We’ve listened to Rebekka Louise a couple of times during the last year, with songs about external and unwanted poisoning of a relationship and learning to love yourself and noted her ability to match the discord in the subject matter with her musical creations that are replete with vocal dexterity and verbosity.
Now she returns with a song in Norwegian, ‘Jeg Smiler Fortsatt’, which translates as ‘I’m still smiling,’ and which I suppose is one stage beyond Elton John’s ‘I’m still standing’.
This time the subject under the microscope is a young person experiencing difficult times but feeling like they can’t allow themselves to be sad or to show any type of negative emotion and resorting instead to hiding behind a smile.
One of those rictus grins so beloved of politicians when they are lying through their teeth. Which is most of the time.
I guess Rebecca has been in the UK long enough now to know that we call this ‘British stiff upper lip.’ You might have backed over your cat in the driveway, or lost your winning Euromillions lottery ticket down a drainage grid, or United might have suffered another 5-0 drubbing at home. But that lip must NEVER quiver. Ist Verboten.
But eventually that façade will crack.
She tells the story – and it’s a lengthy, wordy one – initially as if she’s chatting with friends and casually brings it up – “this ugly thing in my chest” – almost by chance.
The best guess I can make is that something has happened between Rebekka and a partner and it has driven them apart but she can’t even remember what it was she did or said and thus lacks the starting point to even try to turn it around.
Eventually the compromise position is that if the partner can admit that they are hurting too, then perhaps that will be enough to start peace talks. With or without the Ukrainians.
So the pace is quite a gentle, softly melodic one based around a simple synthesised tune until it nears the end when a panic seems to set in about whether either party will be able to admit to and come to terms with this mutual sadness, and kiss and make up.
Then it gets a little more frenetic, it lurches into virtual rap and the war drums chime in.
The funny thing is that I’ve heard hundreds of songs in Norwegian by now but hadn’t encountered one where the lyrics are more convincing in that language than I reckon they would be in English so kudos to Rebekka for choosing that path.
The strange thing is that to my untrained, un-linguistic ear parts of the song sounded as if it was in Hebrew, a bit like the concluding verse of ‘Hurricane’, the Israeli entry in last year’s Eurovision.
And in its own little way it packs a similar punch.
Keep up the good work, Rebekka. I’m still smiling.
Find her on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rebekka.Louisee
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebekka.louisee/
