I don't know who all reads these blogs, but I imagine on average you know the band Roxette from their monster hits in the late eighties and early nineties. You might not be aware that they're still putting out albums as recently as this year (2016 CE for any digitally fluent alien archeologists, and welcome to what's left of the earth by the way). Likewise, unless you're a huge fan who has shelled out the extra money for quite a few European import CD's, it may not occur to you that there's anything special to distinguish Roxette from any other pop duo (although rumor has it if you're European, Roxette is on par with the Beatles).
Well, come on, join the joyride. Get your tickets here. Let's take a quick look at the catalog to see what the fuss is all about. Step right this way...
Getting Dressed For Success -Songs of Innocence
There's some music history here but that's what Wikipedia is for. You really need to know singer/guitarist/multiple language songwriter Per Gessle as the male half of the duo and lead singer Marie Fredriksson as the female half; and it's also worth giving credit to longtime producer Clarence Öfwerman.
Per and Marie came into the music scene separately and had established their own careers, but fate naturally intertwined them on enough occasions that it only made sense to give a team-up album a whirl. And thus came the debut of Pearls of Passion.
As an album, Pearls is very...sugary. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but when you hear the opening sleigh bell bounciness that sets the tempo for the first track you can expect to get quite a bit more of that from the later songs. I'm not going to do a full album explication, just hit the highlights.
Soul Deep -Marie demonstrates how she can (and will) sing the hell out of anything in this classic track that is beloved by everyone but me. Think of bubblegum pop. Now take out the bubblegum and replace it with sno-caps. Add syrup and a couple of gummi bears and keep the Tylenol handy. We're going to need it. Really this song just shows off Marie's voice.
Secrets That She Keeps -We're still in Candyland, I guess a few spaces away from Molasses Swamp considering the painful subject material, and yet we're still bouncing around in this major key. This is the first Per/Marie duet, and the interesting thing is it establishes the nature of their relationship. Throughout all of their duets, they never seem to be singing to each other. It comes across more as the anima/animus of the same entity, and I think this may be the key to what makes Roxette work. Per and Marie have more of a brother/sister relationship than a romantic one, and as such that grants them a freedom to go into some untapped song territories.
Goodbye To You -Ye gods, another bouncy one. This has got to be the peppiest breakup song in the history of the subgenre. I'm going to need that Tylenol now.
I Call Your Name -Okay, the music finally woke up. Knowing Roxette the way I do, this is the first song that actually feels like Roxette. The mood here is a painful distance. Marie's emotional range is in full force and Per comes in as a supportive role. This is a good taste of what's to come.
Call of the Wild -This song is a rarity, in that it's a love ballad where Per takes point and Marie is in the supporting role. Per has a nice voice. He may not have Marie's versatility or power, but he's no slouch when it comes to conveying emotion. Subtlety is his strength, and it works here flawlessly.
Joy of a Toy -Oh yeah. This is one of the few times Marie is allowed a little venom in her bite and it's a sweet wound indeed. This song is great (and danceable) on its own, but it gets a whole new layer on the Dance Passion remix. Best of luck tracking down a copy though.
So Far Away -Roxette is essentially discovering itself on this first album, but it's in this final track that the identity comes forth in full force. Any pain on the album prior to this track tends to fall into the realm of discomfort. This song is about genuine hurting, and Marie absolutely breaks your heart with her vocalization. Every Roxette album ends on a ballad, with varying degrees of success. But Pearls comes dangerously close to setting the bar too high.
The bottom line: Roxette is a child on this album, and prone to the spectrum of emotions associated therein. That final track contains the first real heartbreak that reality-slaps one into adolescence, and the music will invariably evolve accordingly. So, do we know exactly what Roxette is at this point? Maybe, but let's keep going for now.
Opportunity Nox -Songs of Achievement
You probably know this era already. The first nine notes of Listen to Your Heart scream "I will not be ignored" louder than any song in history, save for Beethoven's Da-da-da-DUM. Roxette came to the United States partially by accident and exploded internationally. Look Sharp was the album that introduced most Americans to the realization that Sweden didn't stop recording after ABBA split up. Two years later came the spiritual successor Joyride, and the six words "Hello you fool I love you" that will be in everyone's heads until we die.
Riding on the same wave were a couple of power ballads that never quite made it to an official album but transcended a few movie soundtracks. Perhaps you've heard of the critically acclaimed and unquestionably triumphant video game-to-screen adaptation called Super Mario Brothers, as well as the much more obscure and overlooked Julia Roberts rom com whose name escapes me at the moment (there was like a prostitute and three thousand dollars or something. I don't think anybody I know saw it).
There are so many highlights from this period; just a few that are at least worth a name mention are Dance Away, Chances, Dangerous, Hotblooded, Fading Like a Flower, Knockin' On Every Door, (Do You Get) Excited?, Small Talk, and Things Will Never Be the Same. Roxette was in its young adulthood where it could eat whatever it wanted, stay up until five in the morning, and go drinking on weeknights. And there was plenty of time to unearth the diamonds and sapphires that people would be polishing off for decades to come. And here they are.
The Look -Do you know what this song is about? No? Apparently neither does Per. Whatever the titular 'look' is that the eponymous 'she' has, it's apparently a pretty big deal. Anthem-worthy in fact. Basically, this song rocks in the purest sense. I don't know who 'she' is, or what the 'look' signifies, but I can't make it through this song without feeling happy for her. Damn. I wish I had the 'look'.
Dressed for Success -I can't deny this is another song that instantly got into my head and stayed there, although this one was actually unwanted. I know a lot of people who ADORE this song, but for me it feels like a throwback to the shallow end of the pool, kind of the Pearls of Passion dessert buffet but clearly sounding like Roxette now.
Cry -Now THIS is a breakup song! Thank you Marie. You guided me through several dark moments. If you've ever experienced falling for someone who proved unworthy of your tears (but was going to get them anyway) then I say take a gander at this one. Funny thing is, this song should have been the standout power ballad of Look Sharp, and I imagine if it had been on any other album it would have.
Listen to Your Heart -And that would be why Cry gets partitioned to the back row. Well, life's not fair, is it? You wouldn't be here if you didn't already know this song, so let's talk about why it works. Take a relationship at a crossroads. Stay together because of how much love there is, or break up because...we don't really know, something externally has affected it. If you present that conflict from the decider's point of view it comes across as unsympathetic, at least in song form. We only have this one moment to get a sense of the bigger picture, and the decider would seem indecisive. Now if we tell it from the decidee's viewpoint, it creates a sense of helplessness; waiting on the jury, so to speak. But Listen to Your Heart wisely takes the third option, with Marie as an observant third party. It can be assumed she's so emotionally invested in the outcome because she sees the big picture, and most likely can anticipate the fallout from the wrong choice. That's why this song is so powerful, and kind of unique. Because it's about pleading with someone to make the right decision purely because you care about them.
Joyride -Like The Look, this is a word salad song that probably doesn't mean anything. There's another 'she' and 'she' evidently makes the world a lot cooler just by existing in it. But 'she' is also willing to tell all her secrets in a wonderful balloon and invite you to join the joyride, so that's delightful. Maybe 'she' will loan me the 'look' for the weekend.
Spending My Time -This has always felt like the direct follow up to Listen to Your Heart except Marie has switched roles to the decider, who has made the wrong choice and regretted it. The music does something really interesting at the end that Per has said was a mistake (and I totally disagree). Marie is singing her heart out in a near breakdown, but suddenly the music goes from a minor to a major key, almost sounding happy. To me, it comes across as if the world has stopped indulging her regret and is moving on without her. And it adds in an awesome third movement that I wish more Roxette songs had.
It Must Have Been Love -Now we're on the soundtracks, and I honestly don't have much to say about this one except that piano chord during the bridge gives me chills.
Almost Unreal -Why, WHY, WHY was this song wasted on Super Mario Brothers? Don't ask questions, just go listen to it right now. I'll even give you the link. Two things. First, listen to the way Marie sings "You give me that look". The first two times it goes up like a question. But after the bridge, it comes down like a statement. That's the moment where all of the repressed emotions in the song crack through the defenses and come pouring through. Brava, Marie. Second, this was the song my wife and I danced to at our wedding reception. I also serenaded her with it one night a karaoke. She has graciously accepted it as 'our song'. I love you honey. And it's true, you give me that look; it's almost unreal.
Hello. Goodbye. -Songs of Transience
I've never been part of a successful rock band, or an unsuccessful one now that I think about it (my attempts to get The Spyres off the ground ended when I realized I didn't want to learn how to play an instrument). But I imagine the experience of touring is like being inside a bubble made out of tour buses, where the world outside is a homogenized blur while the confines inside become a boiling kettle of energy (for better or worse).
Roxette's next album, named Tourism, was recorded during their Join the Joyride tour and contains a handful of live performances, some unplugged covers, and a couple of fully realized tracks thrown in for good measure. Overall, Tourism is a softer album, and it effectively captures the sense that the young adult ember is fading like a flower in favor of a late twenties 'where do I belong?' vibe.
The next studio album, Crash! Boom! Bang!, continues this feel with pessimism seeping through the cracks. Take the song Vulnerable as an example. On Pearls of Passion, vulnerability would have been the holy grail of subject matter; here it's more of an inconvenience.
Now let me be clear: both of these albums are fantastic, and Crash! Boom! Bang! might actually be the band's best album in terms of consistency from track 1 to track 15. It's just that Roxette is having to grow up, and that period where adult responsibility sets in is not a fun one.
I'll start with Crash! Boom! Bang! because it's a lot harder to single anything out. Intentional or not, when you listen to this album from start to finish it feels like you've gone from the excitement of a new relationship, to the inevitable difficulties of maintenance, to the bitter breakup, and finally to the period of moving on. But here are my anecdotes:
Crash! Boom! Bang! -Two surprises. One, the song is in 3/4 time. Two, for a title with three exclamation points, this song is pretty subdued.
Fireworks -Reversing the mood shift from Spending My Time, the music takes an unexpectedly sad turn at the end not reflected in the lyrics.
Sleeping in My Car -A pretty straightforward pop track, but it's got one really sexy drum beat!
The First Girl on the Moon -This is either an inspiring song or a sad one, depending on which character you attach to. One goes off on an adventure, one stays behind. And not to give away which one I associate with, but damn you Marie and your golden voice!
Love is All (Shine Your Light on Me) -Roxette may not explicitly mention God until 2012's Traveling, but I find it's almost impossible to not interpret their songs through a spiritual filter. This one has all the indicators of a secular-sacred hymn.
How Do You Do! -The flagship track off of Tourism, and the only upbeat pop song that sits nicely next to songs like The Look. I don't really understand the exclamation point in the title but Per and Marie have mastered the tag-team by now.
The Heart Shaped Sea -This is one of Roxette's most painful songs, and it had to have been performed by Per instead of Marie. In context we have the singer who realizes his relationship is over because his lover is in love with someone else. For whatever reason, it's not just on him to let go. He has to actually encourage her to leave him. Per nails the precise emotion the song requires. At this moment he's not angry or sad, he's just defeated.
The Rain -A couple of images keep popping up in the lyrics. Stars are one, and rain is another. Off the top of my head I can think of four Roxette songs with 'rain' in the title. This one is probably Marie's answer to The Heart Shaped Sea, where she's reflecting on the moments she's chosen to not be happy. You don't hear that topic covered too much in music.
Queen of Rain -Yep. Two on the same album. It's almost like we've got a narrative going. Speaking as someone who deals with depression, the recurring line "Dream about the sun, you queen of rain" always manages to stroke a pretty well guarded nerve.
Roxette's next album, named Tourism, was recorded during their Join the Joyride tour and contains a handful of live performances, some unplugged covers, and a couple of fully realized tracks thrown in for good measure. Overall, Tourism is a softer album, and it effectively captures the sense that the young adult ember is fading like a flower in favor of a late twenties 'where do I belong?' vibe.
The next studio album, Crash! Boom! Bang!, continues this feel with pessimism seeping through the cracks. Take the song Vulnerable as an example. On Pearls of Passion, vulnerability would have been the holy grail of subject matter; here it's more of an inconvenience.
Now let me be clear: both of these albums are fantastic, and Crash! Boom! Bang! might actually be the band's best album in terms of consistency from track 1 to track 15. It's just that Roxette is having to grow up, and that period where adult responsibility sets in is not a fun one.
I'll start with Crash! Boom! Bang! because it's a lot harder to single anything out. Intentional or not, when you listen to this album from start to finish it feels like you've gone from the excitement of a new relationship, to the inevitable difficulties of maintenance, to the bitter breakup, and finally to the period of moving on. But here are my anecdotes:
Crash! Boom! Bang! -Two surprises. One, the song is in 3/4 time. Two, for a title with three exclamation points, this song is pretty subdued.
Fireworks -Reversing the mood shift from Spending My Time, the music takes an unexpectedly sad turn at the end not reflected in the lyrics.
Sleeping in My Car -A pretty straightforward pop track, but it's got one really sexy drum beat!
The First Girl on the Moon -This is either an inspiring song or a sad one, depending on which character you attach to. One goes off on an adventure, one stays behind. And not to give away which one I associate with, but damn you Marie and your golden voice!
Love is All (Shine Your Light on Me) -Roxette may not explicitly mention God until 2012's Traveling, but I find it's almost impossible to not interpret their songs through a spiritual filter. This one has all the indicators of a secular-sacred hymn.
How Do You Do! -The flagship track off of Tourism, and the only upbeat pop song that sits nicely next to songs like The Look. I don't really understand the exclamation point in the title but Per and Marie have mastered the tag-team by now.
The Heart Shaped Sea -This is one of Roxette's most painful songs, and it had to have been performed by Per instead of Marie. In context we have the singer who realizes his relationship is over because his lover is in love with someone else. For whatever reason, it's not just on him to let go. He has to actually encourage her to leave him. Per nails the precise emotion the song requires. At this moment he's not angry or sad, he's just defeated.
The Rain -A couple of images keep popping up in the lyrics. Stars are one, and rain is another. Off the top of my head I can think of four Roxette songs with 'rain' in the title. This one is probably Marie's answer to The Heart Shaped Sea, where she's reflecting on the moments she's chosen to not be happy. You don't hear that topic covered too much in music.
Queen of Rain -Yep. Two on the same album. It's almost like we've got a narrative going. Speaking as someone who deals with depression, the recurring line "Dream about the sun, you queen of rain" always manages to stroke a pretty well guarded nerve.
Sometimes You Don't Decide For Yourself -Songs of Wisdom
Any living entity, from the Muppets to Monty Python, is going to have its proverbial golden age where the tapering off period is still very high quality, but there's a sense that the party might be winding down. For Roxette, the near back-to-back releases of Have a Nice Day and Room Service marks this transition.
Taken on their own, either one of these albums is great and contain some of the band's best work. But by comparison to the earlier albums neither one seems to gel as a whole, with songs about specific characters like Cooper and Jefferson standing out as disjointed. Also gone by now are the power ballads that close out the albums, opting for a bit more of a receding tide farewell.
But there is still a general mood that pervades these later albums, namely a subtle awareness of mortality and a warm acceptance of the inevitable. Roxette is beyond the point of needing to understand its emotions, and has grown quite adept at embracing them in all of their complexity. Tracks seven through ten on Have a Nice Day particularly encapsulate the full roller coaster of emotions in an unofficial suite.
7Twenty7 -There's a real anger at work here as Per takes on the guise of someone who didn't hold on to someone he should have. He can only watch her plane disappear into the sky, and scold himself. The anger is a controlled one, but the hard driving beat signifies the self loathing just under the surface.
I Was So Lucky -Evidently Per wrote this song as a reflection on the birth of his son, but the lyrics are general enough to apply to any situation. This song represents elation in its most unblemished-by-cynicism form. The rolling saxophone calls to mind a moonlight swim, where the mood is so deep that one feels weightless. And Marie flawlessly conveys joy to the point of tears. Although hold your breath as that final note fades, because you're in for one big freaking mood whiplash.
Stars -Those aren't tears of joy anymore. That's a wailing of loss. It's fascinating how a line like "Knowing all I know, that's where I'll meet you" can take on two simultaneous meanings when sung by both Marie and a children's chorus. Stars is my favorite song, not just by Roxette, ever.
Salvation -Closing out the quadrilogy is the song of transcendence, possibly continuing the theme from Love is All. Among the many things I will likely never accomplish is an art film arranging a majority of Roxette's music into a single narrative called "Flowers on the Moon", a name taken from this song. And it's at this point I should mention what I think Roxette is. It's a band about connections. Every song seems to be about the beauty of connecting two unexpected elements (like Per and Marie), or the struggle of disconnecting them. As such, the band's body of work naturally lends itself to finding (presumably unintentional) connections across albums, rain, stars, cars, calling someone's name, etc. And I find it kind of magical finding those little winks here and there.
Taken on their own, either one of these albums is great and contain some of the band's best work. But by comparison to the earlier albums neither one seems to gel as a whole, with songs about specific characters like Cooper and Jefferson standing out as disjointed. Also gone by now are the power ballads that close out the albums, opting for a bit more of a receding tide farewell.
But there is still a general mood that pervades these later albums, namely a subtle awareness of mortality and a warm acceptance of the inevitable. Roxette is beyond the point of needing to understand its emotions, and has grown quite adept at embracing them in all of their complexity. Tracks seven through ten on Have a Nice Day particularly encapsulate the full roller coaster of emotions in an unofficial suite.
7Twenty7 -There's a real anger at work here as Per takes on the guise of someone who didn't hold on to someone he should have. He can only watch her plane disappear into the sky, and scold himself. The anger is a controlled one, but the hard driving beat signifies the self loathing just under the surface.
I Was So Lucky -Evidently Per wrote this song as a reflection on the birth of his son, but the lyrics are general enough to apply to any situation. This song represents elation in its most unblemished-by-cynicism form. The rolling saxophone calls to mind a moonlight swim, where the mood is so deep that one feels weightless. And Marie flawlessly conveys joy to the point of tears. Although hold your breath as that final note fades, because you're in for one big freaking mood whiplash.
Stars -Those aren't tears of joy anymore. That's a wailing of loss. It's fascinating how a line like "Knowing all I know, that's where I'll meet you" can take on two simultaneous meanings when sung by both Marie and a children's chorus. Stars is my favorite song, not just by Roxette, ever.
Salvation -Closing out the quadrilogy is the song of transcendence, possibly continuing the theme from Love is All. Among the many things I will likely never accomplish is an art film arranging a majority of Roxette's music into a single narrative called "Flowers on the Moon", a name taken from this song. And it's at this point I should mention what I think Roxette is. It's a band about connections. Every song seems to be about the beauty of connecting two unexpected elements (like Per and Marie), or the struggle of disconnecting them. As such, the band's body of work naturally lends itself to finding (presumably unintentional) connections across albums, rain, stars, cars, calling someone's name, etc. And I find it kind of magical finding those little winks here and there.
...You Make it Rock So Heavenly
I know I'm glossing over the Room Service album, unfairly so as there are some real gems on it; Real Sugar, Try (Just a Little Bit Harder), Fool. I'm also incline to stop the narrative here as there was a clear cutoff point in the band's history, a ten year hiatus to be exact, owing in no small part to Marie's health issues. In fact it's actually quite miraculous that we've gotten any new albums, much less three. And for the record, Way Out, No One Makes it On Her Own, and Touched By the Hand of God could mop the floor with the current music scene. But as with everything that exists in reality, things will never be the same.
There's no way to predict the future of Roxette, and frankly every album since Tourism has sounded like a farewell. But the point is, it has been (and for whatever length is left, will be) a joyride. Thank you guys for all of your emotions, and melodies, and dance beats. No one I know will ever keep up with you.
There's no way to predict the future of Roxette, and frankly every album since Tourism has sounded like a farewell. But the point is, it has been (and for whatever length is left, will be) a joyride. Thank you guys for all of your emotions, and melodies, and dance beats. No one I know will ever keep up with you.
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