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."
One Hit
The Knife Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I took my hand out of my pocket up came a fist
It was headline news
One more abuse
I've got to tell it with a fist
And it goes like this
Ho ho ho ho
So where's the femininity
The one with skirts and high heels
A shiny sink and home made meals
The one and only way
If you enter you'll stay
Sons and daughters you will breed
As long as you breastfeed
Yeah being a man is a bliss
One Hit one Kiss
Ho ho ho ho
Huh huh huh huh
Then the lights came on, it was all a scene
Bend back, give head it's not pornography
If you do it with lights then it's art you see
If you do it with a twist
Yes, artistically
Ho ho ho ho
Huh huh huh huh
I could do the laundry
The women's work
For a reasonable salary I would wash the world
It wouldn't affect my libido or my self esteem
Don't need to mark my territory
It's all obvious to me
It's manhood's bliss
One Hit one Kiss
Spending time with my family
Like the Corleones
Ho ho ho ho
Huh huh huh huh
The Knife's song "One Hit" is a feminist critique of gender roles and expectations. The lyrics reveal a speaker who is frustrated with the limitations placed on women and the expectations placed on men. The song opens with the singer proclaiming that they have a new story to tell. They took their hand out of their pocket and up came a fist, symbolizing their anger at the status quo. The use of a fist suggests action and a willingness to fight for change.
The next stanza is specifically targeted at the expectations placed on women. The singer questions where the femininity is, asking about the prevailing view that women are defined by being mothers and wives. The lyrics go on to critique the idea that a woman's only value is her ability to bear children and care for her family. The singer resents this notion, suggesting that there are other paths a woman might take.
In the next section of the song, the focus shifts to masculinity. The singer notes that being a man is a 'bliss,' yet the idea of men as dominant, sexually aggressive figures is questioned. The line about "one hit, one kiss" suggests that men believe they can get what they want through violence or coercion. The depiction of family time as being like the Corleones suggests that traditional masculinity is violent and dangerous.
Overall, the song is an indictment of gender roles and the expectations placed on both men and women. The singer's frustration with the status quo is evident throughout the song, and their use of metaphors and symbolism effectively conveys their feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got a new story now and it goes like this
The singer has a new personal experience to share and proceeds to tell it through a song.
I took my hand out of my pocket up came a fist
The singer was provoked or incited into violence and responded by raising a fist to strike.
It was headline news
The incident was reported or documented in the media and attracted widespread attention.
One more abuse
The violent incident was a continuation of a pattern of abuse or mistreatment.
I've got to tell it with a fist
The artist feels compelled to express their anger or frustration through physical violence.
And it goes like this
The song continues with a description of societal gender norms and expectations.
Ho ho ho ho / Huh huh huh huh
These meaningless sounds serve as a musical interlude.
So where's the femininity / The one with skirts and high heels / A shiny sink and home made meals / The one and only way / If you enter you'll stay / Sons and daughters you will breed / As long as you breastfeed / Yeah being a man is a bliss / One Hit one Kiss
The artist criticizes the societal expectation for women to conform to traditional gender roles and stereotypes, while extolling the benefits and privilege of being a man.
Then the lights came on, it was all a scene / Bend back, give head it's not pornography / If you do it with lights then it's art you see / If you do it with a twist / Yes, artistically
The artist comments on the double standards and contradictions in society's views on sex and sexuality, particularly when viewed through the lens of art versus pornography.
I could do the laundry / The women's work / For a reasonable salary I would wash the world / It wouldn't affect my libido or my self esteem / Don't need to mark my territory / It's all obvious to me / It's manhood's bliss / One Hit one Kiss / Spending time with my family / Like the Corleones / Ho ho ho ho / Huh huh huh huh
The artist further discusses the societal expectation for men to be breadwinners and providers, while expressing his own willingness to do domestic tasks like laundry. He also reflects on the importance of family, and compares his own experiences with that of the fictional mafia family in the movie The Godfather.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KARIN ELIZABETH DREIJER ANDERSSON, OLOF BJORN DREIJER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sarahdiot9270
I've got a new story now and it goes like this
I took my hand out of my pocket up came a fist
It was headline news
One more abuse
I've got to tell it with a fist
And it goes like this
Ho ho ho ho
Huh huh huh huh
So where's the femininity
The one with skirts and high heels
A shiny sink and home made meals
The one and only way
If you enter you'll stay
Sons and daughters you will breed
As long as you breastfeed
Yeah being a man is a bliss
One Hit one Kiss
Ho ho ho ho
Huh huh huh huh
Then the lights came on, it was all a scene
Bend back, give head it's not pornography
If you do it with lights then it's art you see
If you do it with a twist
Yes, artistically
Ho ho ho ho
Huh huh huh huh
I could do the laundry
The women's work
For a reasonable salary I would wash the world
It wouldn't affect my libido or my self esteem
Don't need to mark my territory
It's all obvious to me
It's manhood's bliss
One Hit one Kiss
Spending time with my family
Like the Corleones
Ho ho ho ho
Huh huh huh huh
@roiybenkel682
I've got a new story now and it goes like this
I took my hand out of my pocket, up came a fist
It was headline news, one more abuse
I've got to tell it with a fist
It goes like this
Ho ho ho ho (Ho ho ho ho)
Huh huh huh huh (Huh huh huh huh)
Ho ho ho ho (Ho ho ho ho)
Huh huh huh huh (Huh huh huh huh)
So where's the femininity
The one with skirts and high heels
A shiny sink and home made meals
The one and only way
If you enter you'll stay
Sons and daughters you will breed
As long as you breastfeed
Yeah, being a man is a bliss
One hit, one kiss
Ho ho ho ho (Ho ho ho ho)
Huh huh huh huh (Huh huh huh huh)
Ho ho ho ho (Ho ho ho ho)
Huh huh huh huh (Huh huh huh huh)
Then the lights came on, it was all a scene
Bend back, give head, it's not pornography
If you do it with lights, then it's art you see
If you do it with a twist
Yes, artistically
Ho ho ho ho (Ho ho ho ho)
Huh huh huh huh (Huh huh huh huh)
Ho ho ho ho (Ho ho ho ho)
Huh huh huh huh (Huh huh huh huh)
I could do the laundry, the women's work
For a reasonable salary I would wash the world
It wouldn't affect my libido or my self esteem
Don't need to mark my territory
It's all obvious to me
It's manhood's bliss
One hit, one kiss
Spending time with my family
Like the Corleones
Ho ho ho ho (Ho ho ho ho)
Huh huh huh huh (Huh huh huh huh)
Ho ho ho ho (Ho ho ho ho)
Huh huh huh huh (Huh huh huh huh)
Spending time with my family
Like the Corleones
@highspacefox
god this song, is so damn tight, if people heard this on the radio, their heads would explode.
@arielcasety9879
WHY Would Their heads explode?
@highspacefox
Ariel Arellano
i dunno, cause it's so damn tight. Mine almost did, thankfully I'm familiar with their outstanding work and braced myself accordingly.
How How How How
@highspacefox
EightAndAHalf1 sometimes...
how was your weekend daddy?
@lizzy__brock
this song is so ingenious. lately i’ve been jamming to it as i work out or walk my doggy.
@themanfromanotherplace8502
This whole albums is fucking crazy
@colinkeagan3587
Billie Eilish exists because of The Knife.
There has to be some arduous, hard to define through line. The entire time I listened to "When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?", all I could think about was how much it sounds like Silent Shout.
It's likely she never even heard this record, but I'm CERTAIN the influence of this record found it's way to her, somehow.
@itsbeyondme5560
True
@mek0626
🙌
@catchyname58
to be honest, i think her influence is 21 pilots