I guess this is almost a shortened version of a ‘Memory Lane‘ type feature, because in the midst of a huge backlog in the ‘real’ workplace a couple of weeks back and knowing the NMR Inbox was getting even fuller, I found myself reaching for easy listening music that would be a positive accompaniment to my work - reduce the stress, lift my spirits, ease the weary mind, you know the type of thing. And I know it sounds difficult to believe, but Cardiacs aren’t necessarily the band for all occasions such as this.
Thankfully Svavar Knútur sprang to mind, the Icelandic songwriter who writes music with an easy free flowing charm, always starting I suspect with Svavar sitting there at home (or amongst the cows) strumming different chords until he finds something he likes.
I did review his album ‘Ahoy Side A‘ at the time, but ‘Tiger and Bear’ escaped me as it was a ‘repainted’ version of an old track, slipped onto the end of the album. It has the simplest of lyrical themes that just allowed me to see my spreadsheets for what they really were – numbers in boxes that could be interpreted in a million different ways.:
“Don't need no money to buy for.
Don't need a country do die for.
Don't need a lover to lie for.
Don't need no reasons to cry for.
Don't need a life,
filled with anguish, hate and strife.
Don't need a cue don't need a clue,
all I really need is you.”
When I started NMR all those years ago the aim wasn’t to find the latest ‘big things’ or the songs always released that very day, it was simply to find good (often folk influenced) Nordic music ‘old and new’, and champion it to anyone who cared to listen. The likes of Svavar Knutur will therefore always be welcome here.
He has new music coming out soon, but in the meantime please check out his back catalogue, and his lyrics, at his website.