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."
Still Light
The Knife Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She held my hand
And asked "was it worth it?"
"Could it be worse than this?"
Please recall
Give me a hint
Anything will do
If this was the last time now you should tell us what to do
I was afraid I guess
Now I can't think no more
I was so concentrated
On keeping things together
I've learned to focus on
I didn't want to disappoint
Now where is everybody
Is it still light outside?
The song Still Light by The Knife is a reflective and contemplative piece that centers on the theme of regret and missed opportunities. The opening lines depict an interaction between the singer and a doctor, presumably one that is taking care of the singer. The doctor questions the singer, asking whether their actions and choices in life have been worth it, and whether they could have been worse.
As the song progresses, the singer seems to be grappling with a sense of internal conflict as they reflect on their past actions. They express regret at their inability to focus on what truly mattered in their life, and the fear that they might have missed out on important experiences. This is reflected in the lines "I was afraid I guess, now I can't think no more, I was so concentrated on keeping things together, I've learned to focus on."
The final lines of the song indicate a sense of melancholic resignation, as the singer questions whether there is anyone left around them, and whether it is still light outside. The ambiguity of the final line leaves the interpretation of the song open to the listener, but it is likely that the singer is grappling with feelings of isolation and a sense of their own mortality.
Line by Line Meaning
The doctor came in the morning
The medical practitioner arrived in the morning
She held my hand
The doctor grabbed and clasped my hand
And asked "was it worth it?"
Then she inquired if the effort was worthwhile
"Could it be worse than this?"
"Is it probable that the situation could get worse than this?"
Please recall
Kindly recollect your memories
Give me a hint
Provide me with a clue
Anything will do
You can offer anything as suggestions to me
If this was the last time now you should tell us what to do
In case this is the final moment, you should inform us how to proceed
I was afraid I guess
I was feeling apprehensive
Now I can't think no more
Now I'm incapable of contemplating anymore
I was so concentrated
I was entirely focused on something
On keeping things together
My focus was on keeping everything united and constant
I've learned to focus on
I've understood the importance of concentrating on something
I didn't want to disappoint
I didn't want to let anyone down
Now where is everybody
Currently, where has everyone disappeared to?
Is it still light outside?
The question is whether it's still daytime or not?
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KARIN ELIZABETH DREIJER ANDERSSON, OLOF BJORN DREIJER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Roiy Benkel
The doctor came in the morning
She held my hand
And asked "was it worth it?"
"Could it be worse than this?"
Please recall
Give me a hint
Anything will do
If this was the last time now you should tell us what to do
I was afraid I guess
Now I can't think no more
I was so concentrated
On keeping things together
I've learned to focus on
I didn't want to disappoint
Now where is everybody
Is it still light outside?
Circolombisque
Such a tragic and beautiful song. The way this song elaborates on the idea of thinking you aren't good enough for everyone else but then realizing how much of an impact you can leave on this world is so hauntingly pretty.
Louie Love
They used it at the end of a Jeffery Dahmer documentary.... the song left me feeling alone and scared.
Bill Tuttle
This song is one track that single handedly inspired me to make electronic music.
Sammy Scheer
Never thought I'd find new good music because of Dahmer.
D S
Me neither. It's a really unique song and I love it. Thanks Dahmer!
M Muehl
If you want good music you should check out some of Charles Manson's original music 🙌
lisa vanderpump
Same lmaoo now it's a song on my repeat list
Hideous Ruin
@M Muehl It's not THAT bad. But it ain't that good either. If it wasn't Manson it wouldn't even be justified in existing.
M Muehl
@Hideous Ruin to each their own 🤷♀️
Mark Yeats
fell asleep during dahmer doc & now this song is burned into my subconcious......i love this song