use the song. In view of the group's left-wing views and non-commercial philosophy, they excused this transaction on the basis that the money was needed to establish their record company.
The Knife's song "We Share Our Mothers' Health" from their album Silent Shout was featured by the iTunes store as a free song of the week in late 2006. This song was also featured in the ABC series Ugly Betty, as well as an episode of CSI: NY.
In February 2005, the Knife performed their first ever live show at London's ICA, appearing with Rex the Dog and playing in front of a video created for the event by artist/film maker Andreas Nilsson. With this one live performance The Knife embarked on a major tour in 2006, and after selling out shows worldwide, a DVD of the tour was announced. The DVD was released in Sweden on November 8, 2006, and is titled Silent Shout: An Audio Visual Experience.
Silent Shout was named the best album of 2006 by Pitchfork Media.
At the Swedish Grammy awards in January 2007, The Knife won in all six categories they were nominated in: Composer of the Year, Music DVD of the Year, Producer of the Year, Pop Group of the Year, Album of the Year and Artist of the Year. Again, they did not attend the award ceremony.
In 2009 the duo wrote the opera Tomorrow, In a Year, celebrating 150 years since Darwin's Origin of Species was published.
In April 2013 they released the album Shaking The Habitual.
In 2014 Karin Dreijer revealed in a interview that the Knife were calling it quits for good. "When we finish the tour now in November we will close down, it’s our last tour," they said. "We don’t have any obligations to continue, it should only and always be for fun."
I Just Had to Die
The Knife Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
But I don't know why
I am the schoolgirl's dream
I am under eighteen
But I don't know why
I just had to die
Somebody saw me
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
But I don't know why
I am the schoolgirl's queen
I am under eighteen
And I can't tell you why
I had decided to die
I'm not afraid of the shire
I'm on fire
I'm not afraid of the shire
I'm on fire
Hey little girl, is your daddy home?
I'm not afraid of the shire
I'm on fire
The Knife's "I Just Had to Die" is a haunting song filled with enigmatic lyrics that suggest dark themes of death, desire, and exploitation. The track features a repetitive, pulsating beat that builds to a crescendo as the lyrics become more ominous. The opening lines, "Somebody saw me watching schoolgirls on their knees, but I don't know why," immediately set the unsettling tone of the song. The lines suggest that the singer has been caught in a compromising position, watching young girls in a sexualized manner. The repetition of the phrase "but I don't know why" suggests that the singer is unaware of how they ended up in this situation.
The song's chorus contains the lyrics, "I am the schoolgirl's dream, I am under eighteen, but I don't know why, I just had to die." These lines suggest that the singer is a young girl who is being objectified and exploited. The phrase "I just had to die" could be interpreted as a metaphorical death, representing the loss of innocence and the corruption of youth. The second chorus continues in a similar vein, with the singer now identifying as the "schoolgirl's queen." The lines "I had decided to die" could be interpreted as an acceptance of the exploitation and objectification, suggesting that the singer has given up on trying to resist or escape.
The final section of the song features the repeated refrain "I'm not afraid of the shire, I'm on fire." The lines could be interpreted as a defiant declaration of power, or as a suggestion that the singer has succumbed to the flames of desire and destruction. Overall, the lyrics of "I Just Had to Die" are open to multiple interpretations, but all imply dark and disturbing themes of exploitation and corruption.
Line by Line Meaning
Somebody saw me
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
But I don't know why
I was caught peeping at schoolgirls, but I don't understand why I did it
I am the schoolgirl's dream
I am under eighteen
But I don't know why
I just had to die
I am the perfect embodiment of what schoolgirls desire, but even though I'm underage, I feel like I need to die
I am the schoolgirl's queen
I am under eighteen
And I can't tell you why
I had decided to die
I now feel like I am on top of the world and schoolgirls look up to me, but I still feel like I need to end my life and I can't explain why
I'm not afraid of the shire
I'm on fire
I'm not afraid of the shire
I'm on fire
I am not scared, and I feel alive with an intense passion that is propelling me forward
Hey little girl, is your daddy home?
I'm not afraid of the shire
I'm on fire
I am asking a young girl if her father is home, but I continue to feel fearless and alive
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KARIN ELIZABETH DREIJER ANDERSSON, OLOF BJORN DREIJER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Roiy Benkel
Somebody saw me
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
But I don't know why
I am a schoolgirl's dream
I am a hunger ready to eat
But I don't know why
I just had to die
(Aaaaaaa...)
Somebody saw me
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
But I don't know why
I am a schoolgirl's dream
I am a hunger ready to eat
And I can't tell you why
I had this urge to die
(Aaaaaa...)
I got a bad desire
I'm on fire
I got a bad desire
I'm on fire
Hey little girl is your daddy home?
Got a bad desire
I'm on fire
TONY AYALA
finally I think I found the meaning of this song, it's about the person who feels suicidal but does not want to die, I read about it, I have that problem and everything fits into the song. It's like the suicidal feeling and the girl who has it was singing the song.
"Somebody saw me
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
I am a schoolgirl's dream
I am a hunger ready to eat
But I don't know why" - the suicidal feeling
"I got a bad desire
I'm on fire."
"I had this urge to die" - the girl who want's to die
It's my theory, I feel satisfied with that meaning
Devenir L.V.X
Somebody saw me
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
But I don't know why
I am the schoolgirl's dream
I am Hunter ready to eat
But I don't know why
I just had to die
Somebody saw me
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
But I don't know why
I am the schoolgirl's queen
I am Hunter ready to eat
And I can't tell you why
I had decided to die
I'm not afraid of the shire
I'm on fire
I'm not afraid of the shire
I'm on fire
Hey little girl, is your daddy home?
I'm not afraid of the shire
I'm on fire
Ryan Lindborg
I heard something on NPR a while back that made me think of this song. It dealt with a group of pedophiles that openly acknowledged their problem and were seeking help. They spoke of the extreme guilt they felt and the sense of helplessness that came with being burdened with such a condition. I feel like this song echoes that exact sentiment.
Circolombisque
That is a problem that needs to be addressed a lot more and The Knife did a great job at doing that!
Shr3dd3rr
This song really is outstanding, imo. Karin Dreijer Andersson sounds like she used to when she was in Honey Is Cool before she started the Knife with her brother. Another personal favorite is Pass This On and Heartbeats. It is wonderful to listen to her solo stuff too as Fever Ray. Round of applause to brilliant Swedes making fantastic music! :D
Roiy Benkel
Somebody saw me
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
But I don't know why
I am a schoolgirl's dream
I am a hunger ready to eat
But I don't know why
I just had to die
(Aaaaaaa...)
Somebody saw me
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
But I don't know why
I am a schoolgirl's dream
I am a hunger ready to eat
And I can't tell you why
I had this urge to die
(Aaaaaa...)
I got a bad desire
I'm on fire
I got a bad desire
I'm on fire
Hey little girl is your daddy home?
Got a bad desire
I'm on fire
Hestehviskeren
One of the best songs The Knife has ever made!
Mello Kitty
great song, amazing album! if you judge songs solely based on lyrics, entire genres would be doomed ;)
TONY AYALA
finally I think I found the meaning of this song, it's about the person who feels suicidal but does not want to die, I read about it, I have that problem and everything fits into the song. It's like the suicidal feeling and the girl who has it was singing the song.
"Somebody saw me
Watching schoolgirls on their knees
I am a schoolgirl's dream
I am a hunger ready to eat
But I don't know why" - the suicidal feeling
"I got a bad desire
I'm on fire."
"I had this urge to die" - the girl who want's to die
It's my theory, I feel satisfied with that meaning
Staropramen99
To, me it's an song about a would-be-murderer and his/her victim but written in a way so it's difficult to tell if it's told from the perspective of one or the other. They share this longing towards death and towards overstepping a boundary they were not meant to overstep.
Rafael Lima
i think is something like a boy/girl on puberty, who are feeling a monster behind his/her first sexual desires. and got a very wish to die
adrianskarstad
/Many/ Knife songs have dark topics. They just really enjoy playing with the contrast between dark and funny/light. Which is absolutely genius, gives you this fucked up aftertaste of "...this song sounded so happy, why am I sad"