Believe, believe, believe... I get it already!

Every AOB album since TB contains at least one phrase repeated in two different songs.

TB - "Like a prisoner of hope"
F - "like a catcher in the rye"
SOTN - "easy come, easy go"

The latest album, DC, continues the tradition. DC's repeated phrase is "believe in" (or if you prefer, "believe me").

BM - Believe me...
RTW - You got to believe me...

WDU - I believe in...
SD - I believe

HD - You better believe in... (also "believe me when" )
TJ - Always believe in...

Of the fourteen songs released, six contain the word "believe". That's nearly 45% of all the songs from one album.

What are we to make of the repeated use of the word? It could be used to connect the album together. It could be used to create a certain atmosphere for the record. It could even be an unconscious attempt by the writer to convince themselves and others of their words.

Whatever the reason for its frequent appearance, it's clear that idea of belief is an underlying theme within the work.

Jonas uses the phrases in three ways.

1. A way to express optimism in the face of negativity
BM - know that bad times will come but they will pass
RTW - you have to think positive, even if things are difficult

2. A desire to escape from the world and its stresses
WDU - I believe in escaping to a fantasy world (hard to interpret this one!)
SD - whatever you say, I'll go with it

3. A vehicle for giving advice
HD - believe what I say, because I've experienced it and I know it's true
TJ - always believe that the youth will succeed

When you break it down, one can believe in three different ways.

One can believe by having faith in someone or something.
One can believe by thinking something is true.
One can believe something by having an opinion.

We see all three of these definitions in the DC album.

Faith that things will get better is a part of BM and RTW.
The idea that something is true is a part of WDU and SD.
Opinions are expressed in HD and TJ.

I don't recall which demos were supposed to be on DC, but you better believe that many of those songs contain the word too!

Sten & Stanely

Sten & Stanley is a music group from Sweden and they play dansband music. It's hard to explain what dansband music sounds like, but it's a bit like swing and country music mixed together. I've never heard of Sten & Stanley until today. They've been cranking out albums since 1963, so that tells that you I don't listen to dansband. (stenochstanley.se) The group released an album in 2001 called "Om bara jag får". Track #1 on that cd is called "Solen är din".

And what does this have to do with AOB? Well, "Solen är din" is listed in the ASCAP records as being written by Douglas Carr, Meja, and Jonas.

Yes, that Jonas.

(www.ascap.com/ace - search jonas berggren in writers)

I haven't had any luck finding the lyrics or a song snippet online. Anyone out there just happen to have a copy of this cd? Doubtful, but it can't hurt to ask!