Top 10 Most Poetic Röyksopp Songs
Röyksopp are master poets in song, and I think they deserve more credit for their often moving and haunting pieces.
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I Had This Thing
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Running to the Sea
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What Else Is There?
This song contrasts life and death, with the girl speaking as the force of death itself. She follows the person she's talking to along the "road" of life, tracking his secrets, which he's forced to let go of at the end.
Near the end of the song, however, she becomes deceptive, asking what she stands for if he doesn't die. This suggests he is at the end of the road, and it is time for him to fulfill her wish. By asking "What Else Is There?", it could imply that there is something for him in return - or, on the contrary, nothing at all. Only she knows, but she won't tell him or anyone until they follow death.
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Sordid Affair
I think the power of this song comes at the end. The song focuses on a forced and loveless relationship, which appears positive at first but is already contradictory in its lyrics. The singer reflects on all the good things that have come from it, but he admits with a heavy heart how emotionally manipulative he had to be to get love in return.
The mystery of the end part, however, is how a supposed reply from heaven can bring further despair. Is it because there was no salvation to be given for this ordeal, or because every positive aspect is lost as a price, despite it outweighing the joy of the moral solution? Either way, it shows that this was truly a situation where one could not find happiness without strings attached. A double meaning of "salvation in strings."
There was a time, dark and divine,
Exciting and new, shameful untrue
Free to explore, we had it all.
Towering trust, insatiable lust
Clouding the truth both of us knew
This sordid affair is ending in tears
Yes, we must go on knowing the wrong
Hunting the day it was taken away
Oh, all our love fell down to Earth.
Here, broken and cold, with great remorse
For a while, it all made sense
It might have been just a dark pretense
But you had me
And I left it
To be with you, to be the one,
To live a lie
It really got me all excited.
I felt wanted
Then in the dark, a sorrowing sigh
Was taken away. Deliverance came
Fell from the sky. Heaven replied
Salvation in strings, silent and clean.
All that we were, all that we knew
Faded away with tears in the rain.
Yes, all that we were, all that we knew
Is fading away like tears in the rain.
All that we were, all that we knew
Fading away
All that we were, all that we knew
Fading away
All that we were, all that we knew
Fading away
All that we were, all that we knew
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Miss It So Much
This song is very underrated, and I think it's the best song off Junior. Its lyrics may seem to simply compare a human to a machine, but that is precisely what makes it so poetic. By turning life into a purely mechanical and arbitrary game, where joy is gambled and the price is always a significant form of loss, happiness is inevitably taken away.
From this perspective, it is a gamble that cannot be won. The arbitrary elements of this game have cost this person a soul. It makes one consider how some may benefit from this game of life, while most suffer by getting little out of it.
I miss it so much
No button to touch
No dial to turn
No key to hold
Days turn to nights, turn to weeks
Turn to paper, into rocks, into plastic
My material heart
How it keeps us apart
Watching days turn to nights, turn to weeks
Turn everything I got into techniques
My mechanical heart
How it tears me apart
I miss it so much
No button to touch
No dial to turn
No key to hold
I miss it so much
No button to touch
No flick of the switch
Hand on my heart
Days turn to nights, turn to weeks, turn to paper
Into rocks, into plastic
My material heart
How it keeps us apart
Watching days turn to nights, turn to weeks,
Turn everything I got into techniques
My mechanical heart, how it tears me apart
I miss it so much.
No button to touch
No dial to turn
No key to hold
I miss it so much.
No button to touch,
No flick of the switch,
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You Know I Have to Go
The tragedy of this song lies in the turbulence of trust within a relationship, with the only solution being to end it. They both know what the other is thinking, and they both know they want to achieve the impossible. But only one side is irrational enough to push for it.
There's not much more to say, except that there's further dark and heartfelt poetry in the melancholy tone of this masterpiece.
You know I have to go
There's nothing more to say
'Cause you're better off alone
It's got to be this way
You know I've got to go
There's nothing more to say
Surely you will know
In the light of day
I've learned how to stay gracious in defeat
'Cause I've never been victorious
And now you offer me the chance to feel complete
You've given me your trust
'Cause I want to give the honesty you need
Nothing false or dubious
I want us to be all that we can be
I want this for the two of us
You know I have to go
There's nothing more to say
Surely you will know
In the light of day
Wish I had the courage to explain
To let myself be heard
I wish there was a way to break the chain
But I struggle with the words
Say you want to take me to your bed
But it's hard to know
Maybe it's because we're off our heads
Or maybe this is love...
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Only This Moment
"This Moment" represents a state where happiness is at its peak, but it also contrasts idealism and rationality. The way the lyrics are ordered compares his thoughts with the process of heartbreak, and it slowly but abruptly decays the love in his soul.
The singer contemplates what he's learned: lust is an instinct, but love is a feeling, and one that can have harmful consequences. There is hope at the end, however, as it suggests that love does not die, despite this failed love. However, nor does its evil.
Only this moment
Holds us together
Close to perfection
Nothing else out there
No one to guide us
Lost in our senses
Deep down inside, I know our love will die
Only this moment
Holds us together
Lost in confusion
Feelings are out there
Scared of devotion
Doubting intentions
Deep down inside, I know our love will die
Stay or forever go
Play, or you'll never know
What heaven decided
You can't deny it's
All you've been waiting for
Stay or forever go
Play, or you'll never know
Your spirit's divided
You will decide if I'm
All you've been waiting for
Clouds in my head have been parted with grace
By the voices of an angel revealing her face
And her words make sense, and I do understand
Falling in love isn't part of a plan
Forces within me mix reason with lust, but
I'll try to accept it and not make it worse
'Cause I know I might lose it by taking the chance,
But love without pain isn't really romance
Only this moment
Holds us together
Close to perfection
Nothing else out there
Always beside her
Trusting my senses
Deep down inside, I know love will survive
Only this moment
Holds us together
Close to the other
Nothing else out there
Always beside her
Trusting my senses
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You Don't Have a Clue
The lyrics aptly convey the story of a lover hiding his true colors, unaware that the singer can see through his lies. The singer wants to grasp what she sees in him, but she still doubts whether what she perceives is truly there. She follows the downward trend he exhibits, unsure of what will come next.
It's late in the night, dancing is done
The music has died, you're ready to run
But you don't have a clue, this party hasn't ended yet
Not for me and you, now you're just pretending
You're hiding from yourself
Yes, you are, yes, you are
Like golden rays of sun in the cloud
We're meant to be one, I know we are
If I am the sky, then you are my star
Hey, you don't have a clue, this party never ended
Not for me and you, I know you're just pretending
You're hiding from yourself
Yes, you are, yes, you are
Like golden rays of sun in the cloud
I will make you see
Haven't you got, haven't you got it yet?
Just lay down for a while, next to me
Didn't mean to make you panic
I didn't mean to put you off
Baby, it's the way that you've got me
I listen to my heart, and it takes you high
And you ask me how
Can I show you how?
I need your love right now, now, now
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Dead to the World
This chilling song explores a person with intense feelings that cannot be brought into the real world. The singer has created a perfect world in the form of a dream, governed purely by ideal thoughts and plans. However, he despairs over reality. While the dream may be a happy and idealistic vision, it becomes heartbreaking when the singer inevitably returns to reality.
The voice might as well stay brainwashed and sedated by this dream or remain dead to the world.
In the dead of the night, you seem closer to me
The next day I wake up and know how unreal it is
Feeling so tense like I'm caught in a corner
You can't speak, but I hear you calling
I come back for you
I've been dead to the world, and I've chosen to be
Inside under pillows with marvels and wonders
Sedating my will to exist in the open
I don't move, but I keep on moving
I'm only with you
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Vision One
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Save Me
This, I think, is a song about the singer's descent into madness, driven by desperation, and discarding all reason to think twice. She knows it has broken her before, and will do so again, but she has no way to stop this. She's pleading for a solution.
It's already on
Once again,
And I didn't know
I am the sun,
I'll always return
Once more
Follow the line,
Let go of my heart,
Fade into the night
I go where I want,
In places where
Wrong feels right
Oh, save me,
The ocean is dark
Oh, save me,
I'm falling apart
I'm coming down hard,
Hard as hell,
Like the night before
Bracing myself,
Alone on the
Bathroom floor
Oh, save me,
The ocean is dark
Oh, save me,
I'm falling apart
Should I choose
To feel this way,
I know I could,
I never fail
And if the world
Is too mundane,
Just bring it on,
I'll go again
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Tricky Two
